How Educational Institutions are Transforming Learning and Enhancing Collaboration
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Five key findings from the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) ICT Survey reflect the correlation between technology and student outcomes: 1. The type of device matters—some are associated with worse student outcomes. 2. Geography matters—technology is associated with higher student outcomes in the United States than in other regions. 3. Who is using the technology matters—technology in the hands of teachers is associated with higher scores than technology in the hands of students. 4. Intensity matters—students who use technology intensely or not at all perform better than those with moderate use. 5. A school system’s current performance level matters— technology is associated with worse results in lower-performing school systems. Source: McKinsey |
1) Personalized Learning
Institutions have been using the same conventional methods for teaching since the dawn of time. In today’s rapidly changing environment, such practices are becoming outdated and destined to be replaced with innovative solutions. Luckily, digital transformation is here to help. Learning providers have been exponentially increasing the delivery of personalized content to students with the help of cutting-edge technologies like cloud solutions, educational software, artificial intelligence, machine learning, and big data. Most organizations utilize Natural Language Processing (NLP) in their digital education platforms to evaluate student needs on a personal level, enhancing the educational value provided. NLP-backed chatbots and virtual tutors can provide personalized guidance by answering questions in real-time. Language Learning Apps provide personalized content and examinations for each participant based on their level, learning speed, and the topics they struggle with. For example, DuoLingo, a US-based language tutoring firm, has been using such NLP algorithms to pinpoint students’ weaknesses to generate unique exams based on the answers given in each course. This approach helps accelerate the learning speed of students. Cloud-based educational systems can also create highly individualized dashboards, allowing students to track their progress and set short/long-term goals more effectively. Digitalization can also contribute substantially to the efforts of education for people with disabilities. According to WHO, approximately 1 billion people (15% of the world’s population) have disabilities. Furthermore, 90% of disabled children can not attend school in emerging countries because of the lack of special care, as UNESCO highlights. Education systems powered with AI, ML, and other digital tools help improve education for those with impairments so that one of the largest marginalized groups globally can be reintroduced to society. We already started seeing some real-life examples: AI-backed braille tutor applications can assist people with visual impairments in reading and engaging at various levels. These applications generally employ optical character recognition (OCR) to convert physical braille characters into digital text and vice versa, providing a convenient learning platform for people with disabilities.|
“You have to think, what can you be distinctive at? If you have an online offering, it is almost infinitely scalable, but the customer will also be free to choose the best provider. So, you have to offer something really good and distinctive.” – Prof. Adam Tickell, Vice-Chancellor, University of Birmingham, UK Source: Ernst&Young |
2) Advanced Analytics
Advanced analytics enabled by high digitalization provide unparalleled advantages for schools and tutoring programs in enhancing student experiences, enrollment processes, and retention rates. By leveraging advanced analytics, institutions can improve their ability to uncover hidden insights within their student data. These algorithms act as powerful tools that can decipher intricate relationships and trends, leading to a more comprehensive understanding of student populations and their potential challenges. Predictive analytics tools can seamlessly assess collected historical data and determine the success levels of each student to identify the ones with a high risk of failure or incompletion earlier. AI can also make personalized recommendations for students with a low risk of success, providing the aid they need to stay on course in their education. With these insights in hand, institutions can take a proactive approach by tailoring interventions targeting the majority of identified risks, ultimately improving their student support systems and success initiatives. Institutions can employ linear and rule-based methods to examine factors like subpar grades and irregular attendance as indicators for identifying students who might be at risk of leaving their academic programs. Subsequently, these institutions make efforts to contact these students and initiate programs aimed at providing enhanced support, which has a significant impact on improving graduation rates. For instance, Western Governors University in Utah uses predictive modeling to improve retention by identifying at-risk students and developing early intervention programs. Initial efforts raised the graduation rate for the university’s four-year undergraduate program by 5% between 2018 and 2020.
3) Resource Access
Before the information age, accessing educational resources was an expensive endeavor. Only privileged ones could afford to buy books and receive a high-quality education. In today’s world, accessing educational information and resources is easier than ever, thanks to increased digitalization in the education sector and technological advancements. Cloud-backed online education systems propose enhanced accessibility, where students worldwide can seamlessly access top-of-the-line tutors and education programs with just a single click from their smartphones or tablets. Online platforms offer all-encompassing online courses and workshops without the need for physical attendance, enabling cost-efficient alternatives for institutions and students worldwide. This is particularly beneficial for developing countries that struggle financially to provide education to underdeveloped areas. Moreover, open-source libraries like gutenberg.org and opensearchlibrary.org enable access to millions of copyright-free books, articles, and research papers on almost any topic, with the sole mission of providing free resource access for all. Institutions also create Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) open to the public and give access to free content from leading practitioners in their field of study. Anyone can enroll in these 6-8-week online courses without prerequisites and get certifications if desired.4) Distance Learning
Although general demographic patterns indicate a potential decline in higher education enrollment, including a possible decrease in international students, on-campus education has a notable transformation. As previously mentioned, distance learning is undeniably increasing its popularity, with online programs providing unrivaled opportunities for more students to pursue their degrees, either partially or entirely away from physical campuses. This shift is particularly prominent in the case of adult learners, who are seeking additional skills to keep up with the evolving job market and increasing workplace automation. Consequently, a growing number of adults are exploring online or hybrid educational options to meet these demands. Some institutions excel in offering exclusive distance-learning programs to graduate students, with nearly all of their graduate student population exclusively engaged in distance education. Distance learning greatly benefits international students as well. As per McKinsey Research, international students constitute only 4% of the total undergraduates. However, they typically pay tuition and fees two to three times higher on average than domestic resident students. This financial contribution positions them as a crucial source of revenue for certain educational institutions. Therefore, we start seeing more and more schools offer remote courses and online certification programs for international students, unlocking the digital doors of revenue generation. Students around the world can get the education they desire without geographical boundaries, navigate better amid international turmoil, and get rid of expenses like utility, tuition, and transportation that usually come as bundles with studying abroad.
5) AI & ML
Digital transformation in education has brought about many valuable tools, including AI and ML. AI-supported digital platforms enable real-time student performance analysis, paving the wave for personalized support. AI can seamlessly analyze data sets collected and offer unique solutions for students to enhance their learning according to their preferences and interests. AI software can recommend books, videos, and other sources of educational information based on historical data, improving the learning experience. AI also enables real-time translation, which helps to obliterate language barriers in education. Students can select their preferred languages for tutoring, translate study materials instantly, and even use real-time subtitles or voiceovers for live courses powered by AI. AI and ML-powered education systems can create personalized content such as exams, study guides, videos, and much more by evaluating student performance, which is a more direct approach than traditional methods. These systems are also highly scalable since they correlate with computing power, meaning seamless geographical expansion for institutions.6) AR & VR
Technology brings change and some challenges in the education sector, but it brings excitement as well. Augmented and Virtual reality are technologies that get the most excitement to student learning, and institutions are increasing their capital investments because of it. According to Fortune Business Insights, the global virtual reality in education market size is projected to grow from $4.40 billion in 2023 to $28.70 billion by 2030, at a CAGR of 30.7%. Virtual classrooms create an engaging environment for students like never before. Students equipped with VR headsets can virtually do anything the system allows: doing experiments, testing new ideas, collaborating with teachers and classmates, and preparing highly personalized dashboards according to their educational goals. Such immersive virtual platforms enhance the learning experience and maintain student engagement and attention with visual aids, games, and other forms of entertainment. Imagine you are an astronomy teacher, and today’s class is astronomy. You can give lectures in a virtual classroom that can turn into outer space; your students can see the stars and the planets and understand concepts much better with visual assistance enabled by VR systems. Or, if you are a physics teacher who wants to explain Newtonian physics and vectors, you can create virtual experiments for your class effortlessly and involve your students in the experimentation process, making them participate in real-time without boring them. There are already apps in place: Skyview is an AR app that allows users to observe the universe from their phone’s camera regardless of location. Anyone can download the app and point their smartphones to the night sky, watch stars, constellations, and planets, and access additional information about them seamlessly. Froggiepedia is another example of AR education, where students can dissect and explore frog anatomy virtually, which helps students, teachers (and frogs) tremendously. Do you remember your school field trips to the zoo and museums? Well, it seems these will also go the way of the dinosaurs. With the help of VR, virtual environments are being created so that the students can visit any place and any time in history without leaving their class or their home and actually experience what it is like to be there virtually. Want to go and see the Picasso and Van Gogh exhibitions in MoMa or maybe the Louvre Museum for your art class? All you need is a VR headset for your students. No lines, no transportation fees, and no concerns about losing a child during the trip. Or maybe you would like to show your students what it is like to live in Ancient Greece in the history class? You can be in Hellenistic Athens virtually in a matter of seconds. An example of this is already being used for educational purposes: 1943 Berlin Blitz in 360° uses real-life footage from a nighttime raid of Nazi Germany to help students understand what living through a significant historical event was like. The possibilities seem endless, considering these technologies are in their adolescence, and their capabilities will improve exponentially over time. Shortly, we will see these technologies evolve and merge with others to tailor unique learning experiences for students all over the world, revolutionizing collaboration, productivity, and engagement in education.⭐⭐⭐
Today, education providers worldwide recognize the vital role of digitalization in a constantly evolving technological landscape. It has become necessary for institutions to stay accessible, efficient, and student-focused in the education sector. Digitalization offers numerous benefits, including access to resources, personalized educational content, immersive experiences, and proactive support. These benefits are critical for institutions that aim for high student success rates and low student attrition. At Kartaca, we are committed to reimagining the future through technology. We have worked alongside businesses from various sectors to develop, set up, and implement IT solutions and understand potential pitfalls. As a Google Workspace for Education Partner, we bring the best of Google to education to help transform teaching and learning to help empower educators by giving them simple assistive tools and transforming classrooms into collaborative and dynamic learning environments where students explore, create, and excel. If you would like to know more about how Kartaca can add value to your institution and the educational experience you create, please check this page and contact us.Kartaca is a Google Cloud Premier Partner with approved “Cloud Migration” and “Data Analytics” specializations.
TL;DR
How do educational institutions use technology to provide personalized content to students?
Educational institutions are increasingly using technologies like cloud systems, artificial intelligence, machine learning, and natural language processing (NLP) to deliver personalized content tailored to students' needs.
What is Natural Language Processing (NLP )technology used for?
NLP is used to provide real-time guidance to students through chatbots and virtual teachers. Language learning applications also use NLP to offer content tailored to students' levels and learning speeds.
Which technologies used in education to overcome language barriers?
Artificial intelligence helps overcome language barriers by instantly translating course materials and providing real-time translation services for students. Students can translate materials into their preferred languages and use real-time subtitles or voiceovers in AI-powered live courses.
What kind of insights do advanced analytics help educational institutions gain?
Advanced analytics help educational institutions uncover insights from student data by deciphering complex relationships and trends, leading to improvements in student experiences and academic performance.
How does digital transformation facilitate access to educational resources?
Cloud-based online education systems enable students to access teachers and educational programs from around the world with just a click on their smartphones or tablets. Online platforms offer comprehensive online courses and workshops that do not require physical attendance, providing low-cost alternatives for institutions and students, especially in developing regions.
Author: Cem Cetinguc
Published on: Dec 11,2023
