Tech adoption lags due to digital literacy gap #GEI 53
This week, the Institute of International Education (IIE) reveals that an increasing number of Americans are going overseas for non-credit educational activities. Tracking non-credit programs are a challenge due to the nature of these activities but the IIE argues it is high time US institutions find better ways to capture their students’ participation and outcomes, especially with the increasing focus on internationalisation. Also, university rankings body QS highlights the importance of producing career-ready international graduates, as evidenced by its study demonstrating the greater emphasis postgraduate students place on employment outcomes.
In technology news, VideoBlocks reveals that teachers are not given enough training and funding to upskill their digital literacy capabilities. To mitigate this, MIT explores how an intermediary — called a “learning engineer” — can bridge this gap and develop EdTech not only to support learning and teaching, but to provide opportunities for teachers to upskill in this increasingly digitalised world.
In Australia, the Grattan Institute calls for a reduction in debt repayment thresholds from $54,126 to $42,000, which it reasons is important to protect teaching and research from cuts and to prevent soaring HELP costs. As we are all aware, mounting student debt is a problem in the US and it is crucial that Australia does not follow their footsteps.
Tech adoption lags due to digital literacy gap
A wide discrepancy exists between students and faculty when they evaluate each others’ digital literacy competency: While 49% of instructors consider themselves highly digitally literate, only 23% of students would agree. This is one of the key findings from an inaugural VideoBlocks report surveying over 300 educators and students on the state of digital media in higher education. The report reveals an overwhelming support for digital materials in educational environments but notes that overall adoption still lags due to two key barriers: 1) A lack of institutional support and funding, and 2) Ineffective training for faculty to learn about digital resources. This perpetuates one of the biggest frustrations quoted by students: teachers lag in technological capabilities. Higher education may have come a long way since the advent of digital media but going forward, the report stresses the importance for educators to continue closing this digital literacy gap and similarly, for universities to provide the necessary digital resources and funding to achieve this goal.
MIT expresses support for the ‘learning engineer’ and EdTech as education enablers
A newly released MIT report looks at the challenge of how both online and blended learning can be optimised by focusing on four areas: 1) Increasing interdisciplinary collaboration, 2) Promoting online educational technologies, 3) Supporting the ‘learning engineer’ profession, and 4) Fostering institutional and organisational change. Improvements to the learning experience will not occur spontaneously, and the report encourages the development of creative professionals or ‘learning engineers’ who bridge fields of education and create educational technologies to help teachers teach and students learn. Importantly, the report cements the role of teachers as essential to learning in ways that a computer program can never be — by providing context and mentoring, and fostering reflection and discussion. It argues for digital technologies to be promoted as education enablers so that teachers’ time can be freed up from conveying content to focusing on high-value in-person interactions with students.
American students express strong interest in going overseas for experiential learning despite not receiving academic credits
American students are pursuing a broader range of international educational activities despite not receiving academic credit for them. A survey by the US-based Institute of International Education (IIE) of over 200 campuses reveals key findings: 1) There is growing interest with almost half of institutions reporting an increase in students taking part in non-credit education abroad (NCEA) activities, 2) Mexico was the most popular destination, followed by China and Nicaragua, and 3) Volunteering abroad took the top spot with 42% of NCEA students. More than ever, institutions need to be prepared to meet the growing student demand for international experiences. This report kicks off an industry-wide discussion about reaching a common standard for fully documenting American students’ global experiences and proposes key recommendations to tackle this, namely around developing a common framework for tracking NCEA and partaking in continued research to understand the impact of NCEA on students’ academic achievement and career readiness.
Postgraduate students place greater emphasis on employment outcomes
A global survey of international postgraduate applicants by university rankings site QS finds that students are giving greater weight to employment outcomes when choosing to study abroad. “Personal interest” on the other hand, has declined as a motivating factor in favour of an interest in progressing one’s career path. In keeping with this sharper focus on employment goals, the 2015 survey finds a growing global interest in STEM subjects, particularly computer sciences and engineering. University reputation, affordability and location are also explored in the report to help recruiters understand the key motivations influencing prospective students. The report makes a host of recommendations to assist institutions in attracting international postgraduate students, including a focus on employability through establishing close partnerships with industry, providing data on employment rates, and offering information about employability-boosting opportunities such as internships and mentoring programs.
Grattan proposes lowering HELP repayment threshold for the future
As of mid-2015, $42 billion of Higher Education Loan Program (HELP) debt was outstanding in Australia and an estimated $1.6 billion lent to students in 2014–2015 was expected to go unrepaid. A Grattan Institute report calls for reducing the thresholds at which former students repay their debt from the current threshold of $54,126 to $42,000 in order to prevent soaring HELP costs and protect teaching and research from the risk of cuts. While the student loan scheme has played a pivotal role in greatly expanded tertiary education access, the report suggests that these changes are necessary because there are too many borrowers who either do not repay what they owe or take too long to clear their debts. One major reason for this is that a growing proportion of all graduates work part-time and earn less than the current threshold. The report proposes an incremental 8% gap between each income repayment threshold instead of the current, unsystematic gaps. Together with reducing the initial threshold, this reform would add at least 31% to annual HELP repayments, or more than $500 million.
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