Every year universities work hard to attract new students in an increasingly competitive marketplace. 2019-20 has seen admissions departments go the extra mile to come up with creative ways of fulfilling their student recruitment needs despite the unprecedented challenges posed by the pandemic.
With increased competition and uncertainty across the global higher education market, what can universities do to attract and retain students? Unfortunately, there’s no simple answer – but focusing on vocational skills may prove beneficial.
International candidates are valuable assets to any institution, encouraging diversity and making the learning experience richer for all. Students from overseas are also a critical source of funding for universities and have a significant impact on the wider economy.
As universities respond to the COVID-19 outbreak by closing campuses and shifting to online forms of distance learning, many institutions and educators are scrambling to develop online engagement plans. In this repost, Michael B.Horn (Chief Strategy Officer at Entangled Ventures) reflects on the changes provoked by the current sanitary crisis in a supported effort to predict future trends.
Diversity is high on the agenda for institutions around the world right now, and for good reason. As well as making people better communicators and providing all students with a richer university experience, learning environments that promote diversity of thought are more conducive to creativity and innovation.
The global health crisis has forced organisations around the world to adapt. Many businesses have pivoted, some for the duration of the pandemic and others for the foreseeable future. In a sense, the situation has acted as a catalyst for emerging trends, catapulting them into the here and now. For higher education institutions, the biggest changes come in the form of online learning and admissions.
A word of introduction On March 11th, FULL FABRIC decided to go into full remote mode for an undetermined period of time, as most of Europe prepared for a lockdown due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The past few days had seen an almost palpable shift in the air, as what felt like a giant wave loomed over us. It was dreamy at first, distant and perplexing – but also unavoidable. Consequently, tangible steps had to be taken.
On April 22nd, FULL FABRIC hosted a webinar in which six higher education professionals took to the virtual stage to talk about how their institutions are coping with the impact of COVID-19. Each shared their thoughts on online learning, enrolments and what they think the future of higher education will look like following health crisis.
As universities respond to the COVID-19 outbreak by closing campuses and shifting to online forms of distance learning, many institutions and educators are scrambling to develop online engagement plans. In this repost, Martin Weller (Professor of Education Technology at the Open University) brings together a number of useful for resources for anyone looking to develop online learning courses and questions why it has taken the current crisis for distance learning to be taken seriously.
