In an Edtech Magazine article from October 29th on the EDUCAUSE 2020 conference, the observation is made that “With Chatbots, a Layered Approach is Key to Student Success”.
“One of the greatest benefits of the technology (…) is that it is student-centered and focuses on reaching out to students where they are and in a format they’re comfortable with. ‘Engaging with students and understanding where they are and what they need rather than assuming you know how to communicate with them is critical,’ explained Elizabeth Adams, associate vice president for undergraduate studies at California State University, Northridge, during the conference. ‘We can’t keep assuming they’ll come to us.’”
That means that we have to consider that most of the initial and multiple contacts with the students are now digital! But let’s not be mistaken, chatbots and artificial intelligence (AI) should be used across the phygital journey to magnify students’ experiences and help them get closer to success, not to replace the full human & learning experience on campus.
This application in the higher education sphere blends both what we know about the customer journey and client expectations with the traditional services provided by institutions for learning.
An enhanced and individualized student experience on premises or even at a distance
Adaptive learning is using the benefit of AI & big data for students to create the best possible online learning experience! With multimodal (physical and digital) and modular teaching activities, the challenge is to offer students a tailor-made experience throughout their time at the school, allowing each student to reach their learning objectives in the best way possible. To meet this challenge, ESCP Business School has opted for an Adaptive Learning approach by developing a student-centric solution with the Edtech startup called Domoscio based on artificial intelligence. With the Domoscio collaboration, a student’s learning data is processed using AI to determine his or her profile and pedagogical needs (transposed into Learning Analytics), and to build the path that will make the most sense for the student.
The student experience should not only be digital but phygital!
Phygital combines the physical and digital worlds to enhance the student experience. The benefit of the data previously collected in compliance with the GDPR is multiple and will allow us to significantly improve the students’ phygital journey through our European campuses. For example, smart-beacons can push contextual information, like the location of the next course, information on event spots around the campus or the price of a coffee, depending on where the student is on campus. Our Phygital Factory, a nice place to innovate and transform thanks to collective intelligence, already integrates the experimentation of intelligent buildings (Internet of Things) and Edtech to create this seamless student-centered experience up to the implementation of augmented classrooms (Phygital Classrooms). Such classrooms can help professors teach in a hybrid mode. Professors can use smart-tablets, automatic video streaming and videoconference to balance the face-to-face and online aspects within a course and teach in a collaborative way in the classroom.
Digital transformation will continue to play a role in providing ubiquitous and affordable access to education.
However, don’t forget that beyond the digital platforms and the hybrid classrooms, the experience on the campus of the future should be ready to allow all school communities to exchange information and build relationships also on premises. Phygital facilities can help to provide this experience in a seamless pathway…
Feature photo by Josefa nDiaz on Unsplash.