10 Ways to Reimagine Your Educational Experience

As humans, our quest for knowledge has remained unwavering. However, the way we learn and gain skills has changed significantly throughout the past century. And with the hit of COVID-19, education is perhaps undergoing its largest global transformation in recent times with over 1.2 billion children out of the classroom at the height of the pandemic. 

Far from the stuffy classrooms and chalkboards of yesteryear, today, learning happens from anywhere, and on any device. 

Online connectivity and e-learning platforms have brought learning into the on-demand world, where institutions and businesses of all sizes are now in fierce competition to attract and retain students. In fact, online learning is predicted to become a $325 billion global industry by 2025—and this was before education institutions were forced to shift online during world wide lockdowns.

Mobile accessibility, cloud communications, and interactive live video have made learning through virtual classrooms, remote tutoring, and online collaboration a reality. And students of all ages and backgrounds are embracing lifelong learning through these digital platforms. In the U.S, nontraditional students now outnumber traditional students and account for 70% of all undergraduates. Many juggle work, family, and study and want flexible, self-paced learning.

These students are operating in a world where artificial intelligence (AI), augmented reality (AR), and hyper-personalization are shaping their experience with brands, every day. When it comes to their education, their expectations are no different. These digitally savvy students want the same seamless, convenient, and personalized online experiences as they do with every service. 

A changing industry means education providers are facing their own challenges—rising costs of tuition, tighter budgets, greater market competition, and now, social distancing, Therefore, the question education providers must ask as we head into the next decade is: how can we provide a digital experience that lives up to students’ growing expectations, while still improving operational efficiencies?

And this isn’t just about the delivery of education. It’s also about designing experiences that meet the evolving needs of both students and teachers. After all, today’s education experience happens across multiple touchpoints and channels. Educators need the tools to stay ahead, whether it’s for connecting with students throughout their experience or enabling more efficient, intuitive, and personalized teaching and learning experiences.

The technology of choice used to power these interactions in education, and across dozens of industries, are digital communications APIs. API stands for Application Programming Interface. It’s a standard way to make a defined set of software functionalities available for any organization to use. 

Communications APIs make it easy for developers to add communication channels like voice, video, and messaging into any application or service.

Here are 10 ways communications APIs can help reimagine your education experience:

1. Make your service more affordable and expand access to education—anywhere, anytime

   Reduce course costs and help your students balance learning with their busy schedules by offering online learning through interactive live video, voice, and messaging
   

2. Take the administrative burden off teachers

    Relieve the administrative burden by automating communication with students and teachers so they can focus on what they do best.

3.  Expand your student base and grow enrollments

   For traditional higher education institutions, offering interactive online learning means you can increase student volume and compete on a national, or international stage. For example, The University of Missouri is using online learning to drive its plans to expand total enrollment from 75,000 to 100,000 students by 2023.
   

4. Speed students up towards course completion

   Online learning supported by digital communications can help institutions offer flexible programs that students can complete at their own pace. College for America, for‌ ‌instance, leverages communication technology to scale competency-based and self-paced education for up to 350,000 students who can earn an associate’s degree in as little as 100 days.

5. Boost student attendance and retention

   Automated lesson reminders for students and parents on their preferred channels can reduce absenteeism plus allow online platforms to efficiently plan around no-shows. 

6. Improve satisfaction and turn your students into advocates

   Offering students a secure, on-demand, and seamless learning experience available on their favorite channels drives high student satisfaction that keeps them engaged. Studies have shown that using social channels such as Facebook Messenger and WhatsApp to continue class discussions and communicate have improved student satisfaction and engagement.

7. Help students learn from global experts 

   Enable collaboration between specialists, experts, researchers, and renowned professors from around the world by using tools such as interactive video with screen sharing and annotation.

8. Help students achieve better outcomes

   Research has found that 70% of students perform better in a blended learning environment than face-to-face classes. Cater to all learning styles by offering a blended learning approach with live video and interactive collaboration alongside the traditional classroom. 

9. Bring context to the conversation

   Empower your teachers, tutors, and operational staff to provide efficient and intuitive customer service by giving them the right information and context about students at exactly the right moment through embedded, contextual communications. 

10. Increase trust and reduce fraud with simple phone verification

    Prevent fraud, improve security, and enhance trust by offering simple two-factor authentication at sign-up and across account activity, ensuring only legitimate students and teachers can access your platform.

So, while the education industry faces many pressures as it enters the post-COVID-19 era, opportunities are still there for the taking for those institutions who are willing to transform their student and teacher experiences.

Ready to reimagine your customer experience? Find out in our new guide to Reimagining Education.