Kids nowadays have it sooo easy.
We’ve all heard variations of the classic story detailing how arduous it was for older generations to get to and from school. Embellished or not, the tales always began with “Back in the old days” and culminated with an uphill-both-ways trek. Well, the future ushered in innovations and technologies that made this journey less noteworthy, saving younger generations from those same hardships and future generations from similar stories.
Even so, for many, access to education is still fraught with various uphill-both-ways challenges. Major obstacles for nontraditional learners who are interested in pursuing continuing education include time, cost and disruption to work and family life, to name a few.
With seismic shifts in the field of education, institutions everywhere are taking note and attempting to smooth out the proverbial path. Traditional learner enrollment is on the decline, with many predicting an enrollment cliff on the horizon. But there’s a growing market of nontraditional learners looking for educational opportunities to upskill or reskill. Serving this market is the key to growth.
So, how can colleges and universities position themselves to attract and serve nontraditional learners and boost growth? The answer is: Remove the uphill-both-ways obstacles.
To gain insight into what DPU and UCO are doing to pave the way, Dr. Emma Zone, senior director of Academic Affairs at D2L, sat down with three panelists.
You can watch the webinar on-demand here; in the meantime, the following piece aims to capture some of the highlights.
Meet the Panelists
Joining the conversation from the Windy City’s DPU are Carolyn Vos, assistant director of instructional technology and data strategy, and Melissa Koenig, director of instructional technology. And from UCO, in Edmond, Oklahoma, is the manager of academic technology and technology training, Amanda Keesee who has a doctorate in Professional Education Studies.
These three experts bring a wealth of information and provide insights into how their respective institutions are leaning into continuing educational offerings to boost growth and how Brightspace is supporting these efforts.
One (Degree) and Done
Koenig shares that for current and returning students, it’s important that they understand that times have changed and education doesn’t end with a degree. It’s about moving away from the way things were to a new normal. Traditional students should graduate with an expectation that they’ll need to supplement their education down the road. The new reality is that they’ll graduate, join the working world and return to upskill or gain new competencies.
The Evolution of the Educational Journey
Dr. Keesee unpacks a trend that many institutions have seen over the course of the past 10 or so years: Learning journeys are not the same for every learner—maybe it’s a degree and a few additional one-off courses, a microcredential or a 10-week experiential course. The rise and adoption of purpose-made online learning technologies has made these personalized journeys possible.
Vos adds that many institutions have been preparing and bracing for the predicted enrollment cliff where institutions would see a significant drop in enrollment among the 18-to-22-year-old traditional learners due to factors such as a decline in birth rates, rising costs of living and/or the cost of tuition.
Nontraditional Learners and Their Expectations
Having the technology in place to provide educational options and opportunities to learners is only half the battle. As Koenig explains, the registration process was an up-hill-both-ways obstacle that needed a solution.
What DPU discovered was that nontraditional learners expect a quick registration process. Anything less was a deterrent. DPU needed to refine the school’s registration process for learners who expected to be able to register and attend a class the same day. As Koenig succinctly put it, DPU needed the system to “get out of the way.”
Koenig concludes by saying that the overall goal is to remove any obstacles or hardships in the process. Make the offerings easy to find and easy to sign up for, and only then will learners be most likely to return.
Keeping It Simple With One System
With so many moving parts, it’s important to keep things organized while remaining flexible—something Brightspace happens to do very well. All students can register through the same system, and credit and noncredit learners can take the same classes without any enrollment red tape.
And the added bonus? Happy staff.
Call to Action
As a learning management system, what Brightspace does is make it possible and simple to extend educational opportunities to a steadily growing market of nontraditional learners. Supporting institutional growth by tapping into this market is easier than you think. The best part? No more uphill-both-ways hills to climb.
You’re invited to watch the full-length webinar here. And if you’d like to hear more, let’s talk.
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