Education Leaders: 3 Initiatives To Keep Up With The Demand Of The New Era

In the age of digital technology when more alternatives are becoming available to non-traditional students, one of the biggest challenges facing education strategists is to sustain their business models and reinforce value propositions. As a graduate student at Northwestern University with an interest in education and marketing strategies, I find myself regularly involved in conversations over the impacts of digital disruptions across industries and reflect on my educational experience. I recently found two insightful articles discussing the future of education and thought it would be useful to share with you the key take-aways to prepare better for any challenges that may come your way.

In his Huffington Post article “Welcome to the Campus of 2019,” Dr. Scott D. Miller of Virginia Wesleyan College discussed how technology influenced the way students perceive the world today, how this in turn emphasized the need for campus facilities to retool and for academic departments to restructure. His argument was that technology would redefine students’ role as curriculum drivers and knowledge regenerators. Therefore, the new academic model will require departments to collaborate, offer inter-disciplinary course offerings to add dynamic skill sets to the mix. He also proposed that the campus of the future will fully bloom as a center of marketing, where those institutions with clearly defined missions, markets and audience insights, communication strategies and operational efficiencies would come out on top.

Source: Carleton

While the above article envisioned the overall future education landscape, “Three trends that will influence learning and teaching” by Debbie Morrison examined specific themes with real life examples and key drivers statistics. Morrison strongly suggested that MOOCs facilitated a large variety of learning options that disrupted higher education and more institutions would be joining the movement to create more alternative learning pathways. She supported the “reinvention of teaching models and learning spaces” as the appropriate response to digital technology and culture, where the approach will shift from instructors-focused and passive to students-centered and active.

Reviewing these articles from the perspective of an aspiring marketing strategist, I have developed 3 action items you could consider now to make technologies work for you and sustain your institutions’ business models: 

1. Put students first - Design the educational experience around the needs of digital-age-students. Use technologies such as interactive video exercises to free up classroom time spent on lectures (instructors-focused) and instead focus on mentoring interaction and even peer-to-peer coaching (students-centered).

2. Personalize learning - Make use of big data (comprehensive dashboard) and small data (real-time interaction) to monitor performance and progress. While this allows students to be in control of their learning goals and pace, it helps ensure appropriate intervention to each student’s learning pattern.

3. Redefine achievement - The future of transcripts will likely be more similar to portfolios: projects involved, products built, people helped… Rethink achievements - give employers reasons to believe and your students reasons to be proud.

Changes are inevitable, and education leaders should be the ones well prepared enough to navigate the radically changing environment and support students to thrive in the digital age. The above 3 initiatives could be the core to a compass system that will help education leaders keep up with the dynamic development of demand for educational services.

Amy Dang is a digital technology enthusiast and lifelong learner. She is currently pursuing her Master’s degree in Integrated Marketing Communications at Medill - Northwestern University. She will be graduating in December 2017 with specializations in Brand Strategy and Media Strategy. Amy has 4 years of professional experience in marketing and aspires to work on higher education development strategies.  You can get in touch with her on Twitter @a_myzing

Parents: 3 Ways to Help Teens Improve Their Grades

As a parent, you are always looking for ways to improve the academic performance of your child. As a graduate student at Northwestern University and educational advocate, I have found two articles that highlight steps you can take to improve their performance.

In “Schools Are Slow to Learn That Sleep Deprivation Hits Teenagers Hardest” (New York Times, March 29, 2016), Indiana University professor of pediatrics Aaron E. Carroll reports on a 2014 study that found an hour delay in a high school’s start time doubled the amount of students that got a full night’s sleep and led to marked academic improvements.

Photo Credit: Chattanooga Times Free Press

In “The Powerful Thing That Happens When the Sschool Day Starts in the Afternoon” (Washington Post, August 5, 2016), reporter Jeff Guo tells the story of one school district in Europe that experimented with an afternoon start of the school day. The new schedule gave a surprising boost to boys’ grades. 

After reading these two articles and from my work as an educational advocate, here are three action items you and your schools can do tomorrow to help your children.

• Push it back: Instituting later school start times can improve students’ academic performance.

• Decrease homework: With so much on their plate, students are not getting to bed on time; schools can ease the evening workload by decreasing the amount of homework.

• Sleep for performance: Families can play a key role in promoting sleep by smartly scheduling activities, developing a routine, and limiting use of electronics late at night.

With these changes our teens can get their much needed rest and get on the path to scholastic success.

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Roger McMinn is a marketing professional, education advocate, and graduate student in Northwestern University’s Information Design and Strategy Program. You can follow him on Twitter @RogerMcMinn1.

Northwestern announces a Free MOOC on Content Strategy for Professionals

On January 13, 2014, Northwestern University will add to its record of designing learning systems for the future by offering a unique new MOOC (massive open online course). It is entitled Content Strategy for Professionals - Engaging Audiences for Your Organization and can be found on the Coursera platform. Enrollment is free and open now at: http://bit.ly/1iPXyba

Northwestern produced the MOOC because professionals in every organization – for-profit, non-profit, volunteer, and government – face an enormous challenge. With ever-more information competing for people’s limited time, they need to know how to develop and deploy more engaging content to reach key individuals inside and outside their organization with important information.

The Content Strategy MOOC has been developed to meet this challenge. In the MOOC, 10 expert Northwestern professors share their new insights and actionable advances. The faculty come from the Medill School of Journalism, Media, Integrated Marketing Communications and the Kellogg School of Management. They are led by John Lavine, professor and director of Northwestern’s Media Management Center.

“Content strategy is a conversation that provides thought-leadership.” Lavine explained. “Regardless of their level, area of work, or expertise, professionals who use content strategy have new knowledge that enables them to be far more effective with words, graphics, video, social and mobile media. They learn how to give their most important stakeholders trustable, transparent, actionable information that those individuals will value and use.”

The MOOC is divided into six modules with each broken into a number of succinct, easy to complete sessions that will easily fit each user’s schedule. It is a rigorous program, but because it is for professionals, there are no exams or term papers.  There is, however, a case study that weaves throughout the MOOC, allowing the participants to build their content strategy skills and receive feedback on them.

In addition, the MOOC features videos and multimedia from companies and organizations around the world. They are best practice examples of what an effective content strategy looks like in action. The MOOC also has an electronic toolkit for the participants to use in the future to help them and their colleagues as they encounter new challenges in their organization.

“The goal of the MOOC,” Lavine concluded, “is to give those who take it the content strategy knowledge and skills to advance their enterprise and their own careers. It is free, and we welcome those who are interested to join us on January 13^th.”

For more information, view a short video at:  http://bit.ly/18wZ65n

TFA Inspiring Early Childhood Education

   As a Northwestern student, majoring in Communications and the Integrated Marketing Certificate program, who is preparing to graduate and immediately begin training with Teach For America to teach kindergarten in the fall, I can’t help but wonder about what lies ahead as I begin this journey. Many may be skeptical about TFA Corps members- Are they capable teachers? Do they really help change the trajectory of education for students in America? Do they continue to pursue education past their commitment with the corps? And most importantly, would I want a TFA Corps member educating my child? What I’m glad to report that I have found is that majority of TFA Corps members do continue working in education past their 2-year commitment to the corps. Moreover, TFA alumni create their own programs and education initiatives after the corps. “Finding Our Listening Ears” by Kelly Powers and Jesse Illhardt illustrates how corps members use what they learned during their time in the classroom to create their own educational programs. “Would You Want Your Child Taught By A Teach For America Teacher?” by Heather Harding gives an account of a mother who comes face-to-face with this question when her son is placed in a preschool with a TFA alum. Both of these articles focus on early childhood education, as that is my placement with TFA.

seattletimes.com

      Teach For America is an eye-opening experience that inspires Corps members to continue to strive for excellence in the education system long after their time in the corps. Powers and Illhardt (now both TFA alumni) illustrate that TFA sparks great leaders who create innovative programs for education during and after their time in the corps.  Powers and Illhardt’s blog explains how Early Childhood Education (ECE) is an extremely important and critical time for a child’s learning and development, and all children should have a quality pre-school education. “The term ‘early childhood education’ recently flooded American homes as news broadcasters recapped President Obama’s second inaugural address. Weeks after the fanfare has subsided, our country is left with an immense challenge: how can we provide our neediest children and families the high-quality educational start they need?” write Powers and Illhardt. The two TFA alumni believe that education reform is possible, and can start in your own community. These former Corps members saw a problem and realized a solution, and thus started a unique and effective early childhood education center in Chicago for children birth to 5. (The program is called VOCE- Viewing Our Children as Emerging Leaders). Powers and Illhardt explain how hard it was to initially get the community excited about this new learning center. Eventually though, two dozen families were eager to participate and be involved in their young child’s education; putting them on the best track now so that they would have more opportunities in the future.

      As mentioned, Powers and Illhardt explained how difficult it initially was to get parents excited about enrolling their child into this new program created by TFA alumni. In Heather Harding’s blog “Would You Want Your Child Taught By A Teach For America Teacher?” she speaks directly to the skepticism of a TFA program and its educators. Harding explains her own connection to TFA and how her skepticism about her son’s TFA teacher brought her values and convictions about education to the forefront. As she re-evaluated what she wanted in an educator for her child, Harding found that the answer revealed itself in the way Ms. Laura (her child’s teacher) worked with her son. Ms. Laura’s passion, enthusiasm, and skill proved to Harding that TFA teachers make a positive impact on the institution of education.

      While every Corps member will have a vastly different experience, and while parents and students will also have different experiences with Corps members, it is important as always to keep an open mind. Prejudices will arise and questions will be asked, but hopefully constant re-evaluation will only make TFA Corps members better teachers. For TFA Corps members, I would recommend embracing and learning from criticisms and questions about what it means to be a Corps member. For governmental institutions and schools, I would recommend keeping an open mind when presented with the opportunity to work with Corps members. And for parents, I would recommend fostering open communication with your child’s educator. While not at all an easy task, if we all work together, we can close the achievement gap in America.

Julia Bareiss is a senior at Northwestern University majoring in Communication Studies. She plans to begin work with TFA starting in June 2013 and will be placed in Milwaukee teaching early childhood education. Follow her on Twitter: @juliagulia13 and on her blog Life Of Jules at  juleslovesdiamonds.tumblr.com

Back to School: 6 Lessons Universities Can Learn From Corporations

 

We hear all too often that corporate leaders need to be aware of the latest academic research. On the flip side, university administrators could learn a thing or two from their corporate counterparts?  What you ask? Well, I’m here to tell you.

Rapidly changing technology means that the treasure trove of tools available to higher learning institutions is enormous.  The problem is, university administrators and a lot of faculty members don’t know how to use it as part of a larger goal to turn out more engaged students. Corporations have found technology to be an essential differentiator in a time when Wall Street standouts are obsessed with big data and customer behaviors. But research to better understand what is happening with education technologies, even in private education, is slow moving and heavily focused on K-12 environments.

In addition, many places of higher learning are still using the push model to share information with student bodies.  Many of the integrated solutions that are most effective for corporate giants, could be game-changing on a university campus.  As a new generation of learners comes of age, universities must embrace data-driven, student focused approaches to drive change. How can century old institutions expect to understand this up and coming group of learners?  These students will be hard-wired to learn differently. Having grown up using cell phones and tablets, touch screens and instant communication devices they will be even more accustomed to instant gratification, and will likely find traditional teaching approaches stifling and stale.  So how do universities innovate change to prepare?

Here are a few takeaways that universities can learn from innovative corporations facing the same uncertain future:

   

• Gather Data

Nowadays, data is power.  Uhh…did someone say Google? Like any smart organization, institutions should stockpile data to understand student needs and behaviors. The more schools can know about students, how they learn, how they gather information, how they behave in their dorms, in classrooms, in places of leisure, the better.  Luckily, universities are well equipped to study their closest specimen, the students themselves. 

• Focus on the Customer…err I mean student.

Where is the customer-focused approach at the University level? Schools should treat students and parents, to some extent, as customers. The number one priority should be learning and corresponding social development of the students.  

• Use Technology to Personalize & Engage

Embrace technology to serve the student body.  Allow tools, widgets and online platforms to enhance the great work already being done. Build user experiences to allow students to engage in curriculum development. Crowd source campus planning or allow every student to personalize his/her registrar page.  The opportunities here are endless.  The point is: The time for pushing curriculum and programs down the throat of students is over. 

•  Be Transparent

Some of the most widely talked about corporations (Zappos, for instance) are making changes and sharing them internally with their workforce but also with the general public.  Universities should share strategic goals with faculty, staff and students and invite them to participate in the process. Let’s ignite the student population and energize the student groundswell to help craft the college experience.

•  Consider Free Content

Sites like Khan Academy prove that universal access is the wave of the future. Stanford is also experimenting with universal access by opening up select classes to anyone with a web connection. The publishing and music industry are experiencing similar trends, with their customers demanding free content, anytime, anywhere. 

•  Measure Results

Once you gather data and implement programs, make sure to follow up by measuring results. Establish clear metrics and track university successes and failures. This step is critical to any organism that seeks to continually improve.

• Provide Structure

Universities need to institutionalize the use of technologies to encourage growth and innovation.  Just like corporations are quickly developing frameworks for social, mobile and local, universities should be exploring ways to share ideas and feedback quickly.

Given these six strategies, any place of higher learning could be more effective in their ultimate goal of fostering engaged students and developing contributing members of our society. Together, they will help universities learn from private-sector successes and be more prepared for the wave of the future.

Lesley Albright is a strategic marketing consultant and graduate student in the Northwestern Medill IMC marketing program.  She has spent eight years in interactive strategy, advertising and public relations.  Lesley is passionate about digital education, global brand strategy and coalition building.
Follow Lesley on Twitter @LesIoRants or on LinkedIn

4 Reasons to Stop Leading a Virtual Double Life: How to Manage Your Digital Persona

by Lesley Albright

Don’t kid yourself. There invisible line that you have placed between your personal Twitter account and professional Twitter handle is a bit of a joke.  Privacy filters can lapse when social networks like Facebook do an update and we all know there are loopholes to gain access to someone’s profile. There is bound to be overlap between your personal and professional digital persona, so take advantage of it.

Everything we are learning points to the value of being authentic, in being human in front of your audience. By separating your personal life from your professional persona you are inherently cutting off the blood supply that allows you to speak from the heart, to speak with a real, human voice.  Peter Shanckman, a moonlighting blogger from PR Week argues that you only Have One Brand and that it should have a unique personal touch.

Now, don’t get me wrong. Nobody said you have to share every personal detail about your hygiene, drunken escapades, or your children’s bowel movements with everyone in your professional circle. But here are just a few things to think about if you plan to lead a digital double life.

·      Who’s Has the Time? - It’s too much work to manage two different accounts for every social media platform.  Just like a man leading two different lives at some point you will slip up and make a mistake or neglect one of your personas.

·      Murphy’s Law – If you don’t want people to find it…they will. Potential employers, obnoxious co-workers and others will be able to access your private information if they try hard enough.  From Facebook to Tumblr, remember that privacy safeguards can change without notice and allow outside eyes to see private information.

·      Professional Klout – Your digital resume will have more power if you consolidate your efforts. By separating your personal Twitter account from a professional one, you reduce your influence across markets.

·      It’s Not Human – All of your unique quirks, personality traits and mistakes are what make you human. They come together to make you uniquely you and frankly, more interesting. In a sea of people and an ever-demanding need to differentiate ourselves, these human aspects will set you apart. So why not share?

The time has come when we can’t separate aspects of our lives, but instead have to look holistically at the brand we portray to the world, in person and online.  If you are on board with this philosophy, here are a few ways to get started:

1)   Clean up Your Brand – Do a review of all your online material and if you wouldn’t want your Mom, teacher, boss or significant other to see it, get rid of it.

2)   Add Unique Tidbits   - Don’t be afraid to drop in tidbits of quirky personal information like your love for Swedish fish or your obsession with folk music.  These little nuggets make you who you are.

Lesley Albright is a graduate student in the Northwestern Medill IMC marketing program and a strategic communications consultant. Lesley can be reached on twitter using the handle @LesioRants