The innovative educator’s manifesto- what the next decade of learning looks like

Exploring the culture paradigm across AI, VoiceTech, and Blockchain in education

Can educational institutions really change in the way they function and think? 

Today, students are more prepared than ever, even before they enter college. Not in terms of the subject (not always at least), but in terms of what they want to do and which college they choose to do their course in. 

All thanks to the power of the internet. The internet today has enabled more learners to not only pick and choose what they want to learn but also how they want to learn it. Places like Lamda School allows students to learn how to code without having to pay anything upfront. 

While political pressure and the cost of getting a degree, the trend is now shifting towards the core essence of learning. This quote from John Holt sums it all up:

“We can best help children learn, not by deciding what we think they should learn and think of ingenious ways to teach it to them, but by making the world, as far as we can, accessible to them, paying serious attention to what they do, answering their questions — if they have any — and helping them explore the things they are most interested in.” ― John Holt

Technology, at the outset, is driven by culture. John Holt’s quote highlights the true culture of education, which was blindsided for all these years by higher educational authorities. Now that students are more cognizant of what, where and how they want to learn- technology is now sitting at the sweet spot of helping students learn better. 

In terms of technology- AI, VoiceTech and Blockchain- is it moving the needle in the education sector? Let’s take a look.   

AI- the beast beneath the buzz

What does AI really help with both teachers and students? Let’s take a quick look at that first. 

• Teachers collaborating with AI: As AI continues to mature, it is helping accelerate personalization, effectiveness in communication and automating admin tasks. All of this so teachers can find more time to provide better learning context and adapt lessons to each student’s IQ and pace. 

• Leading the race of customized learning: While a teacher cannot individually teach each student of the class, and AI-driven machine can help students to help identify gaps in knowledge and give tailored challenges based on the learning pace. Carnegie Learning Inc provides 1-1 coaching on math for pre-K to college students. Another great example is Content Technologies Inc has developed a proprietary AI that creates educational content for secondary and higher education, and corporate training as well. 

• Universal access, and learning outside of the classroom: Some of the best teachers of the world don’t speak every language that we know of. Language and geographical barriers are now a thing of the past. For students who miss out on class due to prolonged illness or are in a different continent altogether, AI makes the content accessible globally. Take a look at the Presentation Translator, which is a free plug-in that creates subtitles in real-time of what the teacher is explaining. 

AI is especially booming in a country like India, all thanks to the robust startup culture. 

Check out Embibe, which is using AI for personalized learning. Students often zone out or get bored during lectures and lessons, and so Embibe’s AI stack offers behavioral nudges by analyzing moods to help with progressive goal setting, so students can score better in tests and have impactful learning outcomes. 

Bodhi AI is another interesting venture that is using AI to create courses into personalized learning goals and has gamified learning with fun challenges as well. Students who are looking to crack IIT-JEE, SSC, IAS, Railway entrance- this startup is worth checking out. 

Lastly, Verzeo is another AI application that is helping students build in-demand skills from industry experts. Through AI technology, they’re offering virtual mentorships at key touchpoints across the course, in addition to vernacular language support. 

“Alexa, what lessons are we learning today?”

Digital fluency in education is the need of the hour. The right balance is when technologies like these combine the best of both worlds; between traditional learning methods augmented by digital enhancements. This will increase the accessibility of courseware productivity for both students and teachers. 

With over 150Mn Indian users likely to own a digital voice assistant by 2019 according to Accenture, startups are now bringing the realm of learning to voice, with emphasis on vernacular.  

First, does voice technologies like Alexa and Google Assistant have any impact in higher education at all? 

Arizona State University’s (ASU) engineering students will have Amazon Echo Dots in their dorms, so students can replace traditional Google searches with voice commands. Students in higher education have a lot of research to do, and manually searching for the right answer is time-consuming. Alexa is capable of answering based on the best searches in a jiffy, which Amazon and ASU think will change the way students learn. 

Learning Matters’ has developed Tara, an NLP-powered, cloud-based virtual voice teacher that is trying to mitigate the nuances in people’s usage of English grammar.  Tara is currently being used in two schools in the Kumbakonam district of Tamil Nadu, where it helps to deliver lessons to students in a fun, engaging manner. 

Vokal is another edtech platform that uses voice to build a repository of online content. Think of it as a voice-based Quora. It allows users to ask questions using voice and converts it using speech-to-text while also getting subject matter experts like IITs, IAS professionals to answer the questions. It supports vernacular, but only Hindi for now. 

While it is early to speak of the global acceptance of digital voice assistants in higher education, institutes should, however, start exploring options of providing touch-free information access and course assistance to students on campus. 

Abu Dhabi announced the establishment with Mohamed bin Zayed University of Artificial Intelligence (MBZUAI), the first graduate level, research-based AI university in the world which will focus on the study of AI.

 Block-chain goes to college

As you would’ve noticed thus far, education is becoming ‘decentralized’, which in other words simply means access to all. That was the prime highlight of case studies of startups that are leveraging AI and Voice Tech to transform the way they communicate lessons.

There are two noteworthy trends, which has led me to mention block chain culture in the edtech space. The first was the concept of decentralization of course ware to students across all geographies.

Second, is gamification– the foundations of which are peer-to-peer interactions. With the idea of fun challenges and leader boards seeping into quizzes and online tests, social interaction is going to be a key driver of the future of education.

Before we talk about how block chain is being implemented, let’s examine the need. 

• Fraud detection: Think about the number of students who are victims of delayed correction process due to damage to transcripts, or leakage of question papers. This seriously derails the morale of students, in addition to hurting the university’s credibility. Block chain could help reduce the costs of fraud and also eliminate the need for manual verification of answer scripts and other critical documents.
• Storage of student records: Most institutes today are migrating to cloud servers and other infrastructure for storing historical data of students. This has proven to be costly, as expenses linearly rise with the amount of data to be stored. Also, the student can get lifetime ownership of his records. 

Currently, the students may or may not have access to the student records of the institution. By any unfortunate incident, if the university collapses, the could be at risk of losing all his data. By having block chain in place, he will have permanent storage facilities of degrees and certifications, regardless of the institute staying in existence. 

For example, MIT’s Digital Certificates Project has created an ecosystem for creating, sharing and verifying block chain-based educational certifications. Best, it’s open-source, which means your educational institute can start using it today. 

Woolf University is a model for a block chain-based university that will allow any accredited higher educational institution to launch their courses and degree certifications online. Block chain will be used for ensuring all regulatory compliance and minimizing bureaucracy aspects of traditional university models.  

Another noteworthy mention is Jalapeno Inventive, that encourages students to learn more about block chain while earning real cryptos along the way. What a way to incentivize students indeed!

In conclusion 

Whether it is AI, ML, Blockchain or Voice, education has room for all. The prime drivers of new technology adoption within the sector are the need for removal of all high costs, bureaucracy, language, and geographical barriers. 

The age of securing degrees and moving on with professional careers is now over. People want to learn and upskill themselves consistently, and this is possible largely due to the mobility advantages of smartphones and the connectedness the internet has been able to provide. 

Presenting a strong business case as well, higher educational institutes could look to experiment; much like the case of the deployment of echo dots across ASU’s campus. With successful runs, it could enhance the credibility and preferential level for students looking to enroll in courses. 

The A-Z of Accreditation in India: A complete guide that includes process, framework and its impact on the higher education system

An introduction to what accreditation is, and a list of governing bodies

India is a country with a very diverse educational system. Nowadays education/learnings are not restricted to colleges or universities. Numerous options like MOOCs, BOOTCAMPS, ISA’s and startup have come forward to bridge the existing gap between universities and the market. With the number of colleges increased in every state, it is important that certain things like community/alumni, placements & accreditation take the center stage. Getting a degree from an accreditated university can change your career path entirely. 

Accreditation is a barometer of the quality of education and infrastructure that a higher educational institute will surely provide.  

What does Accreditation mean: 

Accreditation is a process of voluntary, non-governmental review of educational institutions and programs. Through accreditation, business schools provide stakeholders with the assurance that they:

• Guide educational delivery by a carefully constructed mission.
• Select and support students to produce outstanding graduates.
• Deliver degree programs with qualified faculty.
• Structure learning through relevant curricula.
• Contribute to knowledge through research and scholarship

Why accredit your programs?

In a competitive international market, students and industry are demanding more. 

Accreditation of your programs can help you to:

• Attract the best students
• Provide students with a good foundation for professional registration
• Meet the demands of the industry
• Benchmark programs against other global programs.  

Institutes ‘not accredited’ by 2030 by NAAC shall cease to exist or would be asked to merge, and would thus lose their identity forever.

Getting an accredited degree will mean that you will be a preferred candidate for other universities across the globe and future employers as well. 

In India, getting accredited is mandatory for all post-secondary educational institutions, as without accreditation, no institute can award degrees or call themselves a center of learning in the first place. Here’s a concise list of the top accreditation bodies in India: 

• AICTE (All India Council for Technical Education):  All India Council for Technical Education is a national-level body dedicated to technical education under the Department of Higher Education, Ministry of Human Resource Development. It is responsible for the accreditation of graduate and post-graduate programs under specific categories. It also approves the formation of new institutions and courses along with specifying the intake capacity of these higher educational institutions in India. 

• NBA (National Board of Accreditation): This was established under AICTE as an autonomous body for regular evaluation of technical institutions and programs according to the norms published by AICTE. Its main agenda is to keep track of the quality and relevance of the courses offered. 
• ABET Inc: While this is a non-profit accreditation ISO 9001 certified body/organization that accredits college and university programs in applied and natural science, computing, engineering, and engineering technology. Based out of Baltimore, USA, it offers programmatic accreditation in India as well, apart from 22 other countries. Specifically, it is focused on evaluating an individual program of study, rather than the whole institution. ABET accreditation is achieved through a peer-review process. 
• AACSB: AACSB International is a not-for-profit corporation devoted to the promotion and improvement of higher education in business administration and accreditation. Established in 1916, AACSB is the premier accrediting agency for bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degree programs in business administration and accounting. AACSB now holds international recognition by the ISO.

You may also check out a complete list of accreditation bodies in accreditated colleges in India here and here and here

Also check here a tete-tete with Dr Sharma Director of NAAC has to say about accreditation.

OBJECTIVES

The assessment and accreditation process:what universities need to know today

A. Overview

First, to set up a higher educational institute in India, these are the routes that candidates can take today:

1. Private University: Out of the 29 states in India, only 20 have set up a regulatory framework to set up a private university. States like UP have a separate act for each university, while Rajasthan has both an umbrella act and a separate act for universities.Here is the complete list that allows the setup of a private university. 

 2. Deemed-to-be University: There are two types of institutions that are granted this status by the UGC Central Government: the general category of higher educational institutions and the de-novo category of institutions. 

3. Affiliation with a Government University: Private colleges that are affiliated to a Government University like Visveswaraya Technical University (Karnataka) has the least amount of jurisdiction when it comes to administration and academics. 

Higher education institutions that have recorded at least two batches of graduates or have existed for at least 6 years, are eligible for the accreditation process. 

With respect to revised rules Institutes can now apply for NAAC any time of the year. Institutes were required to get accredited within 6 months of becoming eligible to apply.

In current times, any institute cannot afford to score a low grade and loathe in mediocrity for 5 long years in the case of NAAC and 3 years for the NBA. 

 As no accreditation is ∝ to no new admissions, here’s what you should keep in mind

Preparations for the accreditation must, therefore, begin at least 3 years and more in advance to document every activity, process, practice, and initiative if the objective is to score a top grade.

It’s not a one-time activity as per SEQI’s rule an institute or a university needs to assign a team or a person to take care of the Accreditation duties and process. 

There are two types of accreditation that bodies in India generally offer: 

1. Institutional accreditation: This is the type of accreditation that is granted when the institute exceeds the minimum standards of quality set by the accreditation body. For students, it helps determine the acceptable institutes for program enrollment. 

2. Department accreditation: Here, individual departments also get to showcase their competence and reliability. While not all accreditation bodies support program/department accreditation, some do and it is worth looking into to further boost the credibility of your institution. 

CRITERIAS

B. Overview of the NAAC process 

Now that you’re aware of the different routes you can take to get accreditated, let’s take a look at the assessment process, enlisted by NAAC:

Broadly, let’s first categorize

1. Eligibility criteria 
2. Units of assessment 
3. Criteria and weightages 
4. Grading 
5. Assessment outcome

1. Eligibility criteria

    For private/ Deemed-to-be universities, they have to be recognized by the government/UGC for the accreditation process to take place. Additionally, these institutions must have regular students enrolled full-time, along with full-time teaching faculty. Research programs must also be available in the course curriculum. Lastly, the campus to be assessed and accreditated must be present within India.

    For autonomous colleges/ Affiliated universities: If these affiliated colleges that are a part of a private/ Deemed-to-be university reporting to the UGC, will not be considered as separate entities for the purpose of accreditation. These representatives of these entities will be required to be present on the main campus at the time of accreditation. If these colleges are not affiliated to any university, then the programs offered must be recognized by a body like the AIU (Association of Indian Universities) or any other government agency. 

2. Units of Assessment: As mentioned earlier, an institution can be assessed/ accredited depending on if it wants to pursue institution-wide accreditation or departmental accreditation. 

3. Criteria and weightages: Normally, accreditation bodies categorize higher educational institutions into three types: 

• University, 
• Autonomous College and 
• Affiliated colleges. 

Based on this classification, they are assigned different weightages based on the organizational focused of the different higher educational institutions.

4. Grading: Higher educational institutions are graded based on 4 major grade criteria- 

• A (Very good), 
• B (Good), 
• C (Satisfactory) and 
• D (Unsatisfactory). 

The assigned grade point is added with the assigned weight given to the institution under its respective category to calculate GPA and CGPA scores. This is the bit that determines the final assessment outcome. 

5. Assessment outcomes: This is usually a combination of both quantitative and qualitative metrics. The final assessment document that is released will contain a peer team report which includes both description and recommendation. The second aspect of the final document will have a system-generated quality profile and the third part will be an institution-grade sheet that will have the final results inclusive of a student 

As per new updates: Don’t forget to use the option to opt-out from quantitative metrics, equal to 50 weight points for inapplicable criteria, subject to certain riders

For further detailed information, here is a complete guide on ‘Regulatory Structure of Higher Education in India by the Centre for Civil Society’ that outlines every minute detail of the accreditation and assessment process for higher educational institutions.

PARAMETERS

iC. Overview of the  ABET process

ABET process (for engineering institutes)

• Check your UG/PG program and have a name Engineering with it for EAC (Engineering Accreditation Commission) to accept.
• Before formally applying get more information from EAC on your questions.
• Prepare your Request for Evaluation (RFE). A separate RFE for each Commission depending on the Program being applied for.
• Get RFE approval from NBA before 31st Jan of the Calendar year selected for applying. Keep authority for degree-granting ready.
• Ensure RFE submitted by 31st January of the Calendar year, so selected and await acceptance. This would be uploaded on the ABET website.
•  ABET assigns Team Chair to guide the institute.
•  Submit fee as laid down on the ABET website.
• Submit SSR (comprising 7 criteria) to ABET HQ & Chair by July 01. Submit transcripts.
•  The onsite review will be conducted by 3 ABET experts for 3 days.
• There is no Ranking or grade. It is Accredited/Not Accredited.
• The next review maybe after 6 years.
• Deans gave the evaluation by the Peer team to check for any error of fact.

For more information download here. 

D. Overview of the process for  AACSB

Here is the accreditation Process for Management Schools: 

• If you intend to go for AACSB, be prepared for a long haul of engagements. It takes easily, 2 years and more for the process to complete, after a letter from IAC recommending initial accreditation is received. Hence start now.
• Submit eligibility application via accreditation with the non-refundable eligibility application fee, comprising no more than 35 pages (not including tables) at any time of the year.
• Institutes may submit a draft of eligibility application for preliminary review prior to formal application.
• After 3 months of acceptance of application a Mentor is assigned for 2 years who helps in preparing iSER. Institute needs to call for Mentor’s visit to the Institute. The visit of the Mentor is followed by the Institute submitting “Initial Self Assessment Report” (iSER) + background information + gap analysis + EE, of approximately 100 pages.
• After acceptance of iSER, there will be a transition from Mentor to Chair who enables the institute to submit final iSER after the recommendation of iSER is implemented.
• Contact System Manager for doubts, if any at accreditation or +18137696546.

The Eligibility application comprises of following 5 parts which are reviewed by the IAC and intimates deficiencies if any by uploading on the website:

•  Institutional Contact Information.
•  Background Information.
•  AACSB Eligibility criteria
•  Faculty composition and Research
•  Engagement, Innovation, and Impact

You would be required to work on the following criteria (7 c above) for your eligibility application:

• Core values Guiding Principles:
• Criteria A: Ethical Behavior
• Criteria B: Collegiate Environment
• Criteria C: Commitment to corporate and social responsibility

• General Criteria:

• Criteria D: Accreditation Scope & AACSB membership
• Criteria E: Oversight, Sustainability, and Continuous Improvement.
• Criteria F: Policy on Continuous adherence to standards and integrity of submission to AACSB
• This will be followed by the Peer Review Team visit. The next review shall be after 5 years.

Source: AccreditationEdge 

Stepwise process for NBA enclosed here 

The next phase of establishing credibility: SEQI

SEQI stands for School Education Quality Index and was started by MHRD and NITI AYOG under the Government of India. Its main purpose is to evaluate the performance of states and union territories in the school education sector. 

Establishing an index like this would school in the UTs to identify their strengths and weaknesses, along with ensuring course correction and policy interventions early on. SEQI is divided into 2 categories mainly:

• Outcomes: This includes teaching, infrastructure, and facility capabilities. 

• Policies: This comprises of governance processes and structural reforms 

SEQI as an index gives the highest weight to learning outcomes. On the flip side, this index also acts as a feedback to various education-based government initiatives and their implementation. 

You can check out the SEQI site here. Additionally, if you want to see how other states have performed in the SEQI assessment, a detailed report can be accessed here. 

BONUS: Download SEQI’s complete document and guide here (2019). 

Here’s one visible impact that SEQI has brought about. 

In a country like India, building a toilet for females and things like female menstruation were looked down upon for the longest time. With a survey conducted by NITI Ayog and the SEQI initiative, it brought to light that most primary and secondary schools did not have a girl’s toilet. 

This infrastructure lackage can seriously harm a school’s credibility, and can further act as an excuse for many parents in the rural areas to not send their daughters to get an education.  

What a thing like SEQI does is enforces a certain standard that can improve the educational experience for many aspiring students. While basic amenities will not directly impact a student’s test scores, it will surely make his/her life easier while studying. 

Thus, according to a leading news outlet, NITI Ayog was proud to announce that more than 95% of schools across 7 UTs and 29 states have a girl’s toilet. United Nations India even tweeted about it here. 

In conclusion 

The purpose of any assessment/ accreditation program or a composite index like SEQI is to not only set objective benchmarks but also to ensure annual improvements and encourage state-led innovations. 

Consistency towards reaching a certain quality of education is the need of the hour for the Indian education system as a whole. While we may not reach the highest level overnight, incremental steps like these, which if followed diligently, will certainly take us there. 

With SEQI, it is promising that out of 34 key indicators and 1000 points, the highest weight is given to learning outcomes, clocking at 600/1000 points. Keeping the grand scheme of things in focus, initiatives like these not only increase the communication between governments and schools but also within the school fraternity itself. 

Consistency through collaboration is an inspiring way forward, and the results justify the existence of such initiatives themselves.

Game of Accreditation-How Dubai is 10 years ahead in revolutionizing its higher education sector

Accreditation- the core idea behind, and why it’s important in today’s context

Any educational institution across the world aims to be accredited, primarily because it tells the students that they are at the forefront of providing high-quality education. At the outset, accreditation is the recognition that an educational institute attains as a requisite for its graduates and professionals to enroll for professional courses and practices. 

Parents and budding matriculate shouldn’t fall prey to institutes that aren’t recognized, as in most cases they will have a sub-par quality of programs and courses. Higher education in Dubai in 2019 is not really pocket-friendly, so if you are investing your time, resources and risking your future, it is important to get a degree from a university that is both nationally and internationally recognized. 

From the institution’s perspective, they are at risk of losing business potential and are ceding away their name and market share to other institutes. Students today have the power of the internet and perform intermediate research before picking a university of their choice. 

For the country, it is great in all aspects of trade and business to have students travel from across the world to study there. Eventual employment will also add to the country’s growing economy. Thus, getting accredited is indeed a win-win for all.  

Here are the top 5 reasons as to why accreditation is important:

1. It’s a recognition that helps determine if a certain educational institute meets or exceeds the minimum standard of quality.
2. It’s essential for the transfer of credits among various educational institutions. 
3. From the employer’s perspective, it’s a strong form of evidence that the candidate has received his certification from an accredited institute or a program. 
4. It helps employers determine eligibility for various tuition reimbursement programs.  
5.  If students want to apply for federal/state grants or loans, accreditation provides a strong basis to determine the eligibility criteria. 

A brief history- what went wrong, what went right within the higher education sector of Dubai

Dubai has witnessed almost two decades of the explosive growth of its higher education sector and has emerged to become the higher education hub for the world. While the significance of accreditation is clear, the existing shortcomings need to be shed light on as well.  

In a peer-reviewed study titled ‘Factors Favouring or Impeding Building a Stronger Higher Education System in the United Arab Emirates’, it is highlighted that graduates seldom meet the skill levels expected by employers. 

For starters, English is not the native language of Arab countries. With communication majorly being done in Arabic, it became difficult to communicate complex concepts to both non-resident students and local attendees.

Furthermore, the Dubai authorities weren’t overwhelmed by the paper’s critical conclusion but instead were curious about the next steps they can take to level up the quality-of both higher education institutions and the students who attend them.  

An initial interaction to overcome this scenario was to provide ‘foundational programs to new students, so the university could gauge the student’s competencies in English, math, logic, etc. In terms of numbers, these foundational programs amount to 30% of the entire higher education spending by the government. 

In response to this, an educator who has worked across the Middle East in the education sector for more than 10 years, has some strong arguments. He believes that there is a way to fix the education crisis to produce well-rounded thinkers, which can be done via a standardization method like accreditation. This will give universities a clarity on what to teach, and how to- which is the central idea of any accreditation.

The latest and greatest- what are the new licensing and accreditation standards for universities in Dubai

Universities across Dubai today will be evaluated on a set of high-quality benchmarks starting this September 2019.

Universities that meet the criteria will also be rewarded equally.

Advantages include:

1. A 7-year interval between licensing and accreditation reviews
2. Universities offering multiple programs can get them all reviewed at the same time
3. Smaller inspection and evaluation teams will visit the educational institute
4. Duration of a visit by evaluation teams will be shorter as well  
5. Priority will be given to educational institutes that offer newer and modern programs, which will reduce licensing and accreditation costs by up to 50%  

If your institute is not up to the recommended standards, then you will witness:

1. An inspection and review every three years
2. Longer duration of visits from the external review teams in addition to more regular visits from the educational ministry
3. The process of getting new educational programs reviewed will be more stringent 
4. If the quality of overall courses offered drops below a certain level, educational institutes can be subject to probation by the ministry.
5. For institutes having a low-score, more weight will be given to reputation, national and international ranking, academic history and compliance health of the institute in question. 

To address the gaps in the existing accreditation and licensing process, the latest guidelines also outline a clearer procedure for establishing new institutions, measures to adhere to for closing down institutes, suspending programs and bringing to light violation boundaries and corresponding penalties. 

Additionally, the new guidelines also entail quality improvements on the matters of e-learning, recognizing prior education and considering the various financial obligations of institutions. 

All of the above mentioned new standards apply to all higher educational institutes of the UAE including government and private entities, specialized universities under the military and healthcare sector and respective branches of international universities as well.

Overview of the new procedure:

Institutions will now have to submit a concise self-assessment report containing their strategies, quality assurance rules, syllabi, a complete list of faculty members, available resources on campus which include infrastructural facilities and laboratories. 

There will now be 11 aspects of evaluation by the ministry 

1. 1. Internal quality assurance standards 
   2. Student strength
   3. Strength of faculty members employed either full-time or part-time
   4. Infrastructural facilities on campus 
   5. Health, safety and environmental efforts done by the institute
   6. Full legal compliance and public disclosure
   7. Educational resources offered
   8. The institute’s financial capabilities and sustainability model 
   9. Responsibilities towards the educational communities and services towards maintaining integrity. 

A complete list of the latest accreditation and institute licensing procedures can be viewed on the Commission for Academic Accreditation (CAA) website here. 

The ministry is currently working on deploying an online portal in order to meet the latest technological advancements and promote a green, paperless approach towards licensing and accreditation of higher educational institutes and programs in Dubai and the UAE. 

So, where can universities today apply for accreditation?

The Middle East today is now transitioning from an oil-rich economy to a knowledge-based economy. This paradigm shift towards global regionalism will happen progressively over the next 5-10 years. Higher education is poised to be a prime catalyst to drive a local knowledge-based economy. 

Under 25 youth account for about 60% of the population, and in many other regions, the median age of the inhabitants is between 15-29 years. For higher educational institutes, there couldn’t have been a better time to drive accreditation goals more aggressively and bring a change in both culture and innovation. 

For universities wanting to get accredited in Dubai- the Middle States Commission on Higher Education is the ideal choice. With more than 525 accredited and candidate institutions across the USA and the Middle East, it is a popular choice. Alternatively, you could also try the Embassy of the United Arab Emirates, whose accreditation procedure is listed here. 

Lastly, to view the entire list of licensed educational institutes in Dubai, you may check them out on the United Arab Emirates’ Ministry of Education website here. 

Rahhal- Dubai’s revolutionary regulation model for higher education institutes

An initiative by Dubai’s Knowledge and Human Development Authority (KHDA), Rahhal is set to revolutionize the experience of education and learning. This is overseen by the Dubai Future Foundation (DFF). 

Rahhal, in all its essentially, is a flexible and accessible model that collates all knowledge and information and makes them available to students of all age categories. Dubbed as the ‘Dubai 10x initiative’, His Highness has set the bold plan in motion to place Dubai-based educational entities 10 years ahead of the world, by implementing methodologies today that countries will probably implement 10 years from now.

Rahhal is an alternative educational framework that can be customized to the needs of each specific learner, that can be done part-time or full-time- a model that can be taken up by private and public sectors alongside NGOs. 

In conclusion  

In this blog, you have read it all- from the purpose, history to what the latest is in the realm of accreditation and licensing of higher educational institutes in Dubai. Indeed, it is inspiring how the Dubai government is aggressively working on long-term action items for revamping the way people learn in the Middle East. 

The central idea of these developments is to communicate strategic thinking that will impart the power of modern problem solving and make students more employable. By extension, to also make the same learning body self-learners. 

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How EMS Software is helpful to manage activities of an Educational Institution?

Associating the maintenance of an educational institution with an EMS system has numerous benefits beyond taking care of mundane activities related to the organization or institution. Here is the brief account of the need for EMS systems in educational institutions.

EMS software covers every entity of Institute like students, parents, teachers and management.

An educational institution needs to hold loads of records and marks sheets for years and need to handle day to day transactions efficiently since a small mistake may lead to a huge disaster for a child’s career. On the other hand, taking care of the academic records in an educational institution manually is not a cake walk.

Hence, every educational institution needs management software to carry out day to day activities without human support. The automated management system for an educational academy or institution has its own advantages and disadvantages, but the advantages weigh high when compared to the disadvantages. An EMS system stands for Enterprise Resource Planning System in business terminology. But when it comes to educational institutions, this system is helpful to handle day to day activities and take care of mundane tasks to reduce the load on teachers and staff.

Supports better teaching

Mainly, an EMS system supports teachers to reduce the hassle of writing day planners and timetables manually since the software automatically reminds the routine tasks and hence the teacher can concentrate on teaching the lessons and clarifying the difficulties of the students in a much creative and innovative manner.

Fairway for admissions

Some institutions adopted automated ems systems to manage admission process. This is useful to prepare the merit list of students, academic performance of the students in different classes, their previous educational certificates and helps to provide admission in a fair manner when compared to manual management. Nowadays most of the governments are conducting online admissions for professional courses for prevention of corruption and malpractices and provide admission for reserved candidates.

Efficient maintenance of finances

Maintaining finance records and salary records get easier with ems systems in the educational system since there will be different kinds of staff with a different number of skills and different experiences. The automated software keeps track of those records and provides accurate information about the salaries and incentives the person may get without any discrepancies since a machine will not make a mistake in general.

Economic, Efficient, and Quicker

An EMS system provides economic, efficient, and quicker solutions to manage an educational institution. If one can associate the biometric attendance sheet to EMS, the attendance will be recorded automatically and it reduces mistakes in attendance entries. The management and security of records will be quicker and this is an economic method since all the educational institutions cannot hire staff for managing a huge number of records. Searching and editing the records becomes easier with EMS system as well. The preservation of marks-sheets and pictorial representation of the progress of the students can be done easily using EMS systems when compared to manual work. Hence, EMS systems are the solution for most of the issues in maintaining an educational institution.

Conclusion: Concisely, an EMS system for an educational institution is not only for teachers and students, but its benefits can be experienced by each and every person associated with the institution. This system makes coordination between the management, staff, teachers, students, and parents easier and some institutions use the services of EMS to alert the parents about the progress of students and meeting dates with teachers automatically.

How EMS systems are useful for an Educational Institute?

With the help of modern technology and digital medium, the world is changing every day and we are changing alongside the world. With the help of modern technology, the education systems are getting better all over the world and make the process of management easier. These systems are helping the colleges and institutes to grow in size as well as scope.

EMS Software gives an amazing solution for Colleges

Although, the need for implementing the automatic systems over the conventional educational system is much necessary in today’s world. This will help a college create a more study focused curriculum. An automated system can assist colleges to plan and create a well-defined management system that is built following the needs and wants of the overall system and focuses on increasing the efficiency of the previous management system. These modern technologies will eventually improve the efficiency of college professors and offer them with the different ways to teach the students that will help students to bring out their true self and helps them to show their creativity in a better way.

In today’s world of modern technology, most of the colleges and other institutes are already opting for the EMS systems for colleges. Which means if a college still doesn’t have an automated system implemented, they might fail following the current education system.

In any industry there is so much information that is needed to be collected in all this time plays an important role. In order to manage all the details of students studying in a college, only EMS systems can help the colleges to record and review all the details of all the student’s efficiency without wasting much time and man-labor. In an institute or a college with the help of EMS system, the college can easily maintain the records of the students that includes services like inquiries and admissions, campaign management, schedule and timetable management, examination, report generation, etc. All these tasks are complex to do and require high accountability, accuracy and more man-hours to maintain the records. With the help of student management systems (SMS) the whole tasks or maintaining records become easy. Management of the students and tracking their performance becomes easy with the help of SMS system. Other than that SMS can help the students with the various aspect of their learning.

Below mentioned are some of the ways how Academia can help the education system:

Offers a better channel of communication: With the help of EMS system all the students, teachers and other staff of the college can communicate with each other in a smooth and efficient way. As this can simplify the process of submitting the assignments and assigning the marks to different students.

Easy access to the information: Accessing the information anytime from anywhere becomes possible with the help of EMS system. As it provides the college with the universal portal that can be accessed by the students and staff anytime and anywhere.

Provides the smoothness to the whole process: Managing the daily process becomes easy with the implementation of the EMS systems.

Conclusion: An EMS implementation has been upsurging the response time in multiple sections. Whether it be an activity relating a single department or a multiple functional procedure, ems education does eliminates human effort and decreases the lead time. Lastly and most significantly, it leaves you energy and time to emphasis on the feature that needs the most attention that is Education. The world has by now has taken a step forward accepting ems software in areas as important as education. It is time for you to do so!

Choose the right EMS Solution for an Educational Institution

EMS solutions are not a new concept in many sections of life. Here we discuss the steps to make the best use of EMS solutions for educational institutions.

EMS systems offers efficient solution by offering several integrated modules.

Technology is the pivotal factor in day to day life. Similarly, computers are ruling the world and hence every field is getting attached to automation and Internet to provide convenience and comfort for the customers, dealers, employees, and staff. Nowadays computers became a handy solution for every issue related to every walk of life. The use of technology and Internet in daily life has undergone very dynamic changes in the recent past when compared to previous years.

The concept of EMS solutions is not a newcomer in various industries. Likewise, these are playing a crucial role in the field of education from preschool to university and from online classrooms to smart presentations and examinations. The role of a good EMS solution is a crucial thing for proper usage and maintenance of resources without wastage of time and money.

Here are some of the suggestions to choose the right EMS solution that helps smooth functioning of your educational institution.

Review of the conditions and needs before implementation

You should take care of the conditions and requirements of the institution before you need to implement the EMS solution for your university, school or college. First of all, you should get a report of requirements from your teaching and non-teaching staff for the functioning of an institution before you select an EMS solution. Whether it is a campus management system, admission automation software or examination management system, you should have a clear idea about the needs of your institution before you proceed to buy an EMS solution for your educational institution. You should do extensive research and analysis before you need to purchase the EMS software.

EMS software according to your requirements

EMS software is available in many forms. In fact, there are many kinds of software can serve the distinct needs of an educational institution based on the stages from school to university. You should make a good check on prerequisites before you choose or by the EMS software by discussing with teaching and non-teaching staff.

Here are some of the moves you should make before you start to implement the EMS software.

Collection of data

Collection of data about students and timetable is important for proper implementation of EMS software. In addition, take care that the data gathered is accurate to fulfill the needs of your institution. Also, you should be cautious that the data should be stored properly since manual collection and storage of previous data is a herculean task for the staff. Take care that the data is stored in a spreadsheet or CSV file since their retrieval is easy.

Training your staff

Take care that your staff is well-trained to utilize and operate the EMS solution in a proper manner since they are the end users of your database.

Live implementation

Keep the implementation of EMS solution live to reap better results from the software. Proper maintenance and upgradation of the software and EMS solution are helpful for better functioning of the EMS system. The live implementation of EMS software is helpful for better understanding of the process among the staff, students, and management.

Conclusion: EMS solutions became pivotal for the smooth functioning of educational institutions regardless of barriers like college, and university since these solutions support automation of mundane tasks in an institution. Taking care of implementation and proper training for the staff help them to make the most of EMS software for a college.

Future of EMS Software in College Management

With globalization the scope for the educational opportunities has grown and the number of courses has grown.

In addition, the need for automation of mundane tasks is growing and EMS software is an answer for these issues.

The EMS software is a open-minded software that familiarized to streamline and make the process easier.

Campus management turned complicated in the recent past by the expansion of opportunities and growth in the number of courses. The EMS software supports the staff, students, and management at an ease to carry out the daily activities of a college or a university. In addition to regular activities, most of the important activities can be managed with the help of EMS software by investing less time and money. The tasks which can be completed within months or years with manual efforts can be done within minutes with the help of EMS software since most of the important tasks can be automated with the help of such software.

Role of EMS software in campus management

Most of the campuses are using EMS software to manage admissions and financials with less manual work. Many people may worry that this is a hazard for providing employment but in fact, the EMS software supports manual work and not a hurdle to providing employment. For example, if you consider a library, the archives and maintenance of documents is a herculean task for the staff but if the software is entrusted for library management, keeping the records and archives becomes easier.

Free and fair management

Free and fair management of the campus is possible with the help of automated software. The conducting and valuation of examinations and assessment becomes easier and fair since the machines don’t make mistakes often when compared to human beings. When the admissions are needed to be provided and certificates are required to be verified, the merit lists and marks sheets can be verified in a fair manner without any drawbacks.

Support for the students

Performances of the students can be assessed and recorded easier and in more understandable style in the form of graphs and charts at regular intervals. The circulars can be issued at one click and hence the students can be aware of important notices and the interaction of the management and students becomes smooth with the help of EMS software.

iCloudEMS: EMS Solution for Every Institution

Nowadays when education is no more limited to books, educational institutions has also changed in and out. They are no more limited to provide education but they also perform as enterprises, which to perform on general grounds of honesty and profit. Considering this fact, colleges and Universities should be capable enough to handle data of a large number of students which also tends to generate equally large number of transaction.

Hence it’s a tasking job for any college management to manage all this. That’s why the college management system faces hurdles and tough issues while controlling & running the administration. With time complexity increases and manual maintenance becomes really tough. A Well designed software management system is the only solution for all these problems.

To integrate and automate activities starting from admission to leaving certificate, an EMS based software solution is very much required. It can only take care of all these functions like fee, examination, results, library, accounts, canteen, payroll, inventory, and many others. To operate everything smoothly the entire system is regulated on a web-based server. It enables the management to operate many interrelated modules and manage the administration effectively. Furthermore, since the entire system and transactions are recorded in a centralized database, the process of gathering individual and collective conclusions can be accomplished on a touch of the button and within a fraction of seconds. EMS software systems offer a powerful mechanism to generate accurate and automated reports in the form of tables and charts when required.

With EMS software, every college and university become transparent to various regulatory authorities that are genuinely interested in the running of the institution. The list includes audit authorities, college unions, the board of directors, trustees, student groups, and many others. The data generated on well-designed and tested software is more accurate than data processed manually. This will also help the management stay updated and maintain a system. This system is worth evaluation and appraisal.

In fact, if EMS solutions installed and implemented at all levels, it helps to establish better communication with students. Which tends to strengthen relations with students. The management can also install a virtual mobile platform, which promotes an advantageous learning environment and works as a good interaction tool too. Students are also well informed about admissions, examinations, fee payments, and many such essential data which helps them to be on track. Additionally, an advanced EMS software system allows the management to set up a secure payment gateway for monetary transactions like accepting fees from students.

Conclusion: iCloudEMS is a multi-campus multi-functional software solution which his developed after extensive research in education domain. It doesn’t only give a cutting-edge performance but also solves the most complicated tasks. It also connects various stakeholders such as Staff, Teachers, Students, and Parents. It fulfills the entire administrative requirements in real time. It simplifies the operation, makes it easier for staff and transparent for management. It doesn’t only connect the students but keeps the information and data about those students safe, which helps to track and easy to access.

iCloudEMS: EMS Solution for Modern Education System

Education is the passport to the future, for tomorrow belongs to those who prepare for it today.

These words of Malcolm X, after more than 50 years of his assassination still holds true to the core. Education does not only prepare us for tomorrow but the innovation in the education system needs a system, which should be futuristically innovative. At one place, education is so inclusive, it has exclusive technologies too. In such a scenario, to hold all this together we all need a strong and sustainable system. To hold all the requirements of the new era of educational evolution, Cloud Next Vision stands tall with its iCloudEMS.

Let me go through, the qualities of iCloudEMS, which makes it stand tall in crowd of EMS

• Multilevel
  Whether its finance or academics, fee or payroll, hostel or classroom, transport or travel, it can be managed by it. Without differentiating any we can track attendance of principal to the student by syncing with biometric system. Payroll can be defined and delivered using the same, not for one but many institutions across the globe. It doesn’t get categorized in levels, locations or any other limitations.
• Innovative:
  We provide outcome based solution for education system. We don’t only fulfill requirements but also we use our innovation to present it in a more productive manner. From Grievance to visiting faculties, from lateral admissions to exchange programs, from recruitment to training & placement, every new need of institution is fulfilled with our EMS.
• Storage
  Managing & maintaining records of everything in the institution is a tedious task. When every institution has a stock of resources, to utilize it properly the storage should be managed efficiently. Whether its books or report cards, we store data of everything so well that tracking is such an easy job. So, in modern days education EMS is very much required to maintain the quantity with quality
• Secure
  From all those financial assets and information, securing it from misplacing and utilizing it when required is a key feature for our system, whether its fee or payroll, all the data can be securely stored in our system. So, without a fear of any manual misplacement or miscalculation, we can hand over all our finances to this educational EMS.
• Accessibility
  From timetable to report cards, anything can be accessed from anywhere from anything. The mobile apps give students the privilege to follow the timetable, pay the fee and see results all on their mobiles. Not only this via SMS, but all the pillars of the education system, student, teacher, parents, and management can also access & stay connected.

We are focused to provide outcome based education EMS with utmost clarity & efficiency. Stability and uniqueness of iCloudEMS is, still the EMS is flexible enough to manage institutions of Architecture or Medicines too. To know more about it, please connect with us.

The Benefits of Integrating Social Media with your EMS

As 30th June 2019 marked as the Social media day in the calendars . So sharing some perspective as to how Education Management System can incorporate Social media in their framework as well.

Social media is just not a buzzword or keyword that is trending nowadays.

Disruption in the sectors like telecom and consumer electronics has not only given access however has increased the consumption level of data that is consumed.

Increased availability of internet connections and access in recent years, propelled by the central government’s Digital India initiative was directly proportional in the growth of social media users.

India has the world’s highest data usage per smartphone at an average of 9.8GB per month, a new report by Swedish telecom equipment maker Ericsson said, adding this will double to 18GB by 2024, fuelled by rich video content

Of  which 90.4% of Millennials, 77.5% of Generation X, and 48.2% of Baby Boomers are active social media users.

(Emarketer, 2019). Check here for more .

With the ease of internet access, the number of social media users in India stood at 326.1 million in 2018 and it’s growing day by day.

Students are an integral part of any education system and of which major student prefer use/addicted to social media and its exceptional features that every channel has got. Likewise how EMS supports or enables the integration of key modules processes at various colleges, institutes or universities. The central role each technology plays is what makes the integration of Social media with EMS software more efficient and productive rather than the distraction.

Some Institutes or management even treat this concept as absurd: Social media use invites distraction, they reason, so how can it be useful in an educational setup. Some more stats here

The above line of thinking is both unproductive and unwarranted. Students have been blending their college time and social time for years now. Instead of forcing the rule/law we can enable collaboration, communication, typical day-to-day activities will enjoy improvements from social media integration.

Instead of aimlessly scrolling/trolling through TikTok ,Snapchat and Instagram accounts we can make use of community or user groups of students and universities to explore more on knowledge ,showcasing innovations and addressing concerns and make life easier for the students and for the educator’s as well. Check here for more perspective and here

The millennial’s are the most tech-minded in history. They are concerned with what’s new and cutting-edge. Your universities won’t be able to attract the right student force if you aren’t able to appeal their sensibilities or share experience that fulfil their expectations of a plugged –in and “always-on” experience.

By using channels like YouTube, Podcast, Reddit , Github and Slack channels.

Not also students even teachers or educators also have their own channels for imparting knowledge.

That’s the short version of how EMS stands to gain from social media integration. They nurture an involved, modern and long-term student force that is prepared to handle all the disruption the universities has to offer. But let’s get into specific ways you can enhance EMS with Social media integration.

Education industry or edtech landscape is quite fragmented different from most others because there are multiple stake holders involved. Also unified common goals for students, teachers, parents and district leaders/educators are also a part of decision making process.

According to Holoniq

However the trend is changing

Not all data can be shared or aired in social media channels. The rules that we apply in personal life some gets applied here as well as Universities and institutions cannot air their data in public and is very sensitive of those.

We can use social media for following purpose

• Making announcements for important events and matters, such as graduation/exam or admission dates, new rules, new courses, events, campus dates, visiting lectures and visits etc.
• Showcasing facilities such as new infrastructure, e.g. library, swimming pools, canteen, transport facilities etc. that are an important part of the student life.
• Taking feedbacks from various stakeholders like students, teachers, administrators, leaders etc.
• Showcasing important events such as annual day, sports day, events, hackathons , campuses organized.
• Driving awareness of world events and internal events (e.g. fundraisers, blood donation camps, hackathons, visiting lectures etc.) that concern the student force
• Building a strong and loyal alumni network and encouraging participation. Posts on career achievements, promotions, campus hires, community building, references etc. will help reconnect alumni, grow the university’s exposure and increase the SEO value of alumni and the college/university.
• Serving as a thought leader by proactively providing interesting content around career and study areas.

Check how other universities are doing here and here and here

HOW UNIVERSITIES CAN GAIN FROM INTEGRATING SOCIAL MEDIA WITH EMS

PERSONALIZATION

Personalization is unlocking vast opportunities for Universities/Institutes. It facilitates acceptance and the rapid adoption of the technologies that are driving change; as your cohort becomes more comfortable, they will feel empowered to be more creative and innovative.

COMMUNICATION IS A TWO WAY STREET

This is one of the more obvious benefits. Social media platforms thrive on streamlining communications. The biggest social media platforms of the past decade all saw rapid growth because of their abilities to change the way people thought about communication. Applying those lessons might take the form of adding features to student interactions like instant sharing, likes, and algorithm-based machine learning, which in turn can make communicating and collaborating a more seamless part of your system workflow.

EFFICIENT AND ENHANCED OUTCOMES

EMS are chiefly concerned with maximizing learning /productivity i.e Program Based Outcome/Course Based Outcome. Conventional knowledge tells us that giving students, especially young students, access to distractions during work hours is the death knell for productivity. Right? If we were talking about actual distractions, that may be accurate, but it’s precisely this narrow view of new technologies that makes younger people so hesitant to go for traditional universities/institutions. The kind of social media features we’re talking about – personalized profiles, activity tracking, group sharing, instant messaging – are far from being distractions. In reality, these features are likely to enhance productivity more directly than many of the other software features your employees use regularly.

Instantaneous and integrated departmental communication is the next step for increasing productivity in every Institution/Universities. Questions, grievances, and reports that once required human labor and time-consuming meetings can now be completed in seconds or a few minutes. Integrated communications can also help break down departmental silos – a common occurrence where different departments or teams are reluctant to share information with one another and may even be outwardly hostile towards the idea of sharing information or collaborating. However, when social media’s innovations are paired with the already exceptional productivity features offered by EMS, you stand to gain in ways you had never thought possible.

OMICHANNEL WAY FOR GREATER STUDENT EXPERIENCES

What is the most important thing for a Institution/University? Most answers involve some concept related to serving students. The experience is the single most valuable part of any college to attract students to their cohorts. And the data associated with the student experience across every channel of communications (omnichannel) –especially for visitors or the lead generation module. How they decide to enrol for a certain course, how long they spend on a course webpage, what informs or influence their admission process – is extremely valuable. Social media integration can be key to accessing this data.

Omnichannel statistics are integral to EMS. The integration of social media with your enquiry management i.e leads, Schedule management (time table), Library management, event or short notices to students/parents processes yield easier access to these statistics and enhances the visibility and transparency of each of those functional areas. It also enables the ability to monitor the student journey from beginning to end. Open social media integration allows you to communicate and reach out to the students/parents in a better way rather than having various Apps and whatsapp groups for communication. EMS alone usually cannot provide information in as much detail. The end goal is to use all this new data to create custom, fully-personalized profiles for each of your customers. Also the whole purpose is not to air the data publicly however reach the desired target audience in a better and easy way maintaining the privacy within the group or closed knit community.

AUTOMATING REPETITIVE TASK

Integration allows you to automate and optimize handling negative student/parents feedback. Your EMS can collect and send the above data to your Point of Contacts POC’s instantaneously. While your POC /Community builder’s uses social media to collaborate on a group effort to rectify any complaints, your EMS can collect other valuable statistics pertaining to such issues. For example, methods that show the most promise for resolving any disputes/queries/misunderstandings can be answered. Integration means relevant data can be compiled immediately and acted upon promptly, rather than completed sequentially over time. This can provide the higher authorities to keep tab or a bird eye view or more in-depth and accurate understanding of its relationship with student and teachers.

CENTRALIZED COLLABORATION

With social media integration, you get to choose which social media platforms your students are using. Many are already using social media during the study hours anyway – they may just think it’s frowned upon to do so and are forced to do it in secret. Integration not only helps you foster more satisfied and engaged students, it also lets you choose the platforms they’re using. Think of it this way: your students can either be having conversations on private, third-party servers, or they can be having them on communication lines managed by your support team.

The University/Institute adoption creates not only a more productive and welcoming environment but a more easily-monitored one as well. Instant messaging, student user profiles, and group projects will all be hosted under a single banner. And it’s your banner, at that. Finding specific messages and statistics, a process that once required considerable individual labor, can now be performed in an instant by checking your integrated platform’s logistics. In addition to increasing productivity/outcome, this practice also decreases the possibility that important data will not be manipulated or tampered with.

Conclusion: In short Universities can increase productivity and efficiency along with a conducive stable environment based on policies or standards created by the governing bodies by integrating their Education management systems with social media.