Future of Higher Education Technology

A Mediaplanet Guide to Digital Trends in Education Post-Pandemic

Future of Higher Education Technology

Daphne Koller The co-founder of Coursera and Engageli shares her views on technology’s role in the future of higher education

Learn how Johnson Controls prioritizes indoor air quality in educational facilities Discover how T-Mobile contributes to productivity in higher education with their 5G network

JUNE 2021 | EDUCATIONANDCAREERNEWS.COM

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Experts Share How Technology Can Optimize the Higher Education Experience Steve Wozniak Founder, WOZ ED

Teresa de Onis VP of Marketing, Apogee

Can you talk about the digital divide and what that means regarding education?

Steve Wozniak: Children learn what they have the opportunity to. Those without access to a computer and reliable internet lose opportunities to learn, yielding lower academic outcomes and less college and career readiness.

What challenges do colleges and universities have when changing their infrastructure to ensure student and institutional success?

Teresa de Onis: The biggest challenge I see is that higher education continues to design, build, and manage their IT infrastructure in-house. They miss the

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Tyler Smith Executive Director, Healthy Buildings Johnson Controls

opportunity to “rightsize.”

Small to mid-size institutions especially need to rethink this because continuing to do this work in-house is costing them. It’s costing them time, our most precious resource.

Second, they risk being unprepared to deliver the IT services needed for the successful hybrid/blended learning environments that will drive increased enrollment.

Tyler Smith: Infrastructure has a significant impact on students, educators, and staff.

Healthy, safe, and comfortable campus environments empower people to perform better, help students advance academically, and attract people onto a campus. Even though colleges and universities can invest significantly in

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Kathleen Gibson CEO and Founder, APL nextED

their infrastructures, people may not always notice the effect a building environment has on their quality of life.

Infrastructure improvements can be as simple as LED lights that adjust the available light or more complex, scientific-based clean air solutions that filter out irritants such as mold, pollution, allergens, viruses, and bacteria. Buildings can also be more interactive with touchless access-control systems and sophisticated building security measures.

What kinds of technology should colleges and universities be looking to invest in?

Kathleen Gibson: Higher education administration, particularly academic operations,

Jim Hoefflin President, CBORD

has traditionally been siloed and highly decentralized. This has had implications related to cost, efficiency, and data transparency and has even impacted how technology buying decisions are made at many institutions.

Most institutions of higher learning have recognized that the cost of siloed and decentralized operations is not sustainable. For these institutions, the better way to buy software is to bring various stakeholders together to establish institutional software needs and priorities and to look for comprehensive solutions that are ultimately less expensive, more efficient, and create greater cohesion among teams and data.

Jim Hoefflin: Students want easy, quick access to campus

services and prefer to use a mobile device or smartwatch instead of a plastic ID card.

Many of our university partners have implemented a mobile application to manage campus card activity or have enabled student IDs in mobile wallets for completely contactless access and payments.

What areas should institutions prioritize in 2021 and 2022?

JH: Remote access to software applications, contactless transactions to minimize germ transmission, and labor-optimizing infrastructure were all key to safely reopening campuses in fall 2020. Challenged by difficulties fully staffing positions in IT and foodservice/retail, we see these as critical components in the coming months and years, and believe cloudbased technology, mobile access and payments, and self-service solutions can enhance safety and adaptability of campus services.

How can underserved communities learn about resources that are available to them?

SW: School systems respond to what metrics they are accountable for. If we make preparing students for life a priority at the state and national level, underserved communities will seek out resources to help them achieve those goals. n

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What to Know About Accessing Federal Student Aid Each year, the office of Federal Student Aid in the U.S. Department of Education provides more than $115 billion in federal grants, loans, and work-study funds to help millions of students fulfill their potential at more than 5,600 postsecondary schools.

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he United States leads the world today in promoting opportunity through broad access to higher education.

And access to federal student aid begins with the free application for federal student aid form, known as the FAFSA form for short. The FAFSA form can also unlock opportunities for grants and scholarships from states, schools, and private organizations. Because some sources of aid have limited funds, it makes sense to submit the FAFSA form as early as possible for the year ahead.

Completing the FAFSA form — whether for first-time or returning applicants — is a key step to prepare for educational opportunities beyond high school. In many ways, the COVID-19 crisis has made these choices even harder than before. Higher education certainly can help pave the way to prosperity, but many students and families face tough decisions about the cost of higher education, especially right now.

Declining numbers We are concerned to see a notable decline in the number of new students who have completed the 2021–22 FAFSA form. Compared to the same time last year, first-time FAFSA submissions by high school seniors have declined by

almost 6 percent. That means nearly 113,000 fewer high school seniors will be pursuing their dreams of higher education. They are missing out on the financial aid that is available to help make their dreams a reality.

To reverse this trend, we are aggressively promoting FAFSA completion, knowing that each student counts. We have asked education leaders in all 50 states and the District of Columbia to join us in making FAFSA completion a priority for high school seniors. Many have responded in the spirit

we intended; one state is even using TikTok, the popular video-sharing platform, to engage and encourage students.

Getting started We are also doing our part to make it easier for students and parents to get trusted information about federal student aid programs and submit the FAFSA form.

Today, anyone can learn about and apply for federal student aid at StudentAid. gov. This enhanced website provides general information about all aspects of federal

student aid. Visitors who log in with their username and password (FSA ID) can also access a personalized dashboard that summarizes their aid information and gives them relevant content and checklists to help navigate the financial aid process.

One of the newest features on StudentAid.gov is Aidan®, our virtual assistant that can answer more than 3,000 variations of frequently asked questions about federal student aid. Aidan is now available to all StudentAid.gov visitors — whether they are logged in

or not — to help guide them to trusted information and resources.

Likewise, our myStudentAid mobile app can supply students and parents with trusted information about applying for federal student aid. From the convenience of a mobile device, students and parents can create an account, complete the 2021–22 FAFSA form, and access personalized dashboards and checklists.

They can also receive helpful push notifications and access Aidan, which we just added to the mobile app.

We have also built in enhanced help topics throughout the FAFSA form. In addition, students and parents can get help filling out the FAFSA form in a variety of ways: • Visit StudentAid.gov/ resources • Connect with us on Twitter (@FAFSA) • Speak with a customer service representative at 1-800-4-FED-AID (1-800433-3243) We are eager to help students and families more easily navigate their path to higher education. The life-changing decision to submit the FAFSA form can open new doors to the future. n Richard Cordray, Chief Operating Officer, Federal Student Aid

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The Transformation Happening Within Graduate Education Programs Graduate education today is experiencing transformation in several key areas: digitalization, programs, and student expectations.

The metrics for student success have focused on the following rates: retention, graduation, class evaluation, or successful job placements. A student’s ability to apply the content learned, create effective teaming, and apply critical thinking in solving the problems of today is often overlooked. In 2020, new uses of technology for engagement and teaming were applied.

Class sessions became remote.

Students were grouped into teams, where they could utilize “breakout rooms” for discussions amongst themselves. This allowed for deeper discussion and learning. A heavy use of Canvas (a web-based learning management system) was implemented, enabling students to have access to all course information, submissions, and a place to share ideas. Zoom sessions included exercises, team sessions, and guest speakers.

Looking ahead In solving real life societal problems effectively, you must embrace diversity. By doing so, you are able to identify diverse needs and utilize techniques and expertise, forming an authentic style as well as a unique solution.

We should be setting the examples and creating the experiences so that the students can learn and apply their learnings themselves. These actions are at the heart of effective educational delivery. By transforming our approach to learning, the students are enabled to be successful in their futures.

Sheryl Root, Program Director, M.S. Technology Ventures, Carnegie Melon University

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Rethinking Higher Ed in Wake of the Pandemic and Protests Higher education is experiencing a period of intense transformation as we adapt to the new realities presented by the novel coronavirus. Carefully laid plans for the spring semester went awry and the fall semester required agile planning as colleges and universities confronted an ever-evolving — but, in most places, not improving — COVID-19 landscape over the summer.

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ut with such a profound disruption came an opportunity to take stock of our values, and be innovative and intentional as we plan for the future. Embedded in these values should be a vision for society that relies on postsecondary education to expand knowledge, equity, and social progress.

This notion is especially relevant as we seek to right systemic injustices perpetrated against Black Americans and other people of color in our country, and call for increased efforts to close racial gaps in opportunities and outcomes. It is incumbent on all higher education leaders to build a better, more equitable system.

Learner success To do so, it is essential to weave learner success into the missions and fabric of higher education institutions as they recover and rebuild. We purposefully use learner here, rather than student, as a more inclusive term that recognizes demographic changes, shifts toward learner-centered models of program delivery, and lifelong learning that may occur outside of traditional credit programming on college campuses.

Success is defined broadly here as well, encompassing not only persistence and completion, but also career readiness and life design. Life design helps learners gain agency as

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they explore career options, choose a concentration, and reflect on the purpose of postsecondary education. This fresh take on career services develops proactive programming to help all students create life and career plans while pursuing their education.

These philosophical underpinnings have given rise to the American Council on Education’s Learner Success Laboratory (LSL). This program exemplifies how institutions can integrate evidence-based practices to develop a comprehensive strategy for learner success.

The LSL is an assessment and change management experience for college and university administrators that facilitates continuous improvement through intentional transformation of institutional systems, processes, programs, and culture.

Getting started The pilot cohort of the LSL will begin work in October. Over 12-18 months, participating institutions will form campus-wide strategy teams to conduct a facilitated review of existing activities and capacities related to learner success, analyze their findings through the lens of their institutional missions, and draft a plan to align and integrate policies, programs, and initiatives to support learner success and build capacity to respond to an uncertain future.

The adult learner struggling to provide a decade-old high school

transcript, the first-generation student deterred by unfamiliar language, and the student experiencing food insecurity on campus will all benefit as their institutions gain tools to remove such barriers.

Participating colleges and universities will root their strategies in research made accessible through a dynamic resource library, an extensive literature review conducted by the American Council on Education (ACE), and survey data provided by the cohort’s funder, Strada Education Network.

One important insight from this work is the connection between the perceived relevance of individuals’ higher education experiences and the perceived value of higher education. LSL institutions also will receive individualized support and guidance from ACE and a diverse team of expert advisors with wide-ranging experience in higher education.

Going forward, higher education will not look like it has in past years.

We cannot go back, but if we have the courage to critically examine our work and keep learner success at the heart of every decision we make for fall 2020 and beyond, our “new normal” can better deliver on the democratic promise of higher education. n Philip Rogers, Senior Vice President, Learning and Engagement; Lindsey Myers, Director, Professional Learning, American Council on Education (ACE)

The Trends of Digital Transformation in Higher Education Maya Georgieva, COO and co-founder of Digital Bodies, an immersive learning consulting group, shares her thoughts on the inevitable digitization of higher education.

What are your thoughts on the future of higher education?

We are continuously exploring and understanding the use and impact of extended reality (XR) on education, the workforce, and society. By the end of this decade and under the umbrella term of XR, the use of virtual, augmented, and mixed reality, as well as 360-degree video, will permeate our daily lives in ways mobile does today. Headsets like the Oculus Quest 2 are becoming lighter, more flexible, and powerful, and Silicon Valley

will be delivering augmented-reality glasses by 2023.

The convergence of emerging technologies and artificial intelligence will lead to novel applications and solutions that transport us into multisensory virtual worlds or seamlessly integrate digital content into the real world. As learning institutions continue their exploration of immersive learning, there is little doubt in my mind that XR will profoundly reshape learning and, ultimately, our human experience.

In the future, learning will take the shape of a story, a play, or a game with many quests, involving multiple platforms and players, driven by dialogue, and augmented with technology.

Learning will be an interplay of immersive experiences, data, and highly social

virtual worlds. The major challenges in the future will be to provide access to these new learning experiences across the globe and to address the ethical challenges society will face as the boundaries between our real and virtual lives disappear.

What are some of the trends in higher education technology today?

I think the major trend today for higher education is digital transformation, which is a journey rather than a destination. It is recognizing the opportunity enabled by the advances in technology that includes social, cloud, data science, artificial intelligence, and, of course, extended reality, or XR. It also recognizes the need for a cultural shift

in how our institutions work. It inspires an urgency to create new business models for education. Digital transformation is not about adopting a single technology but rather embracing the convergence of these technologies to drive better student outcomes, as well as explore innovative approaches for teaching, learning, and research.

Digital transformation in higher education does not happen in a vacuum and is shaped by social, political, economic, and increasingly environmental trends that take place in the world at large. In a rapidly changing and digital world, equity, diversity, ethics, and inclusion present critical questions that require immediate action. Institutions need to adopt rapid decision-making approaches in addressing their strategic priorities. n

How Higher Education Can Turn Admissions Into Advantage Well before the pandemic, higher education institutions were confronted with a challenge with numerous causes — a disruption in student enrollment. The shrinking high school graduate population, lack of academically prepared prospects, and increased skepticism about the value of a college education had created a formidable dilemma. Now, COVID-19 has exacerbated the issue. In 2020, undergraduate enrollment declined 4.4 percent nationally and first-year enrollment fell 13 percent.

At the same time, the increase in online learning, cross-registration, and hybrid institutions means that institutions have more competition for the same

pool of students. In fact, the number of students taking online classes is projected to double globally by 2025, representing $75 billion in spending.

But there’s good news: despite an uncertain future, innovative technology solutions are available now to help institutions fortify and improve their recruiting capabilities.

Exceeding expectations To successfully target and attract the right students, more institutions are turning to comprehensive, efficient recruitment systems, like Ellucian’s CRM Recruit. This flexible platform offers student prospects a modern, userfriendly way to engage, apply, and enroll as they move through their journey — critical for students who today expect

a simple, elegant, and consumer-like experience in everything they do.

More than 2,700 higher ed institutions in 50+ countries rely on Ellucian’s technology to enhance operations and enrich the education of 26 million students. In the recruiting realm, Ellucian’s CRM Recruit is a cloud-based application designed to help institutions connect with best-fit applicants and improve enrollment yield. CRM Recruit streamlines outreach and delivers personalized experiences while empowering efficiency and impact for recruitment staff through automated processes and actionable data.

Turning admissions into advantage Designed specifically for the needs of higher education, CRM Recruit gets

results. One in 3 CRM Recruit customers saw an increase in their enrollment yield, and almost half saw an increase in their overall enrollment.

At Southeast Arkansas College, director of recruitment, Deborah Pyland, is enthused by CRM Recruit’s ability to help them optimize their efforts. “It’s exciting to look at our various recruitment initiatives and see where we’re getting the biggest bang for our efforts.” n Sharon Loeb, Senior Vice President, Ellucian

To learn more about CRM Recruit, visit ellucian.com/Recruit.

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The Future of Technology’s Role in Higher Education Learning

Why Integrated Planning Is the Future of Higher Education

Brandon Busteed, CPO and global head of Learn-Work Innovation at Kaplan, says success in the classroom relies on a blend of technology and personal skills.

What are challenges universities face when changing their infrastructure to ensure student and institutional success?

To foster an environment where every student has some form of a mentoring relationship, as well as a work-integrated learning experience, it requires colleges and universities to shift their cultures and reward systems. What if the reward system was more like a “mentor or meander” approach where faculty are recognized more for student mentoring and teaching? What if the “extra-curricular” activities or work opportunities were embedded in the academic core of the institution where students get credit for internships or co-ops?

What are your thoughts on hybrid learning, and is the college experience worth it if completely online?

Coming out of the pandemic, there is certainly strong demand for a return to in-person, campus-based education. But the majority of students still desire the option to take classes online. In fact, in a recent survey at Duke University, only 3 percent of staff and faculty want to return to campus five days a week, while 36 percent want to remain remote full-time.

How does higher education benefit career paths or create value and new opportunities?

A college degree, with several caveats included, still provides a strong boost to career earnings compared to not having a degree. But with rising tuition costs and significant doubts about the work readiness of college graduates, there’s growing evidence that students are turning toward other pathways to a job.

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Twenty-twenty was one of the most volatile years in world history. We now find ourselves examining the impact of the global pandemic and thinking, “What next?” In my opinion, integrated planning is what’s next.

Over the past year, institutions of higher education found ways to adapt to the pandemic. Nearly all utilized their existing technology platforms to move their academic portfolio to virtual delivery. Additionally, institutions made accommodations for their workforce.

Now, higher education leaders are determining what to carry forward from the experience of the pandemic.

In my humble opinion, institutions should forget the “new normal.” This is a liminal moment for higher education. Incremental change will not do.

This is the moment for transformative change. So, instead of leaping into the future armed with a handful of tactics that worked during a crisis, institutional leaders need to take a breath and engage in a disciplined, integrated planning process.

The future of integrated planning What is integrated planning? At the Society for College and University Planning, we define integrated planning as, “a sustainable approach to planning that builds relationships, aligns the organization, and emphasizes readiness for change.” The three engines behind integrated planning are relationships, alignment, and change readiness. Integrated planning, like any planning endeavor, relies on

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relationships. Cross-functional, collaborative relations provide the energy for integrated planning. Alignment defines the infrastructure for planning. Successful integrated planning requires that institutions be aligned up, down, and side-ways. It is not enough that a division is internally aligned.

Recommendations for the future Any planning effort begins with environmental scanning. My first recommendation is to review EDUCAUSE’s most recent Horizon report for teaching and learning. This document is a fabulous environmental scan focused on learning technology.

Second, remember that your technology solutions need to be calibrated to your multiple stakeholder groups. Students will have different technology needs than faculty and staff. In addition, do not underestimate the support infrastructure for a more technology-rich teaching, learning, and working environment. Do not under-resource the technology and the human support for your environment. I cannot emphasize enough the need for human resources for the shift to technology.

Third, when it comes to learning technology, focus on the learning first, then the technology. This requires careful academic planning. Engage the faculty at the beginning of the planning process.

Finally, remember that the environment will change.

The environment will shift quickly. Be prepared. n Nicolas R. Santilli, Ph.D., Senior Director for Learning Strategy, John Carroll University

Navigating the Pitfalls of Hybrid Learning in Higher Education The COVID-19 pandemic forced many schools to implement hybrid classroom technology capable of serving both in-person and remote students in a hurry.

Our campus made the decision to have in-person instruction for fall 2020, as well as a hybrid approach with some students on campus and others remote.

The semester began with 250 newly upgraded hybrid classrooms where we added additional audio and video devices, electronic whiteboards, and document cameras. The goal was for each instructor to teach with in-person students while simultaneously using Zoom to teach to remote students, with

the quality of the video and audio broadcast being of utmost importance.

Hybrid test taking introduced issues of fairness between each course’s in-person and remote students. Most agreed that the remote students had an advantage because of that group’s easy access to additional materials during an exam without the instructor knowing. For that reason, we asked faculty to deliver all exams online so that every student had the same experience and no particular advantage. However, rapid implementation of fully online testing also increased student anxiety, because if there was a technology problem during an exam, getting help during an active test from either faculty or IT proved extremely difficult.

Major takeaways From an administrative perspective, we learned to come together to acquire, analyze, and make decisions utilizing available data. Whether with local, national, or campus data, we were challenged to aggregate various data sets in ways that allowed the university leadership to make decisions quickly.

However, while faculty have shown that they can teach remotely, students have been clear that the on-campus experience is their main priority.

Students provided helpful feedback on the hybrid semesters. They liked pre-recorded lectures so that they can view materials both before and after class.

They did not like when the pre-recorded

How Educators Can Customize Their Digital Transformation It’s been a busy year of distance and hybrid learning, and education leaders are looking for ways to navigate their digital transformation — one that brings significant and long-lasting changes to culture and policy, workforce and professional development, and education technology roadmaps.

“Educational institutions clearly need to be prepared for whatever may be coming next,” says Marc Oswald, co-founder and CEO of Open Assessment Technologies. “What they are discovering now are not just the problems or difficulties they faced during the pandemic, but they are also seeing the upside of a more digital approach

because it opens the door to new ways of learning.”

Digital assessment solution For over a decade, TAO by Open Assessment Technologies — the only digital assessment solution built on open standards — has been a trailblazer in their commitment to digital transformation, evolving with the needs of today’s learners to help support tomorrow’s leaders.

TAO is the standard for delivering assessment and learning excellence based on open technologies, serving a community of global users and helping education leaders collect meaningful data that connects learning to assessment. As a partner to institutions across the world, the TAO team has leveraged

their years of expertise in digital transformation to help education leaders navigate the challenges brought on by the pandemic.

Supporting the learning experience This digital transformation does not only include moving traditional assessment to online assessment. For example, there are also data questions, interoperability, and formatting issues to handle.

Tom Hoffmann, TAO’s director of Product Strategy & Solutions advises educators to think about the whole online education ecosystem and how all the pieces operate together.

“Interoperable systems support the teaching experience, the learning experience, and give administrators insight

lectures took the place of live discussion.

Students appreciate that all classes now use the campus learning management system, and they have appealed to campus leadership that this use continues beyond the pandemic.

When asked about overall effectiveness of each teaching modality, students cited engagement to be the best when attending in-person classes. This was followed by fully online, entirely synchronous classes due to the simplicity. Next down the list in satisfaction was the hybrid class, not because it was a poor experience, but because of the overall complexity to course delivery. In the very last place was the fully asynchronous, fully online course featuring no live interaction with either on-campus classrooms or remote Zoom discussion. When too much of a course is done without face-to-face interaction or Zoom meetings, the student engagement level dropped off. n Michael Hites, Chief Information Officer, Southern Methodist University

into what’s happening in their learning ecosystems,” he says.

TAO prides itself on being a partner in education.

“We pay a lot of attention to the overall data flow across the entire ecosystem, not just within our own application, but how it relates to the others,” says Oswald. “I think that that approach really is where you go from being a vendor or supplier to a partner, because you look at the full picture, and understand the customer’s broader needs. We can plan more innovative approaches to how they want to take their digital transformation.” n Samantha Leonard, Marketing Communications Manager, Open Assessment Technologies

To learn more about what TAO can do for eLearning, visit taotesting.com

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Is Online College Worth It? Futurist, author, and senior scholar at Georgetown University Bryan Alexander reflects on the college experience during the pandemic and beyond.

How does higher education benefit career paths?

Colleges and universities help students think more critically and work more effectively with other people, while also equipping them with the mental habits needed in different positions and fields.

What resources are necessary to help students thrive in higher education programs?

Financial support is necessary, which is more difficult given the pandemic and related economic struggles. Also, academic preparation is essential, which requires improving grade school curriculum, as well as increasing available online resources for DIY learners.

Is online college worth it?

College degrees can be powerful aids to a graduate on the job market. Also, the experience of learning from knowledgeable people in an environment designed for learning is valuable. Post-COVID higher education is recommitted to improving learning, and each case of individual learning is good for society as a whole.

Why Analytics Can Save Higher Education Access to data and analytics has grown exponentially over the past decade for many organizations — including institutions of higher education. Greater access to data and analytic tools can provide college and university leaders with the information they need to solve some of higher education’s most pressing challenges: declining student enrollment, inefficient resource allocation, stagnant graduation rates, and changing funding models.

Access to data and analytics has grown exponentially over the past decade for many organizations — including institutions of higher education. However, the change-making potential of analytics remains largely unrealized at most colleges and universities. Institution-wide adoption is slow, or lacks appropriate financial or leadership support; results are not shared or campus stakeholders don’t understand how to link results to action.

Saving higher education In a shared call to action, the Association for Institutional Research (AIR), EDUCAUSE, and the National

Association of College and University Business Officers (NACUBO) urge higher education leaders to act now to better leverage data and analytics for the benefit of students and their institutions. The joint statement “Analytics can save higher education. Really.” emphasizes six core principles that lay the groundwork for effective implementation, and sustained use of data and analytics as part of a data-informed institutional culture.

1. Go big: Make an institutional commitment to analytics.

2. Invest what you can: You can’t afford not to.

3. Analytics is a team sport: Build your dream team.

4. Analytics has real impact on real people: Avoid the pitfalls.

5. Prepare: Be ready for some detours on the road to success.

6. Tick-tock, tick-tock: The time to act is now.

In action Some forward-looking institutions are already using data and analytics as strategic assets to transform their institutional cultures, and increase the success of all students. The Uni-

versity of North Texas (UNT), for example, uses data, analytic tools, and predictive analytics to help with the institution’s strategic priorities. In response to a year with little to no growth in new student enrollment, the school’s data, analytics, and institutional research office partnered with colleagues from the enrollment management and finance offices to examine how to optimize and incentivize more potential students who were accepted to UNT as new students.

Leveraging technology In New York, Ithaca College is embracing a data-informed institutional culture. Since 2016, Ithaca has transformed its institutional research and information technology offices from disconnected functions with little interaction, to closely aligned strategic partners under new and future-focused leadership.

Higher education leaders can make a difference by actively embracing the power and promise of data and analytics for better decision-making, and empowering others across their institutions to use the information as well.

Data and analytics are powerful tools, and using them properly can truly create a brighter future for higher education. n Christine Keller, Executive Director and CEO, AIR; John O’Brien, President and CEO, EDUCAUSE; Whealler Johnston, President and CEO, NACUBO

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Visit T-Mobile.com/HigherEd to see how T-Mobile can deliver what’s next for your college or university.

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How One Company Is Helping Higher Ed Prepare for the Future The pandemic has been a disruptor for higher education, exposing areas that can be improved for students and higher education institutions.

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early 20 percent of respondents in a study of U.S. college students reported having difficulty maintaining access to technology, including broken hardware, data limits, and connectivity problems. The same study showed that students of lower socioeconomic status and students of color disproportionately experienced hardships, resulting in lower grade point averages.

Now wireless “un-carrier” T-Mobile is partnering with institutions so they can better serve their students, on campus and off.

“The focus in higher ed is on strategic partnerships with universities and to solve not only the technical challenges that the universities face, but those challenges of access right and equity that students are facing,” says Michael Kubit, former Penn State CIO, who’s currently a T-Mobile higher education industry segment advisor.

Solutions Preparing students for the future starts by giving them access to the best tools and technology today.

As part of their T-Mobile for Higher Education program, the wireless company is helping higher education institutions solve connectivity challenges

and provides access to technology and equity for students.

For example, the company, which is America’s largest 5G network, is providing wireless connectivity to up to 2,000 students at Western Governors University (WGU), the nation’s largest nonprofit online university. This is helping close the digital divide and creating more equitable access to online higher education opportunities for students of color, and those from lower income households, as well as students in rural areas, who otherwise wouldn’t have reliable broadband access.

“Coming out of the pandemic and into the next chapter of things, we now realize that it’s almost never going to be good enough to rely

only on in-person, in-room education,” says Tim Johnson, director of IoT sales in the public sector at T-Mobile.

The goals are to level the playing field for all students, and for learning experiences to be seamless and safe, whether students are distance learning or in-person. When everyone has equitable access and connectivity, students and educators benefit from a better overall learning experience.

“They can literally have a hybrid classroom where it feels like everybody’s in the room, even if everybody’s not in the room,” he says.

This is another way T-Mobile is connecting students. Last year, they launched Project 10Million, a $10.7B initiative

offering free internet connectivity — including wireless hotspots, free high-speed data, and access to low-cost laptops and tablets — to millions of underserved K-12 student households. Through this and other initiatives, they’ve connected over 2.5 million students across the country with free or highly subsidized service.

Improved infrastructure Universities are focused on the pillars of safety: fiscal optimization, health and wellness, sustainability, and environment and life experience.

Now, T-Mobile is helping institutions update and streamline their campuses with automation and IoT tools.

“How do you help a univer-

sity focus on its core business, which is teaching and learning, research, and outreach?” asks Kubit. “As a CIO, my thinking was always to drive down the operational and capital costs of commodity technologies and redirect those savings to invest in innovation and those things that differentiate the university or contribute to the core mission.”

The company has built an infrastructure that can transform campuses with fully integrated plans, such as panic buttons, leak detection, smart refrigeration, noise control, air quality, digital signage, and more.

Johnson says IoT can make campuses “healthier, safer, and smarter.” It can also help improve a university’s efficiency and overall costs. The infrastructure can empower new ways of learning at colleges and universities, large and small, and provide greater access and equity for students. n

Kristen Castillo

Now is the time to implement these tools. To find out more, including how your institution can get started, visit t-mobile.com/highered.

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Higher Education Technology Provides New Opportunities for Students Curriculum and EdTech consultant Monica Burns, Ed.D., says traditional methods of connecting with college students are becoming a thing of the past.

How important is it to consider each student’s unique needs in optimizing the higher education experience?

Considering each student’s unique needs is an important component of optimizing their higher education experience. Beyond student body surveys or roundtable discussions, students should have an opportunity to voice their individual concerns and advocate for accommodations that might include flexibility in scheduling, building out an independent study, and working with the support of mentors.

How does including educators in a university’s decision-making improve outcomes for students and faculty?

When educators are part of the conversation, they can provide insight into classroom and campus experiences that other stakeholders may not have firsthand knowledge of. University faculty members that serve a role within their respective industries can also bring insight into the requests and expectations of potential employers.

What are the trends in higher education technology?

This year has presented very specific challenges for higher education in supporting students through traditional means. I believe that a hybrid model for many institutions will become the norm, not just in graduate programs, but throughout the undergraduate education experience.

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How to Prevent Air Pollution Inside

Bruce White, vice president of American Environmental Specialists and member of the Indoor Air Quality Association, shares important things to know about preventing air pollution.

What are some of the first things that come to mind when you think about indoor air quality issues in the home or in the workplace?

Indoor air quality issues are a combination of a variety of things.

The three primary components of indoor air quality are particulate matter, vapors, and gases. From the particulate level, we worry about particles that are smaller than 10 microns because you can inhale them deep into your lungs. So, when we think about things that can poorly affect air quality, it’s typically what you probably can’t see or smell. For example, say you’ve been in a meeting with a large number of cohorts and all of the sudden everyone in the room starts to get a little sleepy, it’s likely because carbon dioxide levels are rising.

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What about pollution issues such as asbestos?

The EPA outlawed asbestos in 1989, so there are many different materials that contain levels for asbestos, from soil to roof coverings that were banned from production.

Unfortunately, there are buildings that exist today that utilized those materials and were grandfathered in post-outlaw. Another reason why this issue is still present today is because we import building materials from countries that do not have standards and regulations that we do in regard to asbestos.

What impact do environmental disasters have on indoor air quality? What are some of the first steps you should take if you have suffered a catastrophe and are concerned about your indoor air quality?

The first thing they should do is go to one of the government websites and look at some of the resources available. Both the federal and

state agencies have information that can be readily retrieved online.

If you’re looking at something like a wildfire, for example, smoke is a fine particulate that causes allergic and asthmatic reactions in certain people. A wildfire can also produce serious toxins when chemical building materials are consumed and released through smoke and char. After last year with the number of hurricanes and floods that affected Americans, all the water entering those houses is extremely toxic. It’s a huge mix of stuff from organic oils that have been in the ground to man-made chemical materials and it is hugely important that people who are affected by water damage in this sense take a high degree of precaution.

Any final remarks you would like people to know about indoor air quality?

The human population spends 80 percent of their time in a building, so it is really important to remember that we want that air to be as clean as possible. n

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The Link Between Healthy Campuses, Healthy People, and Better Learning

As parents re-assess in-person education for their kids, one company is leading the way to healthier campuses.

The global pandemic has reminded us of the importance of the air we breathe.

Americans spend 90 percent of their time indoors, where the concentration of pollutants is 2-5 times higher. And research shows that indoor air quality (IAQ), lighting, noise pollution, and other aspects of the indoor environment have a powerful impact on students — and staff — and their ability to focus and perform.

Investing in the health and safety of our higher education infrastructure is an investment in our collective futures.

“The pandemic forced us to rethink and acknowledge the opportunity and responsibility we have to leverage the vast capabilities and services in our healthy buildings business segment,” Tyler Smith recently told the Healthy Air podcast.

Smith is the executive director of healthy buildings at Johnson Controls, a global leader in sustainable, healthy building technology. “A digitally connected building is really key.”

Healthier, safer interiors To truly learn well, everyone — that’s students and teachers — must feel safe, comfortable and able to concentrate and participate. While most people think about temperature right away when they imagine comfort, there are many factors, including noise, light or dark, pollen or mold, vibration, and humidity, that all must be optimal to create a great learning environment. That’s why infrastructure has a significant impact on students, educators, and staff. While ventilation and filtration strategies supported by regular monitoring and maintenance apply to almost every building, indoor air quality isn’t a discrete problem. Buildings are complex systems, and higher education campuses are home to clinics,

labs, and other environments with specific requirements when it comes to indoor health and safety.

Johnson Controls has introduced their OpenBlue Healthy Buildings, a blueprint for healthier buildings focused on three pillars: healthy people, healthy places, and a healthy planet. “By leveraging those three pillars,” Smith says, “we help in not only connecting our capabilities externally with our customers, but we also provide some guardrails to future development.”

Indoor air quality isn’t just about the spread of disease — mold, allergens, and smoke from nearby wildfires can impact IAQ significantly.

To help keep people healthy, OpenBlue Healthy Buildings offers agile, connected technologies such as thermal cameras, contact and exposure tracing, touchless access, as well as clean air solutions such as ventilation, filtration, disinfection, isolation, and monitoring. As it’s equally

important to protect against physical threats, OpenBlue Healthy Buildings also connects safety technologies such as notification systems, gunshot detection, and visitor management systems. Plus, tools such as energy use and sourcing kiosks combined with more efficient and smart HVAC technology reduce the overall carbon footprint of the campus and aid in sustainability efforts.

Powerful partnerships Johnson Controls is leading the charge for smarter, more connected campuses. “We’re not just trying to sell our customers a HEPA filter or a UV light,” Smith noted. “We educate our clients on scientific-based technologies and help them understand what to do, how to do it, and how to ensure the health, safety, and wellness of their stakeholders.” The company also recently partnered with the International WELL Building Institute (IWBI) to promote the WELL Building

Standard (WELL), which certifies buildings to promote a culture of health and wellness.

Johnson Controls partners with colleges and universities around the world in building a better future, and Smith believes healthier buildings are part of the new normal. “Johnson Controls is proud to work alongside leaders in higher education to make their campuses better than they were pre-pandemic. By investing in healthier, smarter buildings, we can help campus administrators keep the well-being of their students, faculty, and staff first and foremost while also being good stewards of their environment and communities. ” n Jeff Somers

To learn more about what Johnson Controls can do for you, visit www.johnsoncontrols.com/ openblue/openblue-clean-air.

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Experts Talk Rolling Out New Technology for College Students Experts discuss the future of higher education and how students require optimization and personalization in their learning process.

How important is it to consider each student’s unique needs in optimizing their higher education experience?

Mike Tholfsen: Empowering all learners is a crucial aspect to the higher education experience, and in particular when it comes to accessibility and assistive technology. Often, we’ve heard that students would rather “go without than stand out,” which is why we’ve designed our free accessibility tools to be built-in, mainstream, and non-stigmatizing. A few examples are speech-to-text, screen readers, and text prediction tools.

Mariam Tariq: In today’s highly competitive — and online — environment, institutions are competing with one another for student enrollments and revenue like never before. Students are the consumer, and savvy institutions know they must appeal to them with modern experiences — including technology — that will streamline their

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lives and take into account their unique individual needs. With this in mind, we recently launched Ellucian Experience, a new platform to simplify everyday tasks and access to essential information through a personalized dashboard, linking people, processes, and applications.

The more we can do to personalize and improve the experience for students overall, the more they can focus on learning and what matters most.

What should faculty members be thinking about when adopting and rolling out new technology for students?

Marc Oswald: There are a number of considerations to be taken into account when rolling out new assessment technology for students, including ease-of-use, accessibility, integration with existing systems, and data collection. For instance, the solution should follow universal design principles, offering an intuitive user interface for both students and administrators. Tools need to be available to support the test-taker experience so that all students have a fair opportunity to demonstrate what they’ve learned. Universities also

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Mike Tholfsen Principal Group Product Manager, Microsoft Education

Mariam Tariq Senior Vice President Product Management, Ellucian

Marc Oswald Co-Founder and CEO, Open Assessment Technologies

must consider how the assessment system will integrate with their other digital tools to provide a complete snapshot into student learning.

At the same time, they must think about how the data they collect can better inform teaching practices.

What areas should institutions prioritize in 2021 and 2022?

What are your thoughts on the future of higher education?

Oswald: Colleges need to implement “open enterprise architecture” solutions to ensure a fully interoperable ecosystem. If faculties continue to choose their own IT tools, data will be locked-in to countless silos, and the student journey will suffer immensely as a result of that.

At the same time, colleges need to provide clear guidelines and instructions to faculties to ensure whatever tools they select neatly fit into the university-wide system.

Tariq: No matter what modality or format lies ahead — online, in-person, or a hybrid of both — it is clear that there will be an even greater need to drive strong experiences for students. As technology continues to evolve, users expect and deserve “consumer-grade” experiences. The same modern look, interaction, and usability that we all are used to in other aspects of our lives should apply for all digital environments, including in higher education. Along these lines, personalization will be more important than ever. Institutions need to provide more than a generic experience, leveraging data to support the individual needs of each student. As such, the future of higher education will be powered by data. While institutions have the data now, to be truly powerful, it needs to be aggregated and integrated across platforms and modeled in a way that makes it actionable. With actionable data, higher education leaders are empowered to make informed decisions that drive to specific student success outcomes, which is the reason we all are here. n

Tholfsen: Given the challenges and burdens put on higher education students during the pandemic, the most important area to focus on in the year ahead is inclusive and accessible technology.

Content needs to be engaging and inclusive for all learners, including blind/low-vision students, deaf and hard of hearing students, those with dyslexia, and non-native speakers. It is critical for universities to ensure that the students who need the most assistance are able to engage through free and inclusive software tools and that courses be accessible to all.

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Tips for Cutting Down the Costs of College

College is expensive, and finding the funds to pay for a degree can be a challenge. With college tuition rising each year, it’s more important than ever to start saving early and identifying ways to reduce the cost.

You may be wondering how it’s possible to pay less for your degree, so here are five ways that you can get around college costs: 1. Advanced coursework opportunities One way to save big on college costs is to earn college credits while in high school with advanced coursework opportunities, like Advanced Placement (AP) courses and International

Baccalaureate (IB) programs. These college-level courses are offered in middle and high schools and culminate in an exam that you can take to earn college credits, depending on your scores. The courses are free, but there may be a fee for the exam.

2. Dual-enrollment programs Dual-enrollment programs can also save you money and help you graduate from high school with college credits already completed. These programs allow students to take courses for credit at local colleges while still working on a high school diploma.

3. Community college courses Depending on where you decide to

earn your degree, tuition at your local community college is likely far cheaper. To save money, you can consider enrolling in community college for the first year or two and then transferring to a four-year institution to finish your degree. You can also take courses at your local community college over the summer to earn credits.

4. State workforce training programs One of the easiest ways to save on college costs is by simply graduating on time. Students who select a career path and a major before enrolling and stick with this plan tend to graduate on time. If you’re still trying to make up your mind, your state workforce

board can be a great free resource to get advice about in-demand careers and on-the-job experience before you start paying for credits.

5. Save, find scholarships, and compare loan options Even if you’re getting a late start, saving money can still reduce the amount you will pay for college. That’s because education loans are borrowed money that must be repaid with interest.

Interest rates may seem low, but they can really add up over time.

You can also look for scholarships, which are typically merit-based, as well as grant aid, which is typically need-based. Your guidance counselor can be a great resource for finding scholarships, especially local ones that are specific to your area. Local scholarships tend to be less competitive than national scholarships, so you have a better chance of getting free money for college, and every little bit helps. n Meghan Lustig, Director of Policy and Communications, Education Finance Council

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Why Universities Need to Invest in Technology Now More Than Ever

Historically, advances in technology have improved our lives in many ways.

Digital technology, supplemented with increased access to broadband, has the potential to bring college to students who otherwise cannot travel to a campus. Students who are working, are parents, or who have other obligations that make it difficult to travel to a campus regularly can engage in online programs and courses.

Advances in collaboration Digital communication can provide students, faculty, and staff with more — and more diverse — ways of interacting with each other. Whether courses are delivered primarily online or in person, there are digital tools that can create spaces for students to work and learn collaboratively.

The shift to emergency online education at the outset of the COVID-19 pandemic made some students question the tuition prices they were paying, saying much of the value of a degree comes from out-of-the-classroom experiences.

However, there are ways digital technologies can facilitate these experiences.

Some institutions have created “virtual unions” or other digital gathering places where students can join clubs, serve as student leaders, participate in online leadership conferences, watch live events, chat with peers, and engage in extracurriculars.

For all its promise, digital technology only provides possibilities — college and university leaders, like business officers, must manage the transformation in digital transformation.

Lindsay Wayt, Director of Analytics, National Association of College and University Business Officers (NACUBO)

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Daphne Koller Talks Student Engagement and Technology Advancements in Higher Education PHOTO: INSITRO

The COVID-19 pandemic expedited institutional efforts to invest in online education and other digital technologies, and colleges and universities have the potential to continue to evolve and to make attaining a postsecondary credential a reality for more students.

Daphne Koller, computer scientist, founder of Coursera, and former professor in the Department of Computer Science at Stanford University, speaks to how higher education has changed during the COVID-19 pandemic, and whether these changes are here to stay.

How do you think the pandemic has changed higher education?

Even before the pandemic, we had a lot of students who either did not want or found it difficult to engage in face-to-face teaching. For more privileged students, it was a matter of convenience, but for very many students it’s a matter of necessity.

In some cases, there are students in challenging circumstances that are taking classes while also taking care of a family or working one or two jobs.

Is there anything that these faculty members should be thinking about

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when trying to adopt and roll out new technology for all students?

I think that transcends technology.

The challenge is not even primarily in the technology aspect, but in getting faculty to teach in a different set of tools. I’m not talking about technological tools. I’m talking about pedagogical tools. When I was at Stanford, there was a push for people to adopt more active learning elements in their classroom to promote engagement, and most professors were like, “Leave me alone. I come in, I lecture, I take some questions and that’s it.

I’m not about to change.”

As a co-founder of Coursera, do you think that given what’s currently out there in the market, there are enough effective digital alternatives to create personal engagement and retention?

Coursera has done an amazing job in building a remarkable con-

tent platform where universities are able to put out some truly remarkable content. Of course, the content quality itself is a really important part of engagement as well. If you have a course where someone just drones on and on for hours about something that is not very relevant, and it’s not very dynamic, then that’s a very bad starting point for anything.

Coursera hasn’t really focused on interactive engagement between instructors and students due to the nature of the platform. I think Engageli, the other company that I co-founded recently, has really taken that problem head-on with a focus on engagement. Ultimately, the quality of your learning experience is a combination of the content and the experience around the content, and I think Coursera has done an amazing job of the first, and we’re hoping do an amazing job with engagement as well through Engageli. n

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How One Company Can Help Your University Plan for What’s Next With technology specifically designed to model and forecast all aspects of a college or university, Allitix makes it easier than ever for higher education decision-makers to plan for the future.

T

he COVID-19 pandemic changed a lot for higher education. And while we’re not likely to see another global pandemic that shuts down nearly all facets of society for a year or more, it stressed the importance of being prepared and ready to adapt.

With a solution that allows you to manage, model, and forecast multiple facets of a university on one platform, Allitix gives you the ability to lead your university now while preparing for what lies ahead.

“We provide solutions to higher education institutions so they can be prepared for not just the ‘where are we now?’ and ‘how did we get here?’” said Kim Fisher, higher education practice director for Allitix, “but also the ‘where might we be going?’ and ‘how can we be better prepared?’ if and when we get to that place.”

From retention to space utilization to financial aid, Allitix helps you model scenarios for various aspects of your university, and helps you see how those facets interact with each other.

An example is how Allitix can help monitor your endowment: “With an endowment, there are the donors and donations, then there’s the investment side where inter-

est is being earned,” Fisher said. “Based on those funds, students are awarded scholarships based on their merit, but the money isn’t actually distributed to students’ accounts until certain criteria are met and at a specific point in the term. There are all these layers of complexity that come with managing an endowment, and our solution can help not only manage it for what’s happening today but also model scenarios for how those funds might grow or be used for future students.”

the business side of your institution as well.

“Long-range planning and budget development are areas where we’ve been helping colleges and universities for years.

Whether a small or large institution, or even a university system, this has been, and will continue to be, a critical use case when it comes to planning. But when you combine financial planning with planning for tuition, endowments, or financial aid, that’s where you start to see the power of the platform!”

The business end Allitix can help you manage

Whatever comes next Over the past year, we’ve seen

just how valuable it is to be able to model and understand all the nuances of your university or college, then have the ability to make adjustments to the model at a moment’s notice.

With a modern approach to university planning, Allitix can help you do just that.

“What other technologies miss is the ability to apply assumptions and projections to model out what might happen. Frequently data or analytics solutions look only to the past to understand what happened and aren’t looking forward using both data and assumptions,” Fisher said.

“Without this capability, col-

lege and university leaders aren’t able to leverage fully built-out, data-based projections or scenarios on which to base their decisions.”

“Additionally, data doesn’t usually account for culture, but it’s a critical aspect of every institution,” Fisher said. “You have to have a way to incorporate that into technology by applying institution-specific assumptions and overrides within the various scenarios you’re building out.”

By offering the tools to oversee and manage multiple facets of a university in one place, Allitix empowers higher education decision-makers to prepare for whatever lies ahead.

“We’re never going to be prepared for something like a pandemic, but it stressed the need to pivot quickly, and do it in an educated and prepared fashion,” Fisher said. “And we can execute best by using technology to our benefit.” n Dustin Brennan

To start taking advantage of all Allitix has to offer for your institution, email Kim Fisher at kfisher@ allitix.com and learn more at www.allitix.com/ allitixandhighereducation.

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