Podcast Series: Innovations in Education

Explore the full series of eCampus News podcasts hosted by Kevin Hogan—created to keep you on the cutting edge of innovations in education.

This university’s interactive lab is revolutionizing research

Our mission at the Health Sciences Library at the University of Washington is to advance the healthcare fields through scholarship, research, education and access to health information resources. We support not just university faculty, health researchers and students, but also a variety of other professionals and researchers in the Puget Sound and state of Washington.

With that in mind, when the university library decided to add a new space on campus to enhance research data analysis and allow multidisciplinary collaboration, we didn’t want just another conference room; we wanted to give researchers something they couldn’t get elsewhere on campus.

To create and fund a space on campus that would accelerate health research and innovation by supporting researchers and investigators in our community, our library formed a partnership with the Institute of Translational Health Sciences (ITHS), the University of Washington Medicine Research Information Technology, and the National Network of Libraries of Medicine-Pacific Northwest Region in the summer of 2015.…Read More

How tech-based peer mentoring is radically changing recruitment

Too often, “old methods” of introducing high school students to college life still involve paid college-recruiting agents who visit their high school. These “college reps” introduce themselves, distribute printed information, discuss entrance requirements and invite applications.  For those with the time and resources, a “college visit” may be included.

Both systems are usually very structured and rarely involve actually talking with college-age students.  How often do high school students get the opportunity to talk with college students about being successful, both in high school and at the college level? The high school senior almost never speaks with more interesting and authentic people like first-year students, students in their area of interest, college and university professors, or students nearing graduation.

How Technology Can Change Antiquated Recruitment…Read More

How chatbots are addressing summer melt for colleges

AdmitHub, an edtech startup which builds conversational artificial intelligence (AI) chatbots to guide students on the path to and through college, has raised $2.95 million in seed funding. The funding round was co-led by Relay Ventures and Reach Capital, with participation from University Ventures and others. The new funding will be used by AdmitHub to grow its team of AI engineers and build out its sales team, with the goal of expanding its technology platform and scaling its reach to more colleges in the U.S. and abroad.

AdmitHub’s conversational AI platform will be used by colleges to support students with 24/7 engagement and expert advising. AdmitHub’s virtual assistants reach students via the medium this millennial generation uses most: chat. Students receive important reminders, supportive guidance, and answers to thousands of questions via text message or Facebook Messenger. Because AdmitHub’s virtual assistants are capable of handling the vast majority of messages, counselors are liberated to support students that most require their attention.

“The medium for this generation is messaging,” noted Andrew Magliozzi, CEO and co-founder of AdmitHub. “A nudge can incite action, but a conversation can transform a student’s mindset. With our latest updates, AdmitHub’s conversational AI can now provide all students with access to expert college advising via text message or Facebook Messenger.”…Read More

Students say digital presence is key to enrollment decisions

Digital presence via campus websites and social media can all majorly impact college decisions this year, say students.

According to a new report, student survey data reinforces that higher education institutions must place greater emphasis on their digital presence, engaging students with digital communications that are most in line with their preferences in order to boost enrollment.

The report, titled “The Digital Search for Education,” was commissioned by G/O Digital and is based on the results of a 2016 survey of over 1,520 U.S. adults enrolled in either full or part-time classes. The research study was conducted to understand how learners interact with colleges and career schools prior to enrolling, and how those interactions influence their decision to communicate with, and enroll in, a particular institution.

The report comes at an appropriate time, with many universities and community colleges suffering from recent enrollment declines and more and more students using mobile devices to seek out and engage with education institutions. Since digitally savvy prospective students usually have access to a massive amount of information on institutions thanks to the internet, it is more important than ever for colleges and universities to gain insight into what the choices and preferences of learners are.…Read More

Hold the phone: A better technology for communication

Why now is the time to convert legacy phone systems to VoIP.

VoIP-phone-campusAs legacy phone systems reach their end-of-life stage, colleges and universities across the country continue to make the switch to VoIP. However, while the driving force for VoIP adoption is often based on the need to get rid of an old system, additional incentives for adopting VoIP include cost savings, better communication, and added security measures.

For example, many institutions have implemented networks that host a growing number of communications services for faculty and students, such as email integration, web conferencing, instant messaging and more.

Of course, the need to continually maintain and upgrade this infrastructure is taken into consideration when adding new technology. Making the switch to VoIP is becoming necessary, especially as older systems are no longer being supported. As time passes, obtaining replacement parts becomes more difficult, if not impossible.…Read More

Jenzabar expands suite to support student success

Jenzabar College Readiness Inventory to uncover critical factors impacting retention and persistence at individual higher education institutions

student-successJenzabar, Inc., a provider of software, strategies, and services for higher education, has added to its Student Success suite of technology and services designed specifically for higher education.

The Jenzabar College Readiness Inventory is an online student survey and analysis tool that uncovers the hard-to-find non-cognitive factors impacting retention, persistence, and completion at a particular institution.

Jenzabar College Readiness Inventory aims to identify and engage at-risk students based on self-reported data analyzed across seven key psychometric scales that are proven to correlate with student persistence. The tool makes it easier to find effective ways to improve student retention and outcomes.…Read More

Wichita State connects students with real-world experiences

WSU’s Applied Technology Acceleration Institute will deepen collaboration between students and industry partners with new Jive-n community.

students-collaborationWichita State University (WSU) has selected Jive Software to help facilitate its applied learning initiatives.

WSU is implementing the Jive-n internal community solution to improve collaboration and knowledge sharing, initially within its Applied Technology Acceleration Institute (ATAI), and eventually amongst the university’s 15,000 students, faculty and staff.

Since October 2014, the ATAI has rapidly built a portfolio of strategic partnerships with industry partners around the country, including, Palo Alto Networks, Cisco, Palerra and Spirit Aerosystems. The institute connects WSU’s students with these businesses to enable applied and experiential learning opportunities, such as hands-on software development, quality assurance testing, product marketing projects, solution validation and much more.…Read More

Anonymous feedback tool aims to enhance faculty communication

New version of Bluepulse offers faculty an anonymous, private, two-way communication platform

student-engagementeXplorance, a Learning Experience Management solution provider, has announce the availability of Bluepulse version 1.5. The new formative assessment software is geared to boost teaching effectiveness and student engagement.

Using social feedback, the new two-way communication platform is designed to offer faculty judgment-free, anonymous feedback conducive to self-improvement and continuous learning enhancement based on students’ articulated needs, said the company.

While colleges and universities are attempting to adapt to the new generation of students by increasing the portion of online and blended courses, they face higher student disengagement rates. Though ample resources are invested in addressing student engagement, eXplorance says the solution resides in a better learning experience based on enhanced communication between faculty and students.…Read More

University transforms student services with app platform innovation

University of Maryland launches its own app store platform to modernize campus service delivery.

UMD-platform-apps
Copyright: Bloomua / Shutterstock.com

Consider it almost like Amazon, but for staff and student services on campus.

According to the University of Maryland, which has partnered with rSmart and Internet2, the University will provide access to approximately 130 campus services in one location, from any computer or mobile device.

With search and app-store-like features, the newly launched platform aims to simplify access to services ranging from class registration to email and replicates the communication capabilities and online shopping experiences people are accustomed to using.…Read More

Will this massive collaboration between universities spur open ed?

Open education thrives in California through new large-scale collaboration between major universities.

collaboration-openchem-UCICalifornia colleges and universities are spurring the open and accessible movement, specifically in relation to STEM education, thanks to a new partnership signaling a cultural shift in higher-ed collaborative relationships.

The University of California, Irvine (UCI) announced a partnership on Monday (March 9th) with the primary systems of education in California—University of California (UC), California State University (CSU), and California Community Colleges (CCC)—with the goal of providing UCI’s university-level chemistry curriculum and educational resources to teachers, students and self-learners in California and around the world.

One of the major benefits of this collaboration, says UCI, is that it allows faculty and students to have free access to chemistry lectures and other materials through the release of fully captioned, ADA-compliant video lectures.…Read More