tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-64697195581363101232024-02-02T14:47:18.290-08:00The ConnectionInsights from Education Technology Associates, developers of Connected CampusMel Robertshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04776953437512855997noreply@blogger.comBlogger10125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6469719558136310123.post-90261022946138020772017-01-04T08:41:00.000-08:002017-01-04T08:41:02.995-08:00Student Retention in Higher Ed: Portals, Apps, and Connected Campus<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: 32px; margin-bottom: 3.2rem; margin-top: 3.2rem; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #cccccc;">Way back in 2002, as the IT Vice President for Field Technology and Customer Facing Systems at a large financial services company, I was responsible for acquiring enterprise portal technology. It was a critical time for our business unit. Our parent/holding company had filed Chapter 11 bankruptcy – at the time the </span><a href="http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/money/industries/insurance/2002-12-18-conseco_x.htm" rel="nofollow noopener" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; cursor: pointer; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; word-wrap: break-word;" target="_blank"><span style="color: #e69138;"><b>3rd largest filing in US history</b></span></a><span style="color: #cccccc;"> (Howe, 2011) behind such infamous names as Enron and Worldcom – and had decided to pin their hopes of survival on the promise of technology.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #cccccc; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Portal technology, it was held, would make our business unit “easy to do business with” for the independent agents, agencies, and producers distributing our financial services products to the consumer. We would leapfrog our competition, creating a 1-stop, consistent experience for our constituents, providing them with valuable tools, resources, and the motivation to continue partnering with a struggling company.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #cccccc;">An evaluation and selection process unfolded, comparing various portal technologies, including Epicentric, Plumtree and the eventual choice ATG (later acquired by Oracle). ATG’s portal framework included a key differentiator: the ability to </span><em style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; color: #cccccc; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">configure business rules by user</em><span style="color: #cccccc;">, dubbed ‘scenario personalization’. After an aggressive development and implementation project the outcome produced the value anticipated. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; color: #cccccc; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Chalk one up for technology</strong><span style="color: #cccccc;">. The parent company emerged from bankruptcy the following year and is still doing business today. Our efforts, at least tangentially, helped the company survive and led to </span><a href="http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20031003005052/en/ATG-Portal-Customers-Provide-Demonstrable-Benefits-Creating" rel="nofollow noopener" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; cursor: pointer; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; word-wrap: break-word;" target="_blank"><span style="color: #e69138;"><b>multiple opportunities to showcase our success</b></span></a><span style="color: #cccccc;"> and present our case study on the value of a portal. </span></span></div>
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<strong style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: #cccccc; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">The more things change the more they remain the same</span></strong></h2>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #cccccc;">Now, over a decade later, I am still involved in discussions daily regarding portal-like solutions and the need to be a difference-maker through technology. Across higher education the race is on to address student engagement, student retention and to renew the focus on the student experience. The recent </span><a href="http://events.educause.edu/annual-conference" rel="nofollow noopener" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; cursor: pointer; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; word-wrap: break-word;" target="_blank"><span style="color: #e69138;"><b>annual Educause conference</b></span></a><span style="color: #cccccc;"> was home to many conversations about improving the “user experience” and the need to redesign campus portals. Likewise, “student engagement” has earned distinction as the </span><a href="http://www.timeshighereducation.com/news/student-engagement-the-latest-buzzword/2012947.article" rel="nofollow noopener" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; color: #cccccc; cursor: pointer; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; word-wrap: break-word;" target="_blank">latest buzzword in higher Ed</a><span style="color: #cccccc;"> and is near ubiquitous in the marketing terminology of education technology vendors. In fact, “student engagement is now used to refer to so many different things that it is difficult to keep track of what people are talking about.” (Gibbs, 2014)</span></span></div>
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<strong style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: #cccccc; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Student engagement in higher education </span></strong></h2>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #cccccc;">For good reasons, schools are coming to understand that their student-facing technologies are scattered and disparate; that too many of their solutions are single-purpose; and that the digital experience of their students is too often an after-thought – inconsistent and fragmented. Concurrently, the criticality of student engagement has come to the forefront – as it, more and more, is understood to be the glue that links learning, persistence, and retention. The correlation of these factors continues to grow with studies emerging from schools, vendors, and </span><a href="http://www.ijlter.org/index.php/ijlter/article/view/367" rel="nofollow noopener" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; cursor: pointer; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; word-wrap: break-word;" target="_blank"><span style="color: #e69138;"><b>research entities</b></span></a><span style="color: #cccccc;"> alike. Whether by design or happenstance, higher education is looking to technology to alter the </span><strong style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; color: #cccccc; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">fragile pattern of student engagement and retention</strong><span style="color: #cccccc;">.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #cccccc; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Portal solutions still offer the promise of making access to resources easier – with single sign-on, aggregated content, and a unified ‘experience’. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #cccccc; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But it is the concern for the student experience that has also given rise to numerous “student engagement” apps. App creators certainly understand the need to connect with today’s “digital natives” where the smartphone is part of the student DNA. Schools of all shapes and types must meet the growing expectation that technology is ubiquitous and connection to school resources is anytime, anywhere. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #cccccc; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In looking across the landscape of portal solutions and engagement apps, several observations stand out:</span></div>
<span style="color: #cccccc; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: inherit; font-weight: inherit;"><ul><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
<li>The need for a unified, digital student experience is long overdue</li>
<li>The need for meaningful student engagement solutions is essential </li>
<li>Higher education is necessarily receptive</li>
<li>No solution – whether independent portal provider, SIS portal extension, or engagement app – is dominating</li>
</span></ul>
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<span style="color: #cccccc; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Significant opportunity exists for the solution(s) that identifies and delivers the right combination of benefits to the student and school.</strong> </span></div>
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<span style="color: #cccccc; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Throughout my career as a technology leader, I have always been very cynical of a “solution looking for a problem”. Technology vendors are routinely guilty of this malaise. And in today’s higher education climate, where discretionary funds are limited, and where immense pressures are being applied to schools from regulatory efforts, accreditation bodies and local stakeholders – it is imperative that solution providers address a very real and specific problem while simultaneously offering demonstrable benefits. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #cccccc; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The challenge for portal providers is to quantify the value derived from a unified, digital student experience. The challenge for student engagement apps is to help schools & students overcome app-fatigue and quantify the student retention improvements that result from their student-engagement claims. Engagement app marketing slogans demonstrate the challenge: ‘unify the experience’ --- ‘enrich the experience’ --- ‘create the ultimate experience’ --- ‘create a unique personalized experience’ --- ‘drive engagement to the next level’ --- even ‘revolutionize student engagement’. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #cccccc; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It’s lofty. But will it translate to improved retention?</span></div>
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<span style="color: #cccccc; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Which brings me to the solution I am most intimately familiar with.</span></div>
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<strong style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: #cccccc; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Connected Campus</span></strong></h2>
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<span style="color: #cccccc; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Connected Campus is a student engagement and retention solution. It differentiates itself from the education marketplace in the following ways:</span></div>
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<em style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: #cccccc; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">The Student Experience.</span></em></h3>
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<span style="color: #cccccc; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Yes, students have many resources available to them online. Pulling them all together in a consolidated framework is the domain of the portal industry. Students at schools without any portal or consolidated gateway to resources continue to be burdened by the confusion and disassociation. So, like a portal, Connected Campus removes this challenge by serving as the single digital interface to the school and its resources. But, unlike the tendency of portals, Connected Campus is aesthetically designed as a student-facing platform, maximizing student interest, with navigation simplicity, and – by creating a personalized experience based on the attributes of each unique student – distinguishes itself from similar others.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #cccccc; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><em style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Private Online Community</em>.</span></h3>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #cccccc;">Schools offer many ways for students to connect socially – public social media networks, LMS chat rooms, campus events. Connected Campus, however, gives all students a unique opportunity to participate in dialogues on academic, administrative, and social topics. Inspired by Slack, with all the features of a robust chat engine, the </span><a href="http://theconnectedcampus.blogspot.com/2016/10/private-online-communities-why-your.html" rel="nofollow noopener" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; cursor: pointer; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; word-wrap: break-word;" target="_blank"><span style="color: #e69138;"><b>Private Online Community</b></span></a><span style="color: #cccccc;"> lets students engage in topical discussions – in private, in small group conversations, or on a campus- or school-wide basis. Staff and faculty participate as well, enabling the student to have ready-access to human resources at the school. The opportunities created for peer and staff mentoring are powerful and unmatched, enabling students to thrive through the power of a digital social structure. Portals and Apps typically do not provide this kind of synchronous communication capability.</span></span></div>
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<em style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: #cccccc; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Academic Management.</span></em></h3>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #cccccc;">Academic management is not traditionally a benefit of portals and engagement apps. When it is present, it tends to be in the form of a one-size-fits-all push of information. </span><strong style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; color: #cccccc; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Academic management, however, is a critical ingredient for effective retention</strong><span style="color: #cccccc;">. Connected Campus supports the student in the management of academic and administrative tasks through its proactive Integrated Advising Services based on configurable business rules determined by the school. When at risk behavior is recognized, intervention tasks are assigned to the student; not to an over-burdened staff or faculty member. These </span><a href="http://elearningindustry.com/student-outcomes-adopting-nudges" rel="nofollow noopener" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; cursor: pointer; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; word-wrap: break-word;" target="_blank"><b><span style="color: #e69138;">intelligent nudges</span></b></a><span style="color: #cccccc;"> delivered by Connected Campus are personalized to each student, configured to match the unique needs of each school, and facilitate items that are academic, administrative, and enrichment in nature. Examples of advising nudges include: tasks to complete coursework, attend class, register for class, order books, make a tuition payment, complete the FASFA and other financial aid paperwork, reach out to a tutoring service, complete a questionnaire or survey, contribute to a discussion forum, prepare a resume, etc. Nudges are delivered through Connected Campus notifications, or via email and text. </span></span></div>
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<strong style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: #cccccc; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">In Summary</span></strong></h2>
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<span style="color: #cccccc; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Connected Campus provides a digital campus experience to all students – whether full time, part-time, commuter or online. <strong style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">It enables schools to address the full student life-cycle, from admission to graduation.</strong> It brings the utility of a portal (single sign-on, aggregated content, consistency), the distinction of an engagement app (mobile, appealing, intuitive, captivating) – while adding substantial and powerful capabilities in the form of a Private Online Community and proactive Integrated Advising Services. </span></div>
<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: 32px; margin-bottom: 3.2rem; margin-top: 3.2rem; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="color: #cccccc; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As such, we do not attempt to "<em style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><strong style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">insert verb here"</strong></em> student engagement. Instead, we focus on helping schools retain more students, thereby expanding workforce readiness while increasing institutional revenue.</span></div>
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<strong style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: #cccccc; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The students, the school, and the stakeholders of the school will all benefit from the increased persistence and retention brought about by Connected Campus. </span></strong></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13240171144780836575noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6469719558136310123.post-59968657754349046602016-11-29T06:27:00.000-08:002016-12-01T07:20:21.215-08:00Strategic Plan from Lumina Foundation reinforces EdTech’s Connected Campus vision<div class="MsoNormal">
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<a href="https://www.luminafoundation.org/"><b><span style="color: #f1c232;">Lumina
Foundation</span></b></a> recently released a <a href="https://www.luminafoundation.org/strategic-plan"><b><span style="color: #f1c232;">new strategic plan</span></b></a>
advocating for a new Postsecondary learning system. Education Technology Associates is proud to
have both personal and local connections with Lumina Foundation – and have
cited their <a href="https://www.luminafoundation.org/goal_2025"><b><span style="color: #f1c232;">Goal2025</span></b></a>
on our <a href="https://edtechassociates.com/"><b><span style="color: #f1c232;">website</span></b></a> as a model vision for
higher education. <o:p></o:p></div>
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With the recent press release, Lumina has reinforced the
need for the transformative changes required to ensure most Americans achieve a
satisfactory outcome in postsecondary education. In summary, the underlying objective is to
move from a system centered on time and institution – to a system, instead,
that is centered on students.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<b><span style="color: #ffe599;">The Typical College
Student<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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The Lumina strategic plan correlates to many of the values
of EdTech Associates and our student engagement & retention solution, Connected Campus, starting
with the vision of the typical college student. “<b><i>Typical</i></b>” usually invokes visions of
the 18-22year-old undergraduate, living in dorms or Greek housing, hanging out
in the student union and taking classes in lecture halls. But, consider these statistics:<o:p></o:p></div>
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<li>38<span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">% of undergraduates today are </span><b style="text-indent: -0.25in;"><u>older than 25</u></b></li>
<li><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">5</span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">8% of undergraduates </span><b style="text-indent: -0.25in;"><u>work while attending college</u></b></li>
<li><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">2</span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">6% of undergraduates are already </span><b style="text-indent: -0.25in;"><u>raising a family</u></b></li>
<li><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">N</span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">early half of first-year students </span><b style="text-indent: -0.25in;"><u>live at – or below – poverty level</u></b></li>
<li><u><b style="text-indent: -0.25in;">O</b><b style="text-indent: -0.25in;">nly 13%</b></u><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">
of today’s students study or live full time at a flagship 4-year campus</span></li>
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At the same time, college is more accessible than ever
before. Between 1996-2010, enrollment statistics
increased across ethnic segments: Hispanic
(240%); Black (72%); white students (11%).<o:p></o:p></div>
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At EdTech Associates, we reflect on the challenges and
circumstances of today’s student and build our product to support all students,
but particularly those who: <o:p></o:p></div>
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<ul>
<li>struggle to manage commitments and stay on track
academically</li>
<li>f<span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">eel isolated and disconnected from the school
and fellow students</span></li>
<li><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">d</span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">on’t always know where to turn to for the help
or resources they need when it is most pressing.</span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;"> </span></li>
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Together, these issues often make degree completion impossible.
<o:p></o:p></div>
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Lumina’s plan identifies similar themes, pointing out that financial
pressures and ‘competing obligations’ create a far more difficult situation for
today’s student – leading to a <b><u>38%
drop-out rate of first-year students</u></b>.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<b><span style="color: #ffe599;">Students. Schools.
Our economy. Our global
competitiveness. We are all impacted by
insufficient
educational attainment.</span><o:p></o:p></b></div>
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The employment prospects and earnings potential of today’s students
is greatly impaired when postsecondary education is incomplete. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBSBaXjG4zepVogmYg8FQG5MUSYW_hIhrLfep4cjtZFywQHhnZCWxyL6Q2JtzwcutaFRqflV_TmGkk5fOnkCt3nsDjHhi63D6q5uQoNJbEyptiUB-HsdKqr1OoChV46x0Qn-YN8axWko2X/s1600/employment+rates+by+educational+attainment.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="187" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBSBaXjG4zepVogmYg8FQG5MUSYW_hIhrLfep4cjtZFywQHhnZCWxyL6Q2JtzwcutaFRqflV_TmGkk5fOnkCt3nsDjHhi63D6q5uQoNJbEyptiUB-HsdKqr1OoChV46x0Qn-YN8axWko2X/s320/employment+rates+by+educational+attainment.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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Lumina’s strategic plan points out that 65% of all jobs by 2020 will
require postsecondary education; and further quantifies the <b><u>average lost
lifetime earnings per individual as equating to $1M</u></b> when a bachelor’s
degree is not attained. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Our learning institutions are diminished by increased student attrition
as well. Revenue, credibility,
recruiting, and operating efficiency are all impacted. The Educational Policy Institute conducted a
2013 study of nearly 1700 colleges and universities and found that student
attrition at those schools resulted in a revenue loss of $16.5 billion. “Each student who walks out the door
takes his or her tuition, fees, and other revenue the school might have been
able to receive”;
resulting in additional pressures on our schools involving regulatory scrutiny,
stakeholder concerns and oversight recommendations. Today, we are seeing a sea-change in both legislation
and accreditation, driven by a renewed focus on the value of education and the expectations
of the veracity of those charged with delivering it. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Our economy and global competitiveness also suffer whenever a
less-educated workforce exists. Consider
this from the Education section of the <a href="http://whitehouse.gov/"><b><span style="color: #f1c232;">Whitehouse.Gov</span></b></a> website: <o:p></o:p></div>
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“<span class="A1"><span style="font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 107%;">In higher education, the U.S. has been
outpaced internationally. In 1990, the U.S. ranked first in the world in
four-year degree attainment among 25-34 year olds; today, the U.S. ranks 12th.
We also suffer from a college attainment gap, as high school graduates from the
wealthiest families in our nation are almost certain to continue on to higher
education, while just over half of our high school graduates in the poorest
quarter of families attend college. And while more than half of college
students graduate within six years, the completion rate for low-income students
is around 25 percent.”</span></span><o:p></o:p></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 107%;"> </span></b></h1>
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<b><span style="color: #ffe599;">Shifting Focus</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>"If we want outcomes for today's students to change, we must change the way higher Ed is delivered to provide all students the support they need to thrive." - Lumina Foundation</i></span></h1>
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The Lumina strategic plan encourages innovation and changes to the way in which we engage students outside of the traditional classroom. EdTech Associates is reimagining the digital campus experience, which has historically been full of disparate, disconnected and distracting choices. With Connected Campus, we unify the delivery of school and staff resources into on beautifully designed, easy to navigate product that combines the best features of engagement and advising products into a single application.<br />
<br />
This begins with the <a href="https://theconnectedcampus.blogspot.com/2016/10/private-online-communities-why-your.html"><b><span style="color: #f1c232;">Private
Online Community</span></b></a><span class="MsoHyperlink">. Inspired by Slack, </span>Connected Campus creates vibrant interactions between students, faculty, and
staff centered on common interests – both academic and social – while creating
the organic groundwork for peer-mentoring in a digital landscape. Connected Campus further enhances the
experience by intelligently promoting and delivering personalized content to
the individual student when it is required. </div>
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Lumina's work points out that "<i>...students need actionable, useful information to make smart decisions about postsecondary education.</i>" Connected Campus delivers actionable, useful information directly to the student through its Integrated Advising Services both proactively and when 'at risk' behavior is recognized. These <a href="https://elearningindustry.com/student-outcomes-adopting-nudges"><b><span style="color: #f1c232;">intelligent nudges</span></b></a> delivered by Connected Campus are also personalized to each student, configured to match the unique academic rules of each school, and served up to facilitate academic, administrative, and enrichment items. In addition to 'nudges' being delivered directly through the Connected Campus platform, students can opt in for both text and email notifications.</div>
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<span class="A2"> # # #<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Lumina Foundation continues to be a thought leader on the
future vision of education. We applaud
their commitment to increase the proportion of American’s with degrees,
certificates, and other high-quality credentials to 60% by 2025.<o:p></o:p></div>
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At EdTech Associates, we play a part in that vision by
providing our Connected Campus solution to schools eager to positively impact student engagement
and retention.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Through personalized student resources, a private online community and integrated advising services, Connected Campus is well-positioned to do just that.</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13240171144780836575noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6469719558136310123.post-90474757735066278122016-10-25T11:43:00.000-07:002016-10-25T12:49:15.689-07:00City College partners with EdTech Associates to fortify student engagement, retention initiatives<div class="MsoNormal">
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">October 25, 2016<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">City
College of Fort Lauderdale announced today that they have partnered with
Education Technology Associates to use their unique student-facing solution,
Connected Campus, in the college’s ongoing efforts to serve the students of south
and central Florida.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">“It is our
mission at City College to deliver an extraordinary educational
experience. To do so, we have to engage
students in the most effective means possible”, said City College President
Esther Fike Curry. “Connected Campus will bring a remarkable combination of
engagement and advising capabilities, further enabling our mission.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">Connected
Campus</span></b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"> is a
digital campus experience, combining engagement software and integrated
advising services, <span class="A2">while serving as the single student interface
to the school and its resources.</span> C<span class="A2">loud-hosted, it is both
a desktop & mobile software-as-a-service solution and will be configured to
match the characteristics of City College. The rollout of Connected Campus has begun at
the Altamonte Springs campus. </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">“City
College has a legacy of student success built on excellence and innovation”,
said David Meek, President of EdTech Associates. “We are proud to partner with
the college and have Connected Campus further facilitate that vision of student
success”. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><b>About City
College</b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">City
College is a private, non-profit college located in Fort Lauderdale,
Florida. The mission of City College is to educate and train students in their chosen major for employment in specific career fields. The College awards Diplomas, Associate of Science or Bachelor of Science degrees based on the student's successful completion of required coursework. City College has five campus locations and also provides online education to meet the dynamic needs of today's college students. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><b><br /></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><b>About
Education Technology Associates</b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">Education
Technology Associates of Carmel, Indiana, was founded in 2015 on the principle
that smart, student-facing technology can positively influence student
behaviors and outcomes, resulting in higher student retention and degree
completion. Their solution, Connected
Campus, is uniquely focused on the student experience, as both an engagement
and retention platform that combines engagement software and integrated
advising services, while acting as the single student interface to the school
and its resources. Connected Campus
helps schools retain more students, thereby increasing institutional revenue
and creating a skilled workforce.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: x-small;"><b>Follow Education Technology Associates</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: x-small;">Twitter: <a href="https://twitter.com/EdTechAssoc">https://twitter.com/EdTechAssoc</a></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">Facebook: <a href="https://www.facebook.com/EdTechAssociates">https://www.facebook.com/EdTechAssociates</a></span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Blog: <a href="https://theconnectedcampus.blogspot.com/">https://theconnectedcampus.blogspot.com</a></span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Google: https://plus.google.com/+edtechassociates</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><b>Media Contact for Education Technology Associates</b></span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Mark Chyba</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">P: 317.983.1382</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Email: Mark.Chyba@edtechassociates.com</span><br />
<br /></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13240171144780836575noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6469719558136310123.post-86605823803549094672016-10-17T12:23:00.000-07:002016-12-16T06:49:58.960-08:00Private Online Communities: Why Your Students, Staff, and Faculty Will Thank You<br />
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As more and more Students opt for the flexibility afforded via alternative schedules, night & part-time enrollment, and through commuting and online courses, there are fewer opportunities to meet and interact with peers face to face. Yet, we know that satisfaction is highest when Students feel a sense of belonging and identify as part of a community. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Most institutions utilize public social networks and have a presence on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and others. These social networks provide dual value. First, they combat concerns of Student isolation by promoting interactions between Students, Staff, and Faculty that might not otherwise happen. Second, these networks are a public-facing representation of the culture and identity of the school. By providing a face and voice to the public, social networks have become deeply rooted in an institution’s branding and marketing strategy. <o:p></o:p></div>
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In light of the existence of low-cost or free public social networks, does it make sense for an institution to additionally adopt a Private Online Community?<o:p></o:p></div>
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The answer is: YES!<o:p></o:p></div>
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There are many advantages a Private Online Community has over public networks. Here are just a few.<o:p></o:p><br />
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<u><span style="font-size: large;">Advantage #1: Distraction free environment</span></u></h2>
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In public social networks, content is delivered primarily through the personal wall or timeline of the participant. The aggregation of content from varied sources results in a timeline whose content spans personal and professional interests. Family photos, updates from friends, sponsored content, news items and advertisements are interspersed with professional and academic updates and conversations.<o:p></o:p></div>
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While Students can use a public social network – even via a group or hashtag thread – for school collaboration, idea-sharing, and peer-mentoring, a social media timeline will be both ineffective and inefficient.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Unlike public social networks, Private Online Communities allow for content to be organized by themes or topics and stay distraction-free. Because they are private, they are free of sponsored content and advertisements, unwanted notifications, and the general temptation that is ever-present during time spent on a public social media site. This allows the Student to avoid being drawn into less fruitful activities like looking at friends’ photos or watching funny videos. The time spent in a private, topic-based forum is concentrated on content that is focused on the social or support needs of the Student. The result is that while many Students will spend less time on private networks than they will public ones, their time is far more meaningful and productive. <o:p></o:p></div>
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A Private Online Community can be a huge relief to Students, Staff, and Faculty users. One of the most common struggles reported by non-traditional Students today is time management. Balancing school with family, work, and other commitments necessitates the Student being extremely efficient with the time they can dedicate to their education.<o:p></o:p><br />
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Advantage #2 Connect to topics, not people<o:p></o:p></u></h2>
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Private Online Communities organize conversations around topics. This structure allows Students, Staff, and Faculty to selectively participate in the discussions they deem to be most interesting and/or valuable. It also eliminates the pre-requisite of friending or following someone, which is a hallmark trait in the most popular public networks.<o:p></o:p></div>
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The Private Online Community provides immediate fulfillment to the Student by connecting them to peers, Staff or Faculty that are relevant to their current needs. As dialogue unfolds around a subject, Students will naturally identify as part of a broader community.<o:p></o:p><br />
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Advantage #3: Segmented messaging<o:p></o:p></u></h2>
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Because users of Private Online Communities self-organize themselves into topic-based conversations aligned to their personal interests, it becomes very easy to target messaging based on a topic, ensuring that shared content is relevant to the group and to each individual member.<o:p></o:p></div>
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In <a href="https://demo.edtechassociates.com/"><b><span style="color: #f1c232;">Connected Campus</span></b></a> from <a href="https://edtechassociates.com/"><span style="color: #f1c232;"><b>Education Technology Associates</b></span></a>, each topic-based conversation is housed in a channel. As such, institutions establish a channel for each of their programs of study, each of their student services areas (think Career Services or Financial Aid), each geographical location, etc. This kind of structural organization supports sharing information with only the Students where the information is relevant. If there is a news article or TED Talk that is valuable for Business majors to review, the Business Majors Channel allows the faculty member(s) to promote the content only to Business Students. If there is a trending news topic surrounding Medical Coding, this can be discussed in the Channel established for Medical Coding Students.<o:p></o:p></div>
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By concentrating discussion topics or announcements to the appropriate Channels, community members avoid the distraction that comes from conversational threads that are not relevant nor interesting. Not only does this make the Private Online Community less distracting (Advantage #1) but it also results in more efficient use of time on social media.<o:p></o:p><br />
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Advantage #4: Automated membership<o:p></o:p></u></h2>
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While the social media platform(s) of the school are readily accessible, there is no guarantee that all Students, Staff, and Faculty will choose to join/follow or pay attention. And as new Students come onto campus, they must be informed and encouraged to join the public network.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Private Online Communities can benefit from integrations with existing systems to manage membership. In the case of the <a href="https://demo.edtechassociates.com/"><b><span style="color: #f1c232;">Connected Campus</span></b></a> <i>Courtyard</i>, integration with the Student Information System (SIS) at the institution ensures that all new Students, Staff, and Faculty are connected to the community and available for private messaging. Upon account creation, Connected Campus capitalizes on the information known about the user to pre-join them to Channels that are relevant to their academic experience. This setup includes channels that are both student-specific and school-wide in order to optimize the interactions with the Student.<o:p></o:p><br />
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Advantage #5: Own your data<o:p></o:p></u></h2>
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As individuals post to social networks they leave a trail of data. The effort required and built-in complexity of capturing and analyzing data from a public social network quickly becomes untenable. With a Private Online Community, however, the data created by Students, Staff, and Faculty is readily available for analysis. Institutions can realize the significant benefit of gaining a better understanding of the mood of student populations and the engagement level of the individual.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Sentiment analysis tools can be applied to uncover attitudes in order to determine the emotion and outlook of the community. With the segmented groups that topic-based channels create, the sky is the limit for the data-inclined. There is an opportunity to measure and evaluate numerous indicators to determine where Students are finding the most positive and satisfying experiences. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Beyond aggregated sentiment data, social metrics – frequency of posts, trends in usage, and topics – are also valuable in understanding the engagement level and focal areas of the Student.</div>
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With so many advantages, it's understandable why institutions want to offer Private Online Communities to their Students, Staff, and Faculty. Engagement strategies that align with current systems and the needs of students are vital toward attaining institutional retention goals. Institutions are redefining new ways of communication and collaboration to improve student outcomes. These strategies lead colleges and universities toward multi-purpose, student-focused solutions, while also helping in the preservation of institutional revenue.</div>
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<a href="https://demo.edtechassociates.com/"><b><span style="color: #f1c232;">Connected Campus</span></b></a>, as an example solution, includes an ideal Private Online Community. Unlike alternative solutions, such as those found in today's leading LMS platforms, Connected Campus supports dialogue around academic and non-academic topics and is open across all Students, Staff and Faculty.</div>
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Mel Robertshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04776953437512855997noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6469719558136310123.post-3887376556315052832016-10-14T11:52:00.001-07:002016-10-14T11:52:52.674-07:00Our Year in Review at Education Technology Associates<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Join us in celebrating our first full year of delivering technology to higher education. We have had a phenomenal year, exceeding all of our expectations.</div>
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Enjoy!</div>
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13240171144780836575noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6469719558136310123.post-86514771211462929202016-09-07T07:45:00.001-07:002016-12-16T06:46:03.258-08:00How To Improve Student Outcomes By Adopting Nudges<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://edtechassociates.com/" target="_blank"><b><span style="color: #f1c232;">Education Technology Associates</span></b></a> Product Manager, Mel Roberts, was recently published on <a href="http://elearningindustry.com/"><b><span style="color: #f1c232;">eLearningIndustry.com</span></b></a> which is the largest online community of professionals involved in the eLearning industry. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The article focuses on the application of Richard Thaler's "<i><b>Nudge Theory</b></i>" to student retention and academic success. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Find out how nudging has been proven to positively influence behavior and how <b>Connected Campus</b> uses nudges to improve student outcomes. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Read the article <a href="https://elearningindustry.com/student-outcomes-adopting-nudges" target="_blank"><b><span style="color: #f1c232;">here</span></b></a>.</span>Mel Robertshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04776953437512855997noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6469719558136310123.post-63374707357147044512016-08-01T14:49:00.000-07:002016-08-01T14:49:41.513-07:00Connected Campus from EdTech Associates earns high praise as Pitch Finalist at Innovation Showcase<br /><span style="color: #999999;"><i>Indianapolis, Ind., May 19, 2016 – “The Venture Club of Indiana announced today the launch of the 8th Annual Innovation Showcase. Started in 2009, the Innovation Showcase has become the largest venture conference in Indiana, with over 100 exhibiting companies and almost 1000 attendees each year, thanks to collaborative partners around the State.<br /><br />This year’s conference will be held on July 14, 2016 at the Dallara IndyCar Factory in Speedway, Ind. More than 1,500 innovators, entrepreneurs and investors are expected to attend the event, where high-potential startups and scaleups will exhibit and pitch to investors.”</i></span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As noted in the press release above, “<b>Innovation</b>” was in the spotlight during July in our home state of Indiana. As such, we knew this would be an extraordinary opportunity to 'showcase' Connected Campus - our unique and innovative student engagement & retention solution for Higher Ed. <br /><br />However…. Companies do not just get to show up and present.<br /><br />In fact, over 130 companies applied for the opportunity to be involved in this year’s event. Due to that volume of interest, a prerequisite filtering process became necessary in the form of a preliminary pitch competition on June 24 at the Barnes & Thornburgh law firm in downtown Indianapolis. Only 77 companies would be invited to advance to the July 14 exhibit hall -- and only 21 of those would be asked to present their solution on stage to the Indiana tech community. <br /><br />Drumroll… <br /><br />Yes!! <a href="http://www.edtechassociates.com/" target="_blank">Education Technology Associates</a> was selected as one of only 21 companies to both exhibit and present at the July 14 Innovation Showcase. <br /><br />The presentation – for this particular event and audience – would take the form of a timed “pitch”. We would have 5-minutes to present to an audience that exceeded 150 innovators, entrepreneurs, investors, and community members. <br /><br />So, after several weeks of preparation… refining our message… streamlining our pitch… rehearsing in a variety of distracting settings… and timing ourselves, we knew we were ready to deliver. Our “10 minutes of fame” (5-minute presentation, 5-minute Q&A) seemed to go by in an instant.</span> <div>
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<br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The Innovation Showcase experience was very rewarding. A day filled with energy and potential was bolstered even further by <a href="http://statescoop.com/indiana-gov-announces-planned-1b-investment-in-innovation-entrepreneurship">Indiana’s announcement to invest $1B in innovation & entrepreneurship</a> during the event. </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 17.85pt;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">For our part, we met new people, made important connections, shared the story of our company and product, and extended our local presence as a dynamic and growing company. Equally important, we renewed our energy and optimism around the value and significance of our solution, Connected Campus, for Higher Ed – a solution designed to improve the national persistence to degree rates (which remain below 50% for many types of institutions) by supporting today’s “post-traditional” students (now estimated as high as 85% of today’s 18 million undergraduates). </span></div>
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<br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We appreciate the efforts of the </span><a href="http://www.ventureclub.org/" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Venture Club of Indiana</a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">, </span><a href="http://www.elevateventures.com/" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Elevate Ventures</a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">, </span><a href="http://www.sharonbrownevents.com/" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Sharon Brown events</a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">, the </span><a href="http://www.indycarfactory.com/" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Dallara IndyCar Factory</a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">, and everyone involved in this year’s I</span><a href="http://theinnovationshowcase.com/" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">nnovation Showcase</a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">. We look forward to returning in 2017. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In the meantime, we continue on with our mission of fueling and facilitating Innovation in Higher Education, meeting the diverse needs of our students and schools.</span></div>
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Mel Robertshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04776953437512855997noreply@blogger.com0Speedway, IN, USA39.792738 -86.25082199999997139.743932 -86.331502999999969 39.841544 -86.170140999999973tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6469719558136310123.post-88388185758596453902016-07-21T13:09:00.003-07:002016-07-22T11:46:24.890-07:00The Value of Thought Partnership<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://edtechassociates.com/" target="_blank">Education Technology Associates</a> (ETA) and their unique
student engagement & retention solution, Connected Campus, has received recent
national recognition for Innovation and Thought Leadership in Higher Education.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">At the exclusive invitation of Washington D.C.-based
<a href="http://eddesignlab.org/" target="_blank">Education Design Lab</a>, ETA participated in a prototyping and design session on the future of online and
competency-based education during the week of June 27 in San Francisco at the <a href="http://www.michelsonrunway.com/" target="_blank">Michelson Runway</a> in the headquarters of Twitter. Other
participants included long established educational technology providers such as
Civitas Learning, Fidelis Education, Coursera and TargetX. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Named by Education Design Lab as a Thought Partner, the
collaboration between ETA and the Lab adds to the growing industry recognition
of ETA and its product Connected Campus.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">“It is great to receive such affirmation and be included
alongside recognized industry leaders”, says Kevin Hesler, COO of ETA. “We are
a young company but we bring decades of education and software experience to
Higher Ed. Our Connected Campus solution
is positioned uniquely, positively impacting the student retention objectives
of our partner schools”. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The Prototyping Session, led by the Lab in partnership with
Western Governors University, brought together thought leaders to innovate ways
to use technology to maintain and improve student engagement where traditional
classroom learning has been replaced with competency-based learning.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">"Connected Campus was built on the premise that smart, student-facing technology can guide students to stay focused academically while providing meaningful social connections, peer-mentoring opportunities and access to critical resources," says Product Manager Mel Roberts. An immersive virtual campus solution which combines engagement software and integrated advising services, Connected Campus is a cloud-hosted Software-as-a-Service platform that implements quickly and produces exceptional return on investment for each school.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Education
Technology Associates was founded in 2015 with the express purpose of
transforming impaired student engagement and student retention in Higher
Education. With offices in Carmel, IN
and Boca Raton, FL, ETA brings together industry veterans, education
thought-leaders, and passionate solution architects, whose past experiences in
serving 21</span><sup style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">st</sup><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> century students have shaped its commitment and
approach to product delivery. For more information on ETA or Connected
Campus, contact Mark Chyba at </span><a href="mailto:mark.chyba@edtechassociates.com">mark.chyba@edtechassociates.com</a><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Education Design Lab is a Washington D.C.-based firm that uses design thinking to design, test, and implement new education models. Founded by Kathleen deLaski, the Lab helps universities and other interested parties innovate in ways that prepare students for the professional workforce. Kathleen is also the president of The deLaski Family Foundation, a leading Washington area grant-maker in education and the arts. For more information on Education Design Lab, contact the Lab at <a href="mailto:labinfo@eddesignlab.org">labinfo@eddesignlab.org</a>. </span></div>
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Mel Robertshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04776953437512855997noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6469719558136310123.post-43424138521590199402016-07-21T12:30:00.000-07:002016-07-21T12:30:13.317-07:00Go Beyond the Typical Student Experience with Connected Campus<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<br />Mel Robertshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04776953437512855997noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6469719558136310123.post-649046148226813292016-07-21T12:23:00.000-07:002016-09-02T12:30:03.407-07:00Education Technology Associates Launches Unique Student Engagement Solution<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13.3333px;">April 13, 2016</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 10.0pt;">Education Technology Associates
(ETA) has announced the release of their unique student engagement and
retention solution, Connected Campus. With technology interwoven into our daily
lives, the physical campus is no longer sufficient to support and guide the
student; a digital campus experience is now a necessary part of the equation. Connected Campus is an immersive virtual campus solution, combining engagement software and integrated digital advising services. Licensed by higher education institutions, Connected Campus provides a cohesive, consolidated interface between the school, its resources, and today's student. Licensed by higher education institutions, Connected Campus provides a cohesive, consolidated interface between the school, its resources, and today's millennial and post-traditional students. </span></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Distressing statistics about the state of higher education in the
U.S. brought Campus Management Corporation founder and former CEO, David Meek,
back into the education software industry. After evaluating the reasons
for why ‘most colleges and universities are unable to graduate more than 50% of
incoming first year students (ACT Institutional Data File, 2014)’, David knew
the time was right for ETA.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">“I couldn’t stay away,” says David. “The country is falling
behind globally; institutions are losing millions of dollars to attrition; and </span><span style="font-size: 10pt;">too many students are wasting time and money with no realized
outcome. When applied smartly, technology can provide a winning solution
to all stakeholders – the student, the school, and the country.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Partnering with Kevin Hesler, former CIO of Harrison College, ETA
was launched to aggressively pursue a solution to unify the varied and
disjointed technology offerings of an institution. Bringing together a
team of passionate professionals, all with a background in education, ETA
developed Connected Campus to directly and positively impact the major causes
of student attrition.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Connected Campus combines engagement software and integrated
digital advising services while acting as the single student interface to the
school and its resources. Features are organized into three pillars
making navigation of the site intuitive. The three pillars, named to convey
physical spaces, include: the Courtyard, the Academic Hall, and the
Resource Center.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The Courtyard creates a vibrant community
of social connections. Inspired by modern collaboration tools such as Slack,
topic-based channels of academic subjects and common interests house
discussions between students, faculty, and staff. The Courtyard creates
opportunities for peer and staff mentoring while weaving the student into the
fabric of the school community. In addition to group discussions, direct
message capabilities allow one on one conversations to occur. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPXuImOjTsLWntUO10139eIDUCVm8rhfQWnVloIFudmUkaQK3RwhgxpP7KPsmk2X1QpsgiRLVxTGYFfw9dajvn2BgOe4BBdn39qznxumHIjypVvvanfGwhQSTG9flrtqQIcRLqCB_uwJTX/s1600/courtyard.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="215" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPXuImOjTsLWntUO10139eIDUCVm8rhfQWnVloIFudmUkaQK3RwhgxpP7KPsmk2X1QpsgiRLVxTGYFfw9dajvn2BgOe4BBdn39qznxumHIjypVvvanfGwhQSTG9flrtqQIcRLqCB_uwJTX/s320/courtyard.jpg" width="320" /> </a></div>
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<span style="font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">The Academic Hall directs the
student to actively manage both academic and administrative tasks. The
internal “</span><i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">persistence engine</i><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">” intelligently organizes and personalizes
relevant institutional data to advise the student to take action when it is
most needed, extending across academic, administrative, and enrichment
activities. The Academic Hall also takes on the role of advisor, serving
as a digital workflow monitor to ensure the student maintains momentum
throughout the rigors of the term. </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg90f4AX61DIgFVOR1T8QJvVzqr2h5kS0hFctkw8dskP-v1HPaQ6rlYVfQ10vY8R4IniG-b84Ev-4H185qzkFITvlUv4CnBS4quFILfgeQx57vjekfxYU8m7EfTSYEBIgbXaph5ps5NXf8w/s1600/academichall.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="215" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg90f4AX61DIgFVOR1T8QJvVzqr2h5kS0hFctkw8dskP-v1HPaQ6rlYVfQ10vY8R4IniG-b84Ev-4H185qzkFITvlUv4CnBS4quFILfgeQx57vjekfxYU8m7EfTSYEBIgbXaph5ps5NXf8w/s320/academichall.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">The Resource Center is a repository
of comprehensive key resources. It consolidates school directories, FAQs, and
documentation into a single location to minimize time spent searching and
seeking help, always meeting the need of the student at the right time.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-eMz3zn3TZ1A2cSNSB_Emd-sEihE4dp1MIoiU2PucjMnyx4jJ1305KxHO1jBzEOmc47n0xQzY0Q0zlWpE-vaTauC6mR3qbEbChA1TK6vhgZgbMRA8tmFW8ciN3lKNqzuMNgp1bDUE1YoZ/s1600/resourcecenter.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="215" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-eMz3zn3TZ1A2cSNSB_Emd-sEihE4dp1MIoiU2PucjMnyx4jJ1305KxHO1jBzEOmc47n0xQzY0Q0zlWpE-vaTauC6mR3qbEbChA1TK6vhgZgbMRA8tmFW8ciN3lKNqzuMNgp1bDUE1YoZ/s320/resourcecenter.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Connected Campus is a cloud-hosted</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> desktop & mobile Software-as-a-Service solution,
configured to match the unique persona of each school. It is priced as an
annual subscription fee that varies by enrollment volume<span style="color: red;">.</span> It integrates with today’s
leading SIS and LMS platforms to create a unified, comprehensive, consistent
student-facing experience. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Education
Technology Associates has offices in Carmel, IN and Boca Raton, FL, bringing
together industry veterans, education thought-leaders, and passionate solution
architects, whose past experiences in serving 21<sup>st</sup> century students
have shaped its commitment and approach to product delivery. For more
information on ETA or Connected Campus, visit ETA’s <a href="http://edtechassociates.com/" target="_blank">website</a> or contact Mark Chyba at <a href="mailto:mark.chyba@edtechassociates.com">mark.chyba@edtechassociates.com</a>.
</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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Mel Robertshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04776953437512855997noreply@blogger.com1