Zoom recently held its annual APAC Education Summit online, discussing how the education industry can achieve flexible teaching and learning. Ricky Kapur, Zoom's Head of Asia Pacific, joined education experts from the Australian Academic Research Network (AARNet) and the University of Newcastle to discuss challenges faced by educational institutions in adopting technology and gain industry insights.
Ricky Kapur emphasized the importance of flexibly leveraging technology to reshape the educational experience. Digital advancements, such as smart campus management, multi-channel student engagement, and interconnected collaborative spaces, are transforming education for the next generation and reshaping how we learn, connect, and thrive.
Faced with the diverse needs of students and teachers in the hybrid learning era, educational institutions need to adapt to the changing environment through appropriate solutions. They need to help learners, whether participating in education through physical campuses, online meetings, or hybrid modes, adapt to different types of teaching scenarios, such as large-scale seminars, small group icebreaker activities, or one-on-one tutoring courses.
Ricky Kapur also shared four aspects of improving the educational experience:
• study:In addition to offering hybrid and online courses, educators need to think outside the box and aim to create richer and more immersive learning experiences, assessing students’ understanding through collaborative projects and polls.
• Links:Establishing good communication outside the classroom is crucial. Students need to have more convenient access to teachers, such as by arranging after-school consultations. At the same time, administrators need to maintain close contact with parents, alumni, and other stakeholders through activities.
• support:Schools should strive to provide students with a seamless educational experience, from admissions and enrollment to orientation, and beyond. This means providing quick and effective responses to common questions and helping students quickly connect with the right department.
• Work:Empowering teachers and administrators through technology is key to improving the student experience. A one-stop virtual platform can help educators collaborate in real time, avoid missed communications, and optimize workflows. Furthermore, virtual platforms can connect classrooms with experts around the world to maximize knowledge sharing.
With the advent of the digital age, the educational experience must evolve to accommodate convenience and simplicity, while also meeting students' preferences for digital interaction. To meet these demands, educators must reevaluate how they connect with students and maintain learner interest by incorporating diverse applications and technologies.
For example, Wall Street English, an international English learning organization that provides language courses for children and adults, is using Zoom's Video Software Development Kit to ensure that students around the world, whether at home or in learning centers, have a consistent, reliable, and high-quality learning experience.
Geoff Lambert, Solutions Consultant at the Australian Academic Research Network (AARNet), stated that with the development of hybrid education, communication and collaboration platforms like Zoom can help universities and colleges expand their educational offerings and reach more students both domestically and internationally. Hybrid education can also help increase accessibility, helping hearing-impaired students easily access live captioning and increasing flexibility for part-time students in their time management.
From an administrative perspective, communication and collaboration platforms can also enhance the resilience of educational institutions in the face of challenges and maintain business operations. While these changes may be challenging for many educational institutions, Geoff Lambert believes they can bring innovation and creativity to campus facilities, education, and education-related services.
Mark Jefferys, Solutions Architect at the University of Newcastle, shared that leveraging digital tools to enhance the student educational experience is a key challenge facing higher education institutions. The university has partnered with Zoom to provide faculty, staff, and students with a faster and more convenient communication channel beyond meetings and lectures. This effectively saves time and resources, allowing them to focus on student recruitment and engagement. This will help higher education institutions cope with the highly competitive environment and reduced government funding.
Mark Jefferys added that the ease of use of the Zoom platform, already familiar to most, enabled the University of Newcastle to transition to the Zoom solution smoothly, ensuring students could enjoy an instant and personalized experience through a one-stop platform, such as Zoom Meetings, Zoom Phone, and Zoom Contact Center.
