The Current Scenario:
The education sector has been seeing a gradual decline due to lack of interest presented by conventional teaching methods. With falling enrolment rates and high dropout rates plaguing most major educational institutions, there is need for a more persuasive, comprehensive student engagement platform which serves to arouse and maintain pupil interest, open up new learning avenues and impart better education. Smartly deployed student engagement platforms using today’s technology influence can help immensely with this problem, increasing engagement levels and offering educational institutions a start-to-finish solution which proactively works on all levels when it comes to imparting education.
A Look at the Education Market
An evolution is currently underway in the field of education. Invention comes from necessity, and innovation in the field of education has been a direct result of lack of engagement. Whereas many reputed institutions are currently in the process of imparting open education, there are a number of companies distributing learning content and providing free, open education as well. Advances in technology like smart devices, interactive teaching aids and virtual reality have added a new, interesting dimension to the imparting of education and added a new world of possibilities. Imagine big data analytics, powerful search and customized products hitting the education sector to fulfill objectives such as monetization by dis-aggregating, intelligent bundling and multiple language support.
Along with the evolution of content distributors into multi-faceted entities and the steady growth in the needs of students and faculty in context of engagement, the need for change is clearly recognizable.
Stages of Education and Engagement
Through the different stages of the process of receiving education, engagement levels increase gradually. There are different nuances at play during these stages, and different factors influence the slow, upward ramp in engagement. According to the level of engagement, there can be three divisions –
- Engagement Level 1: Students who are in the process of getting attracted to or enrolling at a particular institution.
- Engagement Level 2: Students who are in the process of getting active education, participating in exams and graduating from a particular institution.
- Engagement Level 3: Students who have already graduated and are currently actively involved with their institution in many ways.
The education system is a connected and synchronized ecosystem during these stages. Right from the process of attracting students and handling admission to the final goal of getting them recruited, there are multiple processes that drive engagement.
A more in-depth look at these three stages of engagement show us the following factors –
- First Phase – Factors involve understanding what creates initial engagement and attraction. Strategies may include social promotions, the use of viral media, interactive tours, live conferencing with admission officers, and the availability of incentives like scholarships.
- Middle Phase – Factors in this phase include student and faculty engagement, creation of customized content, adaptive assessments, goal-oriented teaching and an integrated platform for communication and information.
- Final Phase – In the latter stages, factors that drive engagement can include the first taste of the working world, exemplary career guidance and counselling, collaborative sessions and webinars.
Everything from initial SEO and targeted marketing to proper course delivery methods to mentoring and placements should ideally be an integral part of the digital engagement platform for students.
The Right Engagement Platform
The right platform that drives engagement for students and makes the process of imparting education that much more smooth and intuitive is one that acts as a social, collaborative hub, facilitating communication and exchanges between students, faculty members, and alumni. The system should be able to measure engagement individually in numeric terms and proactively predict future scenarios.
The right digital student engagement platform performs the following functions –
- First Phase – Attracts students through targeted marketing, improves enrollment and retention and provides consistent engagement through the lifecycle of a student. This is enabled with help of SEO, Web Tracking, Predictive Analysis, and highly targeted marketing strategies
- Middle Phase – Connects student with members of alumni, recruiting professionals and others for interactions, mentoring and assimilation. This is enabled with absorbing course content development and its delivery via channels preferred by students. For teachers it should help in automation of grading and examination setting
- Final Phase – Enhance the performance of teaching faculty with the right educational tools, better deployment, advanced assessment and analytics. This helps faculty to transcend from mere teachers to highly effective mentors.
When used in the right scenario, a digital student engagement platform that satisfies the above criteria can have many benefits, including –
- Creating the most engaging student experience
- Connecting student of present and past
- Personalized communication
- Better leveraging of contacts
- Better enrolment rates and lower dropout rates
With the right features, which can include separate portals for the three distinct stages of engagement shown previously, the right digital student engagement platform can work wonders and improve the overall quality of imparted education.
