Education In The Digital Future

A lot has been mentioned about the opportunities for business, innovative advances in technology, and how a number of entrepreneurs have accelerated their start-ups this past year. Less of a focus in the news is how education is changing, not just because of the pandemic, but for the purpose of flexibility, movement and convenience.

Keeping students busy, happy and motivated is a huge concern within all the ‘stop and start’ nature of the lockdowns throughout the year. Education can collide here with business, as there is a break from the traditional expectations of a standard classroom that has absolutely transformed for 2021.

VIPKid China is just one example of a unicorn start up, which seeks to link teachers in English speaking countries with Chinese children that seek to learn or build on their learning skills. Given the size of that country and the level for growth, the business has been a resounding success that has been scouting and recruiting teachers from Ireland, the U.K, the U.S, Australia, etc to an online role with fast results.

Some institutions are, as yet, not prepared for where they would like to be. It has become a necessity to not just plan, but accelerate an approach where time is very much of the essence in planning towards the future of education.

KAUST Submit Case Study

One such combination of focusing in on both education and business can be seen in one of Submit’s clients. KAUST are based in Saudi Arabia, and has an ongoing, innovative approach in that way. The ‘King Abdullah University of Science and Technology’ (to give its full title) runs an entrepreneur programme that is open to the faculty and students alike, focused on a number of projects.

Their aim is to connect investors and potential sponsors to the company. Roberto Ciaramaria, the head of innovation, is focused on both programming and in developing business projects. As the pandemic threatens to slow progress across similar fields, KAUST have been maintaining efficiency levels in working with Submit and benefiting through our innovation portal.

Their website explains that; ‘experts in a range of research domains including genomics, Machine Learning, marine science and more, are working with partners around the world to aid in the response to the COVID-19 pandemic.’

Such an outlook includes a lot of plans in terms of development throughout their online programme, and is expected to attract a large range of applicants. With restrictions considered, the most efficient way to do this would be in having the most efficient and effective system to ensure that students and business centred individuals can easily apply and adapt in terms of applications and having access to any required materials. The University has a creative mission in terms of job creation, and a positive focus in terms of research and development for the future.

More can be read in detail regarding KAUST’s operations and their specific partnership with us here at Submit.

Changing Roles

Crystal Sim is a supply teacher based in Ontario, Canada. The pandemic changed the perspective for teachers to adapt to ‘learning pods’, which would be conducted either online or in person with small groups. With restrictions and less time available, the need to adapt and apply for students became more than necessary, as Crystal explains ‘having less time to sign forms and contact supervisors meant that most of the process in finding new students had to be moved online.’

With that in mind, the entire education board of Toronto organised meetings focused on adapting to digital and alternative means with an emphasis on faster applications. This in turn meant that teachers took on a type of responsibility and ‘becoming more tech savvy, which is really an essential aspect of online teaching’ moving towards a form of digital education which could frankly be here to stay.

Similar to VIPkid, the choice for students in Ontario ranges from traditional and other means, and having this choice gives an idea of where the future of schools is headed. The important aspect is that education can continue in as smooth a transition as possible.

Specific Functions

At the University of Oxford in the UK, Dr Alison Cullinane is a lecturer in the Department of Education. For theirs and other third level institutions, there is a change that is rapidly taking place that has seen a move away from a lot of the traditional approaches to education. Oxford is such a noted and historic college that this is a bigger undertaking than it seems, given that so much of the academic side relies on papers, large libraries and similar resources.

Alison talks about how ‘The face to face aspect of schooling has led to a lot of zoom/skype/ Microsoft based calls between students and lecturers, which means less reliance on paper submissions and that trend will likely continue in the coming semesters.’

The University also provides ‘online surveys for masters, so that it’s a lot easier than compiling things in the background’ compared to how it would have been collected and arranged beforehand. There is also an emphasis on the institution’s own e-learning system known as ‘weblearn’ which gives lecturers, staff and students access to dropbox and similar file sharing programs.

 Additionally, all of this is backed up with cloud security, ensuring that submissions and vital work are kept safe. Connectivity and resources are clearly at a high level, and proof of how a move towards digital academic life is one which many third level institutions should focus on.

Academic Submissions and Submit

The best possible approach to this is a platform that can provide a flexible advantage when working with documents, files and relevant submissions in the academic industry. Submit is happy to guide with such an example, additionally providing fantastic customer support and help with every stage of the process. This will in turn back up and secure copies or reports, student documents, and benefit any other forms of administrative processes. Naturally, this saves time and effort in an industry which is constantly evolving and having to move at a fast pace with all of the changes 2020 has brought.

Another notable positive is in saving on printouts and paper, which is usually a large aspect of a school or university’s budget.

We are happy to provide all of these specific functions, as well as giving information specific on the features that an industry may favour. 

More can be accessed regarding academic submissions here.

Don’t hesitate to get in touch with a member of our team today for a free demo!