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We returned recently to the UNICA report, entitled New strategies of marketing and recruitment of international students, for a second look. There are often things we miss, or gloss over, on the first readings of these reports, and we are glad that we revisited this one.
There is a piece by Aswin Lutchanah, Social Media Manager at the University of Luxembourg, which caught our eye, because we loved the simplicity of it. The topic was Empathy Marketing; something we have seen a lot more attention being paid to as new generations arrive at our institutions, accentuated by the drivers of the post-pandemic educational landscape.
Empathy is complex, but fundamentally it is the glue to social cohesion and often overlooked as a unique force in the way we communicate with and engage new students.
Empathy marketing is a technique that can help universities better connect with these generations of students. It is about understanding the needs and desires of your audience, and using that understanding to create messaging that resonates with them on a deeper level. It involves putting yourself in their shoes, understanding their pain points, and using this understanding building a relationship of trust and understanding. Focus groups, social listening exercises and open channels of communication can help you understand this better.
Empathy marketing differs from traditional sales-based marketing in a number of ways. Traditional marketing focuses on promoting the benefits of a product or service, with the goal of persuading the student to enrol. Empathy marketing, on the other hand, is focused on building a relationship with the student, based on trust and understanding. The goal is not just to enrol a student, but to create a positive experience for the student that will keep them engaged throughout their academic journey.
So why is empathy marketing so important for reaching the new generation of students? For one, these generations are known for valuing authenticity and transparency. They want to know that the universities they are considering are not just focused on their bottom line, but are truly invested in the student's success. Empathy marketing allows universities to demonstrate this commitment by showing that they understand and care about the unique challenges and opportunities that students face. That is particularly important in the post-pandemic world, where students' lives were turned upside down and anxiety rates went through the roof.
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The UNICA report outlines Aswin's empathy-based approach on social media. He has created a presence that people note when he is not posting, and that means there is a personal connection there.
His goal is not only to just communicate information but to build relationships with students past, present and future, but also to provide a space where they can do so with each other. The social media account publishes, in their words, "Informative stories about news and events taking place on campus; “listening” stories to get feedback, promotional stories to promote study programmes, sharing stories composed by user-generated content, and motivational stories about exams or to fight loneliness”.
They emphasise the very important point that social media is supposed to be social. It is not a place where institutions speak and students listen, but rather a space to build community and connection.
Research has shown that empathy marketing can have a significant impact on student enrolment and retention. According to a study by marketing agency FutureBrand, 81% of students surveyed said they would be more likely to attend a university that was perceived as empathetic, and 73% said they would be more likely to stay at a university if they felt the institution cared about their success.
So, how can universities incorporate empathy marketing into their marketing strategies? Here are a few practical starting points:
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geNEOus has long been pushing a circular way of thinking about student recruitment. The community that connects past, present and prospective students is one of the most important assets an institution can have, and it must begin in online spaces.
The siloed way of thinking about recruitment as a "funnel" does students a disservice. Education M&R teams should maintain that connection and communication with them all the way through and beyond. How else will we really understand what they need, and what drives them?
To talk to us about our community building support for institutions, don't hesitate to reach out and see what we could do for you.
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By 2025, Millennials will make up nearly 75% of the global workforce. Gen Z-ers born in the mid-1990s are already graduating from higher education and reshaping the world of business. (The cool) universities are now turning their attention to the next generation: Generation Alpha. With the rise of a more tech-focused world, as well as changing social and cultural values, who is now knocking at our doors and what do they want?
Generation Alpha, born between the early 2010s and now, will enter higher education within the next decade. As a digitally-native generation, they are growing up with the next phase of AI and metaverse technologies. They are constantly connected to their peers and the wider world through screens. They are highly visual, used to receiving information in ‘snackable’ short-form text and video, and are aware of how to manage their digital lives, much better than their Millennial counterparts.
With those things in mind, what can universities do to appeal to this hyper-connected, digital-first cohort? In a new report from the Network of Universities from the Capitals of Europe (UNICA), experts set out new strategies for recruiting the next generation of students. From dipping a toe in the Metaverse, to thinking less like a university and more like a student, the report reveals that successfully marketing to Generation Alpha is as much about attitude as it is about physical adaptations.
The power of social media marketing isn’t waning, says Aswin Lutchanah from the University of Luxembourg. As Social Media Manager, Aswin wants to show the university as a modern, interdisciplinary institution that offers a personal approach. How does he do this? By speaking to students in a way that they understand.
Generation Alpha just don’t have time to read long pieces of text or watch long videos. Some might say they no longer have the tolerance for it, though the jury is still out on theories of depleted attention span. What is clear, is that we have to work harder to get and keep their attention. Short and snappy social media stories, coupled with opportunities to share personal experiences and connect with other students, has helped the university’s following grow rapidly. As well as sharing news stories from around campus and promoting courses of study, Aswin’s strategy also puts students’ voice front and center.
User-generated content about everything from exam tips to coping with loneliness helps create a sense of belonging and authenticity, embracing all aspects of the student experience. Creating real connections through digital channels is what universities should be focusing on when marketing to the next generation of students. As Aswin says in this report, the word ‘social’ in social media is key.
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Some of us may have just reluctantly mastered Zoom, but Generation Alpha are already living parts of their lives fully online. Whether through the use of voice-recognition technology and virtual assistants, or through online gaming, the next generation of students will expect their education to reflect these other aspects of their life. Universities have to get ready to meet their students where they are, and that means upskilling, embracing new technology and having good conversations about what it all means. To be relevant, we have to stay connected to the flow of change.
According to Alejandra Otero, Founder & CEO of geNEOus, the Metaverse is all about community. The internet has evolved from a place to read content, into a place to engage with content and now communities. Platforms like Discord, which is based around users’ interests, are already being used by some universities for presentations. Why not use them to help students connect through shared subjects and interests? Alejandra encourages more institutions to experiment with using the spaces. Being a late adopter is not ideal, but it’s better than not adopting at all!
Crucially, Alejandra says that universities should adapt their content to these new community spaces. Simply being in the Metaverse is not enough to attract new students if you are still asking them to download brochures and read long emails. She emphasizes that the metaverse is about play, experimentation, and networking. Learning about the university itself is important, but it becomes the secondary focus in the metaverse.
With rising costs and increasing competition in the higher education market, universities need to ensure that their marketing campaigns work even harder than before. Lisa Flannery, Marketing Manager at University College Dublin (UCD), shared their strategy to increase student numbers by 25% by 2030. This long-term goal needs a long-term marketing plan that both appeals to the next generation of students and also retains its relevance over a 2 to 3-year period.
Just like Aswin Lutchanah’s social media strategy, UCD’s marketing plan relies heavily on the authenticity that Generation Alpha craves. You know those super fake students we see in university brochures that make you think “there’s no way these people are real”? That is a huge no no.
Real students were cast in their video campaigns, which used creative storytelling to show how their learning journey impacted on their lives in the world beyond education. The themes of the campaign also chime with Generation Alpha’s values, focusing on ‘global sustainability, transformation through digital technology, building a healthy world and empowering humanity.’
As well as the content itself, UCD also made sure to adapt the format of their marketing campaign to appeal to Generation Alpha. Long-form video was cut down to easily-digestible 10 and even 6-second videos to use as ads on YouTube and TikTok. Information on the university’s web pages was presented visually, with benefits and student testimonials featuring prominently, without tinkering with the way students actually phrased things.
The campaign also emphasized UCD’s brand as an Irish institution, using emotive music and Irish language, with plans for Gaelic language recordings to be created in the future. Community, and belonging, are critically important to new generations in such a fluid and tumultuous world.
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The UNICA report shows that while Generation Alpha are still interested in the practical aspects of the university experience, higher education institutions will need to adapt the way they market themselves to this upcoming, hyper-connected generation. Yes, information on course content, student finance and accommodation is still critical, but new students are looking to be inspired and reassured that they are joining an authentic, future-focused organization. That means you kind of have to be one, and there’s no shortcut around that. Generation Alpha trust their peers more than anyone else, so if your messaging doesn’t match the experience, then prepare for that to go viral.
Whether you are looking to make your first foray into the Metaverse, or want to connect with new students through a future-proofed social media and marketing strategy, we can help your institution with bringing Generation Alpha on board. Want to know more? Get in touch, or send us a TikTok of you dancing in the kitchen, and let’s chat about how you can get ready for the next generation.
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Millennials are just so 1995, but they are the ones who have driven the major recent changes to workplace culture, spearheading the so-called “Great Resignation” and demands for a different way of doing things post-pandemic.
Before we have even really adapted to this and internalized what it all means, along come Gen Z, who are determined to outshine the Z’s by bringing their personal values into their work. Gone is the “work persona” with the Z’s, who want to be themselves wherever they are. Already there is a brewing clash with top-down formal, hierarchical and high power-distance organizations.
With both these generations fully embedded in the workplace and Gen Alpha not too far behind, education institutions need to take action now to attract and retain them as workers and, of course, as potential students.
When Global analytics firm Gallup surveyed Millennials and Gen Z on what they look for most in a prospective employer, the top answer in both groups was not, as Gen X might think, more avocado lattes in the staff restaurant, and a 3-day working week.
That’s not far off, however, because what they do want is an organization that prioritizes its workers’ wellbeing. While the pandemic highlighted the importance of physical and mental health at work, wellbeing has in fact been a top-three priority for all generations (including Gen X and Baby Boomers) long before 2020. This is not a “personal” issue anymore, because the boundaries between work and personal life are rapidly blurring.
While many schools and universities already offered health-focused benefits such as employee wellbeing schemes or free gym memberships, the definition of what it means to be ‘well at work’ has expanded. Young employees are more likely to be in entry level positions and may be experiencing financial stresses or isolation not felt by their older, promoted colleagues. These are serious issues that a gym pass can’t quite fix.
The Millennial and Gen Z trend towards sobriety could encourage workplaces to rethink networking events, where alcohol has often traditionally been the way to grease the wheels of conversation. We never thought we’d see a world where the wine did not flow at education marketing conferences, but it is already changing.
Also, remember that whole WFH thing in the pandemic? Gen Z liked it, and they’re not giving it up. The greater flexibility offered by hybrid working or fully-remote offices is important to younger generations, who crave autonomy and the ability to customize their working week. With education M&R teams working more and more through project management tools and Teams meetings, this is most certainly possible.
Wellbeing is no longer just about having a bowl of free fruit in the staff room or offering a later start time on Mondays. For Millennials and Gen Z, businesses need to consider all aspects of workplace wellbeing and not just offer token solutions to wider issues.
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Millennials and Gen Z want to work with and for organizations led with integrity and transparency, and Alphas are not going to buck that trend at all. This means going beyond buzzy job advertisements and company slogans and actually creating a workplace where their employees can make a difference - whether for themselves or for others.
Why do we work in education? We love working with people, but we also know that education is the vehicle to a better world, if we get it right. We all know it, from the campus operations team, estates staff, students, administrators, and even the college cat knows he is part of something meaningful.
Younger generations need that to be made more visible. What is your impact, your purpose and your cause? What are you doing to help prepare students for a Volatile, Uncertain, Complex and Ambiguous world? Where is the genuine action on sustainability? How are you broadening access to learning, and how are you sowing the seeds for transformative change? You see, Gen Z and Alpha have been handed a pretty broken world, and they need to know they’re not expected to fix it on their own. Oh, and they can smell greenwashing and hollow promises a mile away.
Showing the next generation that you can back up your words with action is crucial for employee retention and student recruitment; so any institution that can prove it stands by its values will look increasingly attractive.
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We know that values-led organizations are most attractive to the younger generation. This doesn’t stop with the products and services on offer or the way they are marketed. Millennials and Gen Z wanted to know that the values of respect, equity, and inclusion are also part of the DNA of the workforce itself.
According to Michael Timmes, HR consultant with Insperity, organizations that actually demonstrate their commitment to creating a diverse and equitable culture are much more attractive to both prospective employees and students.
Younger workers want to feel respected and valued for the unique contributions they can bring to an organization, and students want to know how what they are learning will help them make a difference. This means having opportunities for coaching and training, as well as a manager or teacher who is meaningfully engaged and invested in their development and progression, as well as being willing to listen to their perspective, their ideas, and their concerns.
Education institutions have made huge adjustments over the last decade as a new generation moves through higher education and into the workplace. It’s an exciting time, but we know it’s not without its challenges. If you’re curious about what future changes are on the horizon and how your M&R team can engage with Gen Z, Gen Alpha and beyond, then we’d love to hear from you. Collaborating, asking questions and sharing our experiences is the best way to learn and grow, so get in touch and let’s talk.
What comes to mind when you think of the word ‘entrepreneurship’? Scrappy start-ups turned Silicon Valley unicorns? Wealthy one-offs like Mark Zuckerberg or Richard Branson? Or even a Gen Z tech whiz making millions from their bedroom? Whatever you think of, it probably relates to growing a business and making money. But what if we told you that the skills of an entrepreneur are just what higher education institutions need to be focused on, right across the learning environments? This is not because we believe everyone deep down wants to run off and start their own business, but because those skills are just what they need to cope with the ever-changing nature of our modern working world.
Using a narrow definition of an entrepreneur, you can see why there is a tension between entrepreneurship and education. Entrepreneurship is about business, money and creating commercial value, which is somewhat at odds with the wider sense of what “value” is in impact-driven education institutions. Perhaps, however, we need to re-examine our definition.
In a report published way back in 2008, the European Commission highlighted that higher education institutions should be doing more to encourage entrepreneurship across all areas of learning. This report defined entrepreneurship simply as ‘an individual’s ability to turn ideas into action’, a mindset that so many educators have been shouting about ever since (and well before!) 2008. By learning here, we are talking equally about the chemistry student who needs to learn how to pitch their research project to a potential funder, as much as we are talking about the marketing professional who could use design thinking techniques to figure out how to improve the student engagement journey.
Thinking about entrepreneurship as a way of working and learning, rather than simply a way to build wealth, means applying entrepreneurial skills to other aspects of our lives. Younger generations are the most traditionally entrepreneurial yet, with 62% of Gen Z having already started or intending to start their own business. They are primed to transfer these skills and ambitions to other areas of their lives, and higher education institutions are perfectly positioned to help them with this. In terms of staff retention, new employees who realize they are being supported to develop such valuable life skills, will be more likely to stick around, don’t you agree?
So we have perhaps put the cart before the horse a bit in not examining what these skills actually are in the first section, but if you’re an entrepreneur, you’ll have rolled with that less than linear approach because that’s how life can be sometimes. So let’s get to it.
According to the OECD, the ‘practice of entrepreneurship holds a great deal of promise for navigating the chaos, complexity, and disruptions’ of life in 2023 - and beyond. So what are some of the key skills that universities should be looking to instill in their staff and students through an entrepreneurial approach?
Millennials and Gen Z are set on having greater flexibility and autonomy when it comes to their working lives. With flexibility comes freedom, but also greater instability and other challenges. Leaning into uncertainty, having the space to experiment and even make mistakes is paramount if we want our community to embrace a more entrepreneurial approach to their learning and professional development. Universities should support us to deal with challenge positively, to see it not as a judgement on our wider capabilities but as an opportunity to learn from both failures and success.
Great communication skills are another key aspect of entrepreneurship, and both staff and students should have the chance to flex their storytelling muscles in lots of different ways. From leading small working groups, to presenting online and in person, to sharing their experiences with others both online and offline, there are many opportunities for our community to develop their communication skills. Entrepreneurship is often about getting into the mindset of the person who is listening and creating empathy-based narratives that connect. In a world of education marketing increasingly competing for attention in more creative ways, the humble story remains one of our most enduringly powerful assets.
While entrepreneurship is principally about action and forward motion, having the ability to stop and take stock is also crucial. The skill of self-reflection is another one that higher education institutions can help develop in their staff and students. This could be through self-assessment or peer-to-peer learning sessions, or even encouraging our community to take up a personal journaling practice. However, reflection happens, being able to check in and recognize both your achievements and areas for development is invaluable for learning. Reflective practice is more common in education these days, but does this seem too “out there” for professionals? We don’t think so, and we think that it builds a culture of authentic communication where people have had the chance to step back and think about things before they communicate meaningfully, and get clear about what they want and what they need.
We’ve now thought about just some of the many skills of entrepreneurship that higher education should be fostering in its new staff and students, and of course the existing community too! But what about the ways in which these skills are nurtured? If we’re thinking about new definitions for entrepreneurship, then we should also be thinking about new ways of supporting that learning and development.
This does not suit the lecture, and does not fit into the onboarding material for your new hire in the admissions team. According to the OECD, ‘entrepreneurship cannot be taught - it can only be facilitated.’ In other words, we need to work alongside people, helping them to reflect and develop, making space for them to be wrong and to experience setbacks, and to continuously improve. This approach is at the core of intrapreneurship, where small agile teams can be created within existing departments, focused on innovation, and stepping back to question the way things work and flow. They are typically outside normal chains of communication and hierarchy, and have more fluid role descriptions. That does not happen overnight, but with the right support, it can be built, and it can yield incredible results. Just ask Google, Vimeo and Sony.
Whether staff or student, one critical aspect to developing entrepreneurial skills is to give them greater control over the type of work they do. Self-direction means they are more likely to pursue their own lines of inquiry and do deep thinking on their terms. This also respects neurodiversity as an asset to a team or to a learning environment, and makes space for everyone to be the best versions of themselves.
In a recent framework for student success, published by Advance HE, the role and value of ‘the educator’ when it comes to fostering entrepreneurship in higher education is outlined in three parts: to motivate learners, build collaborative working relationships and, interestingly, make time for their own reflection and iteration. In short, those embracing the entrepreneurial approach must adopt the same attitude themselves.
As we’ve said, these ideas about entrepreneurship and education aren’t new, even if some sectors have taken a while to adopt them. If you’re already implementing some of these ideas, why not tell us all about it? And if you’re ready to take that step into new ways of working with your team, we’d love to help.
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Prevention is the best medicine. We've all heard this at some point in our lives, and it’s not just about green-juicing your way to glowing health. From our physical health to our professional lives, taking proactive steps to prevent problems from arising is always preferable to waiting until they become too big to handle. This is especially true when it comes to teams and institutions that work under pressure, which is pretty much all of our sector!
When it comes to healthcare, we all seem to accept the importance of preventative measures. Whether it's getting regular check-ups, eating a healthy diet, or exercising regularly, taking care of ourselves in small ways can prevent serious health issues from arising later on. But too often, we wait until we're experiencing symptoms before seeking medical attention. As Dr. Tom Frieden, former director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, puts it: "We've got a sick-care system, not a health-care system." We focus on treating symptoms instead of preventing problems in the first place.
The same is true in the world of business. It's easy to fall into the trap of reactive problem-solving, waiting until something goes wrong before taking action. Coaches see it all the time. As author Michael Bungay Stanier points out, "It's harder to solve a problem when you're in a reactive state." When we're stressed, overwhelmed, and scrambling to put out fires, we're not in the best position to come up with effective solutions to the root problem. By taking a proactive approach, we can avoid many of these problems in the first place.
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At a team meeting some weeks ago, Puri, our Paid Media Specialist, mentioned that she saw geNEOus as a doctor, in the way that we work with clients. When we explored this with her, Puri reasoned that it was because we provide them with the tools and insights they need to identify potential issues before they become serious problems, but only after conducting a thorough “check up” of an organization’s marketing and branding strategy, identifying areas for improvement, and making actionable recommendations for how to address those areas. Oh, and of course further check ups to support and guide. That does actually sound quite like us.
According to a report by McKinsey & Company, organizations that take a proactive approach to problem-solving are more likely to outperform their peers. The report found that "proactive companies...often spend more on problem prevention than reactive ones do, but they invest in a more focused, more data-driven way, often through targeted analytics."
In other words, it's not about spending more money or working harder. It's about working smarter and being more strategic. We often talk about “agile” teams as if they are groups which respond and adapt to changes in their environment, but sometimes that also means acting before your environment changes, or before an issue becomes a full-blown crisis. By investing in preventative measures, teams can avoid many of the problems that would otherwise slow them down or hold them back.
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We get it. It's not always easy to see where potential problems may lie, when you are buried in such a routine and familiar environment. That's where an external source of support can really add value. By bringing in an outside perspective and specialized expertise, they can help teams to see things they may not have been aware of before. geNEOus, not to be confused with the dictionary suffix -genous, is the new, old kid on the medical block, whose expertise you never knew you needed, till now.
We came across a client review online of a well-known business coach called David Parrish. It said “I wouldn’t necessarily rush to call him if I had chest pains or a strange rash. But when my business needs a little plaster or even some minor surgery, he is someone I would trust to find a way of making it healthy again. As well as offering practical and common sense advice, he opens the door just enough for me to push it through to solve problems and to sometimes self medicate”. We loved this because, as Puri saw, this summed up exactly how we work too.
One of the key benefits of taking a preventative and proactive approach is that it allows teams to work more smoothly and efficiently. When everyone is on the same page and working towards the same goals, it's easier to avoid misunderstandings and miscommunications. In fast-paced environments like a university admissions office, that is critical.
So yes, Puri, we guess we are a bit like doctors, because whether it's in healthcare, business or the world of education, prevention is the best medicine. And just to add, for the sake of doubt, that it is just an analogy. We won’t turn up to your organization with a stethoscope, unless you specifically request it. The point is well made, however, that if you need someone to come in and give a checkup, offer some help and support, spot issues coming down the line and help you to identify and address the root cause, then there’s no time like the present to get in touch.
Opening ourselves up to the learning experiences in every interaction, project, relationship, decision, and outcome would be a true superpower, but it is actually quite a tricky thing to do.
However, even if we are not actively thinking “what can I learn from this?”, that does not mean that we are not being influenced and shaped by our experience of others. In fact, we sat down this week to reflect on just who has shaped us as an organization, and as individuals. As we pass our 6th birthday, and into this geNEOus world, we look back, forward and around us for how others influence us.
Emerging from very early years as a commercial partnership, geNEOus (formerly NEO Academy) was a one-woman show, with Alejandra working out just who geNEOus (formerly NEO Academy) should be. As any founder will tell you, the imprint of emotional investment from those early years leaves an indelible mark on the future. Would it be an exaggeration to say we leave a part of ourselves in the things we create?
We learn first from the market. Oh, so this idea is totally impractical? Ah, so these things that are important to me are not yet very important to others? Pivot time. Growth time.
But when others enter the core, that is a different thing altogether. This company that is “yours” grows to become “ours”, and suddenly there is a “we”. From day one, our team members have been empowered to grow their creative freedom and speak their mind, and as they begin to point out all the things about the organization that we might have missed, things start to change. Fresh perspectives mean fresh opportunities, if we are really willing to listen.
Team voice has been so crucial to our growth. We are a family now. We laugh and cry together, but we have got it wrong sometimes. We learned to really focus on bringing people on board in the most considered way possible, so that we could really feel out the fit between us, and ensure that they felt that personal connection from the start.
Nothing worse than a quick onboarding and then throwing tasks at someone. Relationships are what makes everything work for us, and when someone feels both safe and seen, they will tell you what they really think.
Our clients have always, and continue to teach us so much. This applies as much to the times we said yes! As it does to the times when we had to say no.
The thing about growing a team into a values-based culture is that you have to walk the walk. When we had to say no to a client because of a values mismatch (even when we really needed the revenue to support our growth), we had to just trust our gut. That may even happen during a long-term collaboration with a client, where our point of contact changes and so does the relationship.
Though we might still believe in the institution itself, if we are being micromanaged, subjected to unreasonable demands, or not being trusted to do what we do, then sometimes we have to draw a line.
We have been in ground-up projects that are great until they land on the desk of management, only to get torpedoed and sunk. They weren’t involved in the thinking behind the approach, and so it is harder to really see value in it sometimes.
These experiences have taught us who we really are. If you don’t have boundaries and values as an organization, then it will impact you badly as individuals, and that is the honest truth of it.
But the clients we do work with…wow. We came into this with our own experience of the sector, but our clients test it, inform it and stretch it. The partners and clients we work with cover K12, language schools, international development organizations, universities, national education agencies, portals, agents, and sector professionals.
That gives us a 360-degree holistic learning process that helps us continuously evolve. Oh, and you would not believe the amount of techniques and approaches that are actually transferable among all of these areas; we are not as different as we might think.
One thing that has really shaped us a whole lot is working with so many founders and decision makers in our collaborations.
Involving the decision makers from the start makes sure that they bring that strategic birds eye view and their vision is integrated, so there is buy in from the start. It also gives us the opportunity to say to the decision makers that things may not be exactly as they had understood and to introduce other ideas and approaches early on, so that it is not simply rejected later. Those relationships really shape our thinking and our strategic thinking skills equally.
We know who will shape us in the future because they are already responsible for our geNEOus transition. For years, we have been advocating institutional change to support Generation Alpha as they knock on our doors in just a couple of years,
In fact, with K12 partners we are already preparing for Generation Beta, and ensuring we are ready to engage, support and understand them.
We are products of our experiences, and there is no doubt about it. We are not saying we got everything right first time, but we are proud of the fact that we stuck to our values, listened to our team, and always did what we felt was right. You, our community, have helped us to learn, unlearn, relearn, and grow. We hope that in some small way, we can do the same for you.
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We have dropped enough hints, so here is the news: NEO Academy is over.
No, not like that. Well, kind of, but not really. We need to explain. Can we tell you a story? Nobody gets hurt, we promise.
Six years ago, this was our thing. Education was changing a lot, and students, we felt, were not benefitting from old-fashioned approaches where they choose degree pathways set in stone, with little chance to really deviate as their interests developed and their experiences grew.
We wanted education to have much more of the agility we find in professional development: a range of learning experiences, personalized and bite-sized, "nano" learning interventions which students could do as and when they felt was the right time.
The key ingredients of NEO - Nano Education Online were all in there, but the recipe just didn't work out. The costs of developing the platform to create and host this content were just astronomical; especially given that the learning pathways had to be customizable.
We cared deeply (and still do!) about the future of education and making sure it was fit for the next generation and the realities of the world around us. We wanted to make a difference, and we wanted to use our skill set to make it work. So we changed the recipe.
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Finding NEO took six years, and we would not give up a single day of that time. We evolved into an education marketing consultancy (NEO Academy), but we took a challenging route.
Saying "no" to clients or partners who did not align with our values was perhaps the most challenging aspect, but we did it, and we did it some more.
We learned what we love doing, how we love to work and, above all, who we want to be around. Our team is small, but we are a family, and NEO evolved beyond the imprints of its founder, to embrace the collective persona of our incredible and committed team. We all feel part of this.
We have worked with so many amazing institutions, and felt part of their team, and part of their story, as we helped them to optimize their marketing, streamline processes and let their brand shine through more clearly. From language schools to universities, high schools to training providers, we have built a deep understanding of our sector.
Throughout this, we found our voice, and realized we could be part of a positive future for education; not necessarily by providing that education ourselves, but by supporting institutions and organizations we believe in, with excellent marketing and communication strategies. The recipe was refined, and pared down to three key ingredients.
Who do we do it all for? Beyond our team, and our clients and partners, what is the larger vision? An education organization is not limited by the scope of accountability that binds, for example, politicians. In making great change, the politician imagines what can I do in the next four years, before I have to stand for reelection? The timeless institutions can imagine the next century and beyond, and their place at the heart of change. That is where we want to be.
Generation Alpha is almost here. The last of the generation that inherits an earth in decline and decay is being born now. After them, and in our lifetimes as professionals, the Betas will be knocking on our doors in 15 to 20 years.
What will we tell them? That we just carried on with the same systems and approaches to living in this world that created this volatile and uncertain state? Or will we tell them that we learned, listened, and tried our best to change the way they learn so that they might yet adapt and thrive in a regenerated world. We must evolve, and we must change; for them.
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NEO Academy is no longer our brand, but it is always at our core. Our values, our story, our journey, and our own lifelong learning pathways which have helped us each to become experts in our field. The Buddhists talk about a mind stream when a person is reincarnated, which is an element that continues on to a new body, much like a flame being passed from one candle to another.
The idea is that the mind stream is a continuous flow of consciousness that is not tied to any one form, but rather is an ongoing process that evolves and develops over time. The new life is seen as a continuation of this process, with the potential for growth, learning, and transformation.
When you light a new candle with an old, the new flame is not the same as the old, but it does contain this at its core. We will always, in so many ways, be NEO.
When your core is stable and secure, you can build. We know who we serve, and we know who we are and what we can do for others. So now it is time to broaden out the view of whom the "other" is.
We will always work with education institutions, but learning is not always formal. Everywhere we see organizations who are working through the medium of education to change behaviors, mindsets and skill-sets; transforming lives.
As education embeds sustainable development in its ethos and approach, the institutions themselves become a transformative force for change in society. This means the days of the ivory tower are over.
Working in partnership with foundations, national agencies, NGO's, charities, social enterprises, private sector training organizations and so much more, the education that makes a difference in this world will be one delivered in partnership and through community.
In this, we will continue to support and empower our clients and partners by helping them reach new people, engage them in their story, and bring them inside. Our expertise as an education marketing consultancy is at the service of the change makers in our broad community.
This wider vision of US is part of the new NEO.
One of the traps of working from project to project is that we can get caught up in deadlines, metrics and short-term planning. The luxury afforded to us all, in the years of the pandemic, was a chance to stop and zoom out a little.
We want to work with future generations firmly in mind; not just in helping institutions prepare for them, but in doing everything we can to make things better for them ourselves. We are not a dot com kind of team, and "academy" just doesn't cover it.
And coming back to the present, we want to support others who could use our help but may not have the means to pay for it. As we grow, we want to make sure that growth benefits others beyond our immediate community, and we have identified ways of doing that which are firmly in line with our mission, vision, and values.
So what is the outcome of all this? Well, we have dropped enough hints and now it is time to reveal all. We invite you to come visit our LinkedIn page this Thursday 23rd March 2023 to find out what NEO will now become.
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Most of us undergo changes all the time in response to different things: who we are around, what we experience, what we learn about the world and ourselves; all of it creates an evolutionary state of being, if we are open to listen and reflect. The changes might be small, but they add up over time.
Organizations evolve too, of course. Not just in response to the surrounding environment, but to the learning, validation and insight from the wrong turns and successes alike. A small organization is particularly susceptible to change, because the impact of a wrong turn can be felt immediately, and ideas are often shared and absorbed more easily.
But people carry their identity differently to that of a company. Each time we interact with another person, or react to something that happens, there is a chance to do something new. A chance to be different. One of the beautiful things in life is when we take the chance at a "fresh start"- to move somewhere new, start a new job, meet new people; free from the narrative of whom we once were.
Companies carry identity in their brand. How they communicate, what they do, how they behave, and what their values are. What is a "fresh start" for us? What happens when the projection of that brand no longer matches what we feel it should be? It does not matter if it is 1 year or 100 years in as a company, when the time is right to rebrand, it is right.
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The world is fluid and ever-changing, and becoming increasingly so. In such an environment, rebranding is an essential part of business growth and resilience. Whether you're a small, bespoke education marketing consultancy like us or a huge international university, rebranding can help you stay relevant and attract a new generation of clients, partners, team members and students.
If the brand feels tired (and looks like it next to others), if it is no longer standing out as memorable, if you have significantly changed your services or your typical client base, or if your team or clients are confused about what you do, then you definitely need to shake things up!
Perhaps more personally, however, we have to listen to our gut on this one. Evangelizing your brand should, in an ideal world, be totally organic. We tell others about it because we genuinely love what it represents, and we are really clear on how to communicate it. When that becomes muddied, and you have to over-explain things, or feel a little disconnected from some angles of the branding, the chances are it is time for a refresh.
Is there a perfect time to rebrand? Not really, but as it can be a significant undertaking, it's essential to choose the time wisely.
We think the most important consideration in terms of timing is really the needs of your business and the capacity you have to allocate time and other resources to the project. Don't underestimate how much time this takes, and trying to do it in a busy time of year, or when you just don't have the headspace, is a definite no.
That being said, rebranding to coincide with a significant milestone such as a business anniversary can be a good way to generate buzz and promote the rebranding effort. For example, if your education marketing consultancy is celebrating its 5-year anniversary, you could use the occasion to launch a new brand identity and messaging that reflects the growth and evolution of your business over the past decade.
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Rebranding can be a complex process, but there are various levels to it and not all are relevant. Rebrands are not always complete overhauls; for example, you might change your name and shift the focus to specific services or client types, but keep the same look and feel.
We find that the best way to go about it will involve a few critical steps, regardless of how deep the rebranding is actually going. And all of these steps should be with full involvement of the team, rather than handed down from on high:
Give it space. The best ideas don't always come in design thinking sessions or high-energy brainstorming days when everyone has a post-it note on their forehead for some reason. Sometimes, we need to just stop, reflect, get away and change perspective. When the right brand looks and feel comes to you, you will know it.
We work with education institutions and organizations to support our colleagues in this process. The rebranding steps above might seem obvious to someone in marketing, but trust us, the results of a properly facilitated branding session can be mind-blowing. What you think is clear about your brand often isn't and so much can come of just opening it all up for a look. We have seen it time and again.
For support on this, we are here to talk, so just let us know if a chat would help in the first instance.
Does it feel like "cheating"? This is an interesting point for reflection and growth, as the arrival of AI in our sector is truly disrupting every aspect of our jobs. If a "robot" can write a lot of our copy, do keyword research, benchmark competitors etc., does that make us feel redundant or liberated? What exactly is the "creative" part of our job, and what would we do more of if we had more time freed up?
We prize innovation. Findings ways to "work smarter not harder" are always welcome, or so it seems to us. What happens to the ego when we find ways for clever hacks to do the heavy lifting in our everyday professional roles?
Already this is getting a bad reputation with all the hype around students using AI to generate essays, but that ship has already sailed and institutions will finally need to update their assessment methods.
But how many of us in marketing have stared at the blank document, ready to write some copy, but just unable to start? We are not suggesting at all that you get ChatGPT to write your copy, but it can start you off.
With a topic or keyword, the chatbot can recommend headlines, opening sentences and even complete paragraphs that you can then adapt, to get rid of that slightly clunky machine prose. How much more could we generate with just a little kick-start sometimes to get us going?
In addition to this simple use, the chatbot can generate ideas for content, from blog articles to social media posts. This is not just the generic stuff that you will find online, but ideas that are tailored to your specific setting and focus.
Oh, and the chatbot is extremely good at explaining complex ideas in a simple way. This is great for those of us writing to non-specialist audiences. For example, type in "explain what an NFT is in very simple terms, and give an analogy that might help a layperson understand the concept." and this is what the chatbot comes up with:
"NFT stands for Non-Fungible Token. It's a digital asset that represents ownership of a unique item or piece of content, such as an image, video, or audio recording. Think of it as a digital certificate of authenticity that verifies you own the original version of that digital asset.
One analogy could be to think of an NFT like a one-of-a-kind trading card, such as a rare baseball card. Just like how owning the original, unique card can be valuable to collectors, owning the original version of a digital asset can be valuable to some people."
Getting outside our own framework of understanding something is not always easy, and AI can offer fresh perspectives when we are looking for the best way to communicate an idea. That is super useful for blog content, but also presentations, pitches, proposals, and other stuff beginning with "P" probably.
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OpenAI is not connected to the Internet, and though some observers are saying that the chatbot will never completely replace search engines like Google, you can bet that Microsoft's Bing search engine will see a huge boost in users in 2023 and beyond.
The Bing collaboration is still in its infancy, but it is certain that shortly we will be able to do bespoke market research on competitors, trends, statistics etc., all presented to us in a cohesive format. Of course, we have to double-check its accuracy, but this is such a great start.
Even at the moment, in its internet-less state, we can input data we have found on, for example, student recruitment trends. OpenAI can analyze this, to give us a useful summary, or can explain the relationships and insights shown by your data.
Going further, you can then request predictions, forecasts or further recommendations based on your data, and of course get any technical advice you need on specific analysis tasks. How about a visual representation of your data? Just ask OpenAI's Dall-E2 tool to do it for you.
Again, we are not going to suggest outsourcing this important work to a robot, but please don't underestimate how helpful it can be in getting you started. Bram Adams, a marketer and blogger, was involved in the beta testing of ChatGPT. He was astounded at the response when he asked the chatbot to produce marketing strategy for "Creating AR sketch comedy skits. AR memes are surrealistic comedy where AR objects break expectation and introduce digital objects into the real world." The target audience was "People who watch Key and Peele on YouTube, improv fans."
And the response? Adams felt it was really good, easy to implement and creative. The chatbot proposed that he create "playful skits with your friends and attach shadows from your characters onto existing signage. For example a sign for a restaurant could be changed to be your skit or vice versa for posters, graffiti tags and meme posters in the cities"
Can you see the power of this now? Marketing is a creative profession - no doubt about it - and having a tool that can throw so many more ideas into the mix has to be a welcome thing. Especially on a rainy Tuesday where we just feel a bit ugh; we humans cannot be on all the time.
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You'll notice two things in all the examples we have given here. Firstly, the AI tool is only as good as the prompts you give it and the way you train it towards real specificity. In fact, we suspect that "prompt engineer" might become one of those "jobs we can't imagine yet".
Secondly, all of these examples are not of AI doing the work for us, but simply doing some heavy lifting. It generates ideas, does things that might now be considered mechanical, like summarizing and collating information. The human intelligence is needed for executive functioning, choosing what to use and what to discard, editing to add the emotive flourishes and creative sparks, tweaking to personalize ideas to an audience that you know better than any machine.
The point is that with the support of AI, you have more time to do the things that only we can do, and more mental energy to do it well. We are excited about this prospect because, to us, both the wellbeing of our colleagues and the innovative capacity of our sector are critically important.
Go on. Give it a try, and tell us how you are using it, and what you are getting out of it. Let's share these insights with each other.
With AI, the idea of what "productivity" is can really start to shift, because the Human Intelligence (HI) required to make it all work optimally, is something we can create a nurtured space for.
Imagine more space for development, collaboration, reflection and actually having more time and space to get out into nature and be with our friends and families. Machines may, in the end, give us all a little more time to be human.
Last week we wrote about ChatGPT, as an introduction and a reflection on where the tool might develop in its capacity. However, we realize that it may all still seem a bit distant, and disconnected from our everyday reality of the professional world.
ChatGPT4 is coming in 2023, and will make the current version look like a cute toy. It can write a 60,000 word novel from one prompt, and will disrupt a great many industries. Sundar Pinchai, CEO of Google, said in 2018 that "AI is one of the most important things humanity is working on. It is more profound than, I dunno, electricity or fire". If ever there was an inappropriate statement to water down with "I dunno", that was it. ChatGPT would not have made that slip.
Does that seem real? Overwhelming? Well, then let's bring it a little closer to home, to you, the education marketing professional. And let's broaden out from ChatGPT just a bit, to include the full range of tools in the current suite at OpenAI. That would include not only ChatGPT, but also Whisper (speech recognition tool) and Dall-E2 (image generator).
The Pew Research center predicted back in 2014 that AI and Robotics would drive nearly any aspect of our modern lives by 2025, and we are on track for that to become a reality.
We are going to give you a list. This list is of things that AI-powered tools will be able to do automatically for you in your organization by 2025. The things marked with an asterisk are already possible today.
- Write targeted social media posts and data-driven blog posts*
- Write A/B test landing page copy*
- Carry out effective keyword research*
- Accurately (ish) transcribe audio files from various languages*
- Predict student behavior based on specific marketing approaches*
- Find optimal approaches for email content and personalize copy for audiences*
- Have detailed conversations with students, and learn more about them to build more effective future responses and recommendations*
- Create realistic and creative images from text prompts*
- Create animation and even video content from voice prompts
- Get straightforward explanations instantly about anything you don't understand*
- Write code from prompts, and check your own code for errors or security risks*
- Conduct specialist market research reports and recommendations in seconds
- Have conversations with an AI voice that helps you learn and even challenges your assumptions (Star Trek, anyone?)
- Design and build websites, landing pages and marketing assets
Let's just stop there for now, though this is not the end. This is based only on the suite of tools offered by OpenAI, with their massive Microsoft funding now in place. So much of the work we do right now in education marketing is going to be something we can now train machines to do. Scary?
We reflect a lot on what we tell our clients when we come in to automate their CRM architecture and marketing processes. We tell them, and this very much proves to be true, that by automating as much as possible, the human team is far more free to think creatively and strategically.
In a recent HBR survey, top executives reported that they were mainly excited about AI because it would help them free up staff time, and optimize products and services. Being able to reduce headcount came out as the least reported benefit.
AI is full of bias. It doesn't always "get" emotion; especially brand-centric evocation. Even the best of it can still sound a little clunky. Even when that improves over time, there will always be room for human creative flourishes to put the final parts in place.
Letting AI do the groundwork frees us up to step outside, get the bird's eye view, interact with each other, and spark genuine creativity that can only come from taking the time to step outside well-worn routines.
Whether we like it or not, the genie is out of the bottle. Just a few days ago (February 2023), the huge management consulting firm Bain & Company announced a partnership with OpenAI.
Marketing is a key focus of this partnership, with collaboration on "creating automated, real-time scripts for contact center staff and boosting turnaround time for marketers by using ChatGPT and DALL-E to generate personalized ad copy, imagery, and targeted messaging." Coca-Cola jumped on board immediately as a client.
How long* until the universities, schools, colleges, and language schools are using streamlined AI strategies to gain competitive advantage? We guess you spotted the asterisk; some are already doing it in the three key areas of student learning experience; student support; and enrollment management. HubSpot is already in there, using OpenAI technology to draft outbound emails, categorize and prioritize leads and much more besides.
We will let you be the judge of that, but we are sure you can see that your world is about to drastically change. The whole sea change of AI in education marketing is inevitable. Starting to prepare now by automating your marketing processes, and training your team on the way new technologies might work for your institution, are a good first step to preparing for deeper AI integration.
NEO is not a tech organisation, but we are tech positive because embracing these changes will not only help education institutions survive and remain competitive, but it will also free humans up for deeper learning, creativity and more focus on personal wellbeing. Get in touch to start the conversation with us about how we can support you in this transition, and we will be back soon with more on the AI revolution in education and education marketing.
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Do we strike you as late adopters? The Education Marketing consultancy who are helping institutions adapt to new technologies, new channels of engagement and the arrival of Generation Alpha? Surely not.
But kind of. Do you ever see lots of hype around a movie or TV show, and it actually puts you off watching it? It feels like, if you watch that movie when the noise is at its peak, all you can hear is the voices of others, and you can't find your own.
We've been in on ChatGPT since it first opened its robot arms to the public, but we just haven't felt like talking about it yet. So much hype has surrounded it; from the "end of education" to the "collapse of the human creative process".
It is neither of those things. If anything, it is the death of Google and the final death blow to old-fashioned essay-based assessment methods. However, in terms of creativity, it is simply another stimulus in the way we employ human intelligence, and AI is nothing without us.
We feel like people are starting to find a more sober analysis of ChatGPT on offer now, as we start to see the possibilities of it all, and also to simply embrace that this change is already here. We will be dipping into ChatGPT from a few angles over the coming months, as well as looking more broadly at OpenAI, the company behind it, and AI in general for a broader overview of course.
So if you were looking for a short article on ChatGPT that doesn't use the word "apocalypse", then you've come to the right place.
So there's this web-based tool, which is actually called ChatGPT-3 (yes, the number means there will be more of them, and it's just getting started.).
ChatGPT-3 generates natural sounding language based on the prompts we give it. That sounds simplistic, but consider that the tech draws on 175 billion parameters, which are components that the tool itself can modify as it learns, and helps it make better decisions. If you've had your coffee this morning, you can learn more about difference between a parameter and hyperpamarameter.
This creates a huge "neural network" and perhaps that terminology is part of what scares people. This thing can learn, and when it is learning how to do better, it can use self attention mechanisms to focus in on the bit that is in doubt, such as what the right word to use is in the specific context.
Researchers tested ChatGPT-3 on Natural Language Processing benchmarks, which they have handily shortened to NLP to annoy the Neuro Linguistic Programming community. These researchers found that it could pass many standardized tests, and even generate samples of newspaper articles which experts had difficulty in identifying as AI-produced. This thing is amazing.
This tool was developed by OpenAI a San Francisco based research Laboratory. The company is a "capped profit" model, and you can learn more about its ownership structure by watching this short video here. This is important because its business model is very much based around strategic partnerships and, considering the power and potential of this tool, we will keep a close eye on the companies who partner with them and what it might mean.
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Yes, you guessed it, there is a lot more to this than simple "text generation" might imply.
Firstly, this isn't just any text. This thing can write Haikus. We asked it to "write a haiku about an education marketing consultancy called geNEOus (formerly NEO Academy), who are writing about ChatGPT" and this is what it wrote:
geNEOus guides minds to learn,
ChatGPT aids the way to teach,
Education blooms.
Now, that is not a bad haiku, but it also neatly makes the next point for us. This thing does not just generate simple text, but it actually generates ideas. We have used it to
brainstorm ideas for a marketing strategy
find better ways to explain complex information to non-specialists
generate discussion prompts for workshops
write the first draft of licensing agreements for partnerships
check code we've written for potential errors or security weaknesses
That is just scratching the surface. There is so much more here, and we will take these things in more detail in subsequent articles. The point is this. We humans are the ones on the front lines. We tailor the prompts to get the information. We evaluate that information for accuracy (yes, ChatGPT makes errors all the time, but sounds so plausible when it does. Be careful!).
AI is nothing without HI (is that even a term?). By using AI to do some of the heavy lifting, we have already found that it frees up more time for the creative stuff a machine cannot do. This is much the same as happens when we automate CRM processes for a client, and they suddenly have more time to do actual strategic thinking, and maybe even have a cup of tea with colleagues and find out how they are really doing. We guide, ChatGPT aids, and education blooms.
Look at what ChatGPT-3 can do already, and it isn't even connected to the internet. That's right; it was taken offline in 2021, so it still thinks Yeezys are pretty cool sneakers. ChatGPT-4 is already on the way with 100 trillion parameters as opposed to the current 175 billion.
This is still not a multimodal tool, so will be text only, but soon this thing will be able to design a clothing range and the marketing assets to support it, mark our words. When it comes online, watch it build a website for you in real time, and run your social media campaigns. Seriously. In fact, you only have to wait until March 2023 to see Microsoft integrate it into Bing search engine to see how things will change. Uncle Bing is about to get a new lease of life.
The initial fear-based hype is subsiding, and we think it's a good time to delve in deeper about the real opportunities and consequences. Keep an eye on our blog for how AI can be used for education marketers, the impact it might have on certain professions, the opportunities it opens for forward thinkers, how education institutions might use it, what it means for Google, and so much more.
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We work remotely. Like, really remotely. Portugal, Uruguay, Kenya, Scotland, Spain, the USA, and Colombia. There are only six in the team, but it is hard to pin Alejandra down to just one location.
When you work remotely, there are structures you can put in place. Project Management tools (we use Monday; how about you?), ring-fenced communication time, clear support, check-ins and all the rest of it.
It all works well, when the team know that they will be supported. There is not a week goes by that one of us is not experiencing something that is challenging us personally or professionally, and knowing that everyone around you has got your back is really vital to a strong team dynamic.
So why invest in face-to face time with the team if everything works so well remotely?
We know some remote teams that meet up only at annual events, like big conferences. To us, that feels like the event itself becomes the focus, and not the team. We also know some teams that get together only to socialize and let off steam. No work chat allowed. Sure, we get that, but again it feels like a missed opportunity.
We find that something in the middle is about right. We work together, we talk in depth about how we are doing and feeling, and yes, the wine does flow when all is said and done.
You see, to us, it is about consolidating the foundation of what makes a team really work, and also doing things face to face that really are much harder remotely.
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This time, the geNEOus (formerly NEO Academy) Team gathered in Lisbon. Mark and Puri were sadly unable to be there in person, and Ashley's baggage was also unable to attend (how do airlines never seem to fix that?).
Dinner was had in Cascais, where we simply enjoyed the feeling of being back in each other's company, and eating some of that beautiful Portuguese seafood.
The next morning was real talk. No, that's not the name of a TV show- we actually call it that because it is. In our last reunion in Milan, the NEO Team experienced a workshop with a wonderful facilitator, in which we all felt supported to truly drop the work mask and reveal more about ourselves than any of us ever had in a professional setting.
We bonded deeply as a result, and the team became a family, but we know that families are not always functional. The mask is really easy to slip back on, and so when we are together, we make time to share, be authentic, and be vulnerable with each other. Sounds terrifying? Actually, it sets you free. When you have shared with each other, you will never be afraid to ask for help, or to offer it.
Imagine arriving in a team, and they tell you what the brand persona is, and expect you to somehow embody that in the way you work and communicate. Chances are, there will be a disconnect.
Our brand persona and values are co-created within and by our team. We have grown a lot in the last couple of years, and revisiting the brand through a series of exploratory and reflective activities, is a great way to understand how we all feel about the work we do, and what makes us unique.
We really underestimated the timing on this one, and this ended up becoming a long session. We shared the times we were inspired, where we felt fear and the weight of expectation, where we felt alone and what helped us push past that.
How we have grown, what we are proud of and who we think we have become. We realised that the work and home personas really no longer exist for us, and that we exist as ourselves in all that we do.
The brand, therefore, is a projection of what we each value, rather than a benign guide as to how we should behave and communicate. When we talk about brand integrity, it should always mean that what is projected externally is what is understood and embraced internally, and that can only come from creating it together. More on that to come.
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We had to celebrate Ash's baggage finally arriving after two days, so yes of course we socialized, drank, ate, and made merry. Ash was so excited that she wore all her clothes at the same time, so it was lucky the temperature was somewhat chilly.
Just kidding, but when you are a close team, you can make jokes like this. What we are saying is that when we connect on the more personal levels first, we find the socializing so much more rewarding.
We even went to try a Game of Thrones escape room activity, which was a lot of fun, but also reminded us of how we collaborate, guide each other, ask for help and become better together than the sum of our parts. House geNEOus (formerly NEO Academy) may be small, but look what happened to the Lannisters.
We went to the LxFactory neighborhood in Lisbon at the end of the trip, to check whether any of us were secret hipsters. We're not. In the end, we are six people who have all become personally and professionally stronger and better as a result of being together, and if that is not worth coming together to celebrate and build on, then we don't know what is.
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Those at the forefront of innovation in Higher Education are always on the lookout for ways to enrich the learning experience for students, and appeal to new generations of digital natives who are open to new things.
One technology that has recently caught the attention of universities is extended reality (XR). But what exactly is XR, and how is it different from augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR)?
XR is an umbrella term that encompasses both AR and VR, as well as any other technology that enhances or extends our perception of reality. AR is the technology that overlays digital information on the real world, such as Pokémon Go or Snapchat filters. VR, however, immerses the user in a completely digital environment, such as in a video game or virtual campus tour. XR combines elements of both AR and VR to make them greater than the sum of their parts.
Sounds amazing? Well yes, but a typical concern is the cost of creating and maintaining XR content, as it can be pretty expensive. Also, in a world where we are trying to close the gap between the haves and the have-nots, it is unavoidably true that not all students will be able to access technology through VR headsets, which could reinforce or even broaden the existing gap.
However, the cost of creating and using XR continues to decrease, and there is an argument that using XR instead of a physical learning environment, costs decrease by more than 50%.
Add to this that more students and faculty become familiar with it, it's likely that we will see more and more universities adopt XR as a fundamental technology in their teaching, learning, marketing, recruitment, and research. A survey showed that 40% of universities had used XR for "a few" projects at least, but the wow factor comes from 90% of them saying they would significantly increase XR adoption in the next five years.
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So, how are universities using XR to improve the Higher Education experience? Here are a few examples:
Some universities are using XR to create virtual labs for science and engineering students. This allows students to conduct experiments and interact with equipment in a way that would be impossible in a traditional classroom setting. For example, students at the University of California, Berkeley can use XR to conduct virtual dissections of frogs and fish, which is not only more cost-effective but also more humane. Frogs are big fans.
XR can also be used to create interactive and engaging learning experiences. For example, the University of Sussex has developed an XR app that allows students to explore the human body in 3D. This allows students to understand complex concepts in a way that is much more engaging than reading about them in a textbook.
Marketers need not worry- you won't be left out here. XR can also be used to market universities to potential students. For example, the University of Southern California has created an XR campus tour that allows prospective students to explore the campus and get a sense of what it would be like to attend the university. This is a much more engaging way to market the university than a traditional brochure or website, which is one dimensional only.
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The University of Leeds has developed similar technology and research shows that the immersive experience and ability to personalize it will help an institution engage a much wider audience of international students, and increase conversions. Not everyone can actually visit the campus before commencing their studies, and let's not forget about the huge emissions from international student air travel.
Lastly, in research, XR can also be used to create simulations of complex systems. For example, researchers at the University of Oxford are using XR to create simulations of the human brain, which can help to understand how different parts of the brain work together, and help to communicate that to others.
These are just a few examples, but the possibilities for the future of education are only limited by our own imaginations. Time to get excited, and geNEOus (formerly NEO Academy) is definitely keen to hear more about your thoughts and experiences around this new technology, so do reach out!
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Upskilling, reskilling, and cross-skilling are terms that are becoming increasingly prevalent in today's fast-paced and ever-evolving job market, and that means we in education need to think about how we are responding.
As we recently discussed in our geNEOuschats with Nannette Ripmeester, there is a growing skills gap between higher education and the labor market, and the way we support students to develop new skills, both within and beyond their time with us, is of critical importance.
These terms all refer to the process of acquiring new skills to improve one's career prospects, but there are some key differences between them.
Upskilling is basically the process of learning new skills to advance in your current field of work, and moving up the same ladder through additional training and certificates etc. Reskilling is changing to a new ladder entirely! In a world which is changing so very quickly, technology and climate change are two factors forcing huge changes which may render some jobs completely obsolete. Ask a coal miner, ski lift operator or content writer just how secure their jobs feel.
Cross-skilling, meanwhile, refers to the process of learning new skills that complement your existing skill-set. It is not as linear as upskilling, and involves the broadening of skills to enrich what you already do. An example could be learning a new language that helps you better connect with clients in new markets while not fundamentally altering your existing role. It's a bigger, more stable and more secure ladder to stand on, because the more you cross skill, the easier it is to change roles and fit into other projects in a horizontally structured organization.
The ladder analogy is getting stretched too far here, but so are our societies, economies, and ecosystems. As the challenges we face in this world become more complex, companies and industries are looking for people with a diverse range of skills and knowledge that can adapt to change and help them stay competitive.
For example, many manufacturing companies are now looking for employees who have experience in both manufacturing and software development, as automation and robotics are becoming more prevalent in the industry.
And in the finance industry, more and more employers are looking for candidates who have a background in both finance and technology, as digitalization is disrupting traditional business models.
Add to this the in-demand competences like adaptive thinking, complex problem-solving, cross-cultural communication and anticipatory thinking, which should all be developed in tandem with hard skills, and it casts a new light on how we look at that course brochure. New generations are looking for learning experiences that help them meet these new challenges, and institutions that are behind the curve on this will not long survive.
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The education sector is also adapting to these trends, and schools and universities are working to prepare students for the rapidly changing job market.
Some institutions are offering programs that focus on upskilling and reskilling, such as coding bootcamps at the University of Edinburgh, while others are incorporating cross-skilling into their curriculum.
One example of a school doing this well is Georgia Tech's program in "Computational Media" which provides students with a cross-disciplinary background in computer science, design, and interactive technology.
Perhaps a step further is the transdisciplinary approach taken by the London School of Economics. The degree program they offer which is centered on solving problems that require input from many different disciplines is an innovative way to build complex problem-solving competences and a lifelong cross-skills learning. They even offer a transdisciplinary PhD, which flies in the face of the generalists versus specialists debate.
Additionally, many universities are now partnering with online learning platforms and massive open online courses (MOOCs) which provide access to a wide range of courses, allowing students to continue learning and upskilling throughout their careers. Looking for a real way to offer value to your alumni network? Here it is.
The longer traditional education focuses on knowledge over skills, essays, and exams over reflective and practical experiences, the more the skills gap will grow. The longer we funnel students into narrow and finite degree pathways without supporting them to cross skill as they develop new interests, the more we will see retention rates drop. The more we silo our academic offer, the less prepared our graduates are for the complex realities of the modern world.
At geNEOus (formerly NEO Academy) we are lifelong learning enthusiasts, from Ashley becoming a full stack developer in 2022, to Puri slaying every learning opportunity in sight, both upskilling and cross skilling are in our DNA. Education Marketing is changing rapidly, and we can help empower your teams to meet new challenges with fresh skills and new confidence. Get in touch to talk to us about our professional training and development offer.
