Higher Ed Institutions must Meet Demands of 21st Century Business Employers

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With the gradual rise in the costs of availing college tuition, the expectations from parents in regard to their kids’ career prospects are growing higher and higher. But what is making today’s college students worried is the limited opportunities they are getting from the 21^st century employers. Prior to enrolling in any course for higher studies, the majority of students today ensure that they are able to obtain relevant skills from it that can help them remain exposed to high career prospects in the long-run.

Higher education institutions are doing a good job

Surveys have showed that that there is indeed a huge gap between business leaders and provosts in terms of preparing students for the forthcoming workforce. As per the Inside Higher Ed survey 2014, 96% of the provosts opined that the higher education institutions were doing incredibly well in preparing students for achieving professional skills.

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On the other hand, the Gallup survey after taking 1,012 members of the public and 628 business leaders into consideration, found:

·        Only 11% of the business leaders are aware of the fact that graduates today possess relevant skills

·        14% of the public have strongly supported the fact that the 21^st century graduates are quite competent to achieve success at their respective workplaces

Although a few provosts pointed out pitfalls in the poll, one thing came crystal clear. Higher education leaders today must be quite attentive towards what business experts demand from upcoming graduates. Reality says that only 9% of today’s business employers emphasise on an organisation’s reputation while the rest mostly eye upon the skills obtained by new graduates.

Opportunities for new age employees are rising

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Since new industries are popping up with the passage of time, business managers running world class companies now aim to pick graduates having postgraduate degrees. In fact, there are several companies that give their employers the opportunity to enhance their knowledge and skills through these programmes. Even a good number of colleges have started collaborating with postgraduate boot camps on the ways leading to their workplaces.

The Chronicle of Higher Education once reported that are several companies where employees get the opportunity to enhance their computer and technology skills. Moreover, the concept of electronic learning has assisted a lot of companies in training their employees in a very cost-effective manner. In fact, the concept of completing a course online has excited a lot of employers and a good number of them have realised the importance.

Online university courses are gaining relevance

Online courses in business management have even gained global recognition not only among students but also among working professionals. Surprisingly, the UK universities that used to only offer traditional courses are now giving international students to enrol in online courses for completing higher studies. In fact, this has triggered the relevance of online university courses that have now become the most convenient career option for new age learners who can obtain necessary skills from any corner of the world.

So, what is essential now is to introduce such career options for students who would not only be earning credentials just for the sake of it but would also be attaining workplace skills. The higher education providers must concentrate on the very way of delivering courses online that can absolutely inspire students to upgrade their knowledge and skills and thereafter meet their career goals quite affordably.

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Substandard Public Education Sector Relies Greatly On Private Educational Institutions in Nigeria

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Public educational institutions in Nigeria are in quite lacklustre state, and mass trust is greatly inclined on private educational institutions. No matter what the level of education, primary, secondary or tertiary, everywhere the trend seems to be the same. As observed by Okafor et al, “falling standards leading to pushing the goal excellence to the back burner as public confidence in our educational system is eroded”, and this lack of confidence is something very prominent in Nigerian education system today.

If we go deep into this matter, we find that this consistent poor standard of Nigerian public education sector owes greatly its dwindled state to the poor planning and lack of investment. In fact, this has led nearly to the collapse of systematic process that can only give birth to a dismal and dilapidated condition. If you pay a casual visit to any of the public schools in Nigeria you will easily understand how far the standard of education has been deteriorated.

Public Education has Lost Public Faith

At the National Summit on Higher Education held in 2002, a hopelessly striking fact came in front that not only the curriculum existed in public educational institutions was substandard, but also of1,185 academic programmes, just 11% were given full NUC accreditation (NUC, 2001). Also, university system has only about 46% of staffs to what actually is required.

Shortage of Seats

There are about 23 private universities currently in Nigeria. But, seeing the demand for privately run education system this feels considerably less in number. Statistics shows that in the 2005-06 academic year, there were only 130,000 places for the 8000,000 candidates, thereby leaving many students deprived of the taste of higher education.(Source: bit.ly/1jQYf1t)

Parents Find Reliance on Private Education

Anyway, parents cannot give up their dreams to bring up their offspring with good education. And, to their expectations, private educational institutions have served a good deal. Privately run school and colleges are complementing the ills and lapses of public educational institutions. Private educational institutions have really grown prolific and gained huge popularity and acceptance among parents in Nigeria.

An important revelation with such move points out towards the fact that many Nigerian parents incur costly private education for the good of their children’s future. Instead of humble economic strength in average Nigerian parents, they can sacrifice all their comforts for the sake of their offspring. And, due to the inadequacy of good private universities in the country, many parents are sending their children abroad, against heavy toll on themselves.

Foreign Universities Offering Courses in Nigeria

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Though it is a noble step to invest all their savings for their children’s future, it is something that is not actually required anymore. Seeing the huge demand-supply gap in private universities, and average financial capacity among Nigerian population, many prestigious universities of the world, especially from the UK, have introduced their unparalleled standard of higher education to the Nigerian youth through online distance learning. Attending courses offered by these eminent universities, Nigerian students not only enrol on fully accredited curriculums that are accepted anywhere in the world, but also make an opportunity to carry out regular jobs alongside their study online, and all these against an unbelievably low cost. They do not have to leave their country, for with a computer and internet connection they are all set to continue their studies from their home or anywhere they prefer.

To overcome the sustaining problem of the shortage in the country’s own private universities, and continuously poor standard of public educational institutions, Nigerian students must take benefits of these inexpensive and career-centric higher education offered by some of the world’s best universities online.

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It’s Time for Diverse Learning! Read the Change

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What is biggest present we have received from technology? Well, my answer would be a smaller world filled with wonders. Really, it is an amazing tiny world where we reach people, earn degrees, buy wardrobes, and consult doctors sitting at home only through a few clicks. The way technology has changed our academic and professional experience was unpredictable even a few years ago. Workers solve customer issues sitting in a car, students finish their assignments lying on sofa; no matter how hectic your work schedule gets or how huge your school curriculum is they fit smoothly in your pocket and you move easily working on them. Technology that made schools and offices available on phones and gadgets has introduced customized earning and learning system where people perform on their own terms.

A Different Way to Knowledge:

Bill Sheskey, a Teacher-Educator and a Technology Specialist advocates for the evolving educational environment in her book Essential Education for a Changing World. She says that students entering classes today are far different from what they were sometime earlier. The teachers of 21st Century realize that they require a changed environment as the generation today is capable of gathering more information faster than the other ones. So, learning institutions today rely more on vibrant equipments and playful procedures than big text-books and tedious lectures. Students today learn via video conferences, webinars, online forums, designed lessons, and exciting apps – for the entire world it’s time for smart learning.

In a changed world of education, you are offered better atmosphere as it endorses…

Faster and Easier Solutions: Students with the facility of internet have access to huge information. Only through a few clicks learners today get thousands of data in a moment. Education delivered through internet helps the students learn more effectively supported by the huge collection of supplements. 

Learning at Convenient Pace and Space

Learning, these days have become really enjoyable as people are allowed to learn on their own terms. They design their courses and create learning routine according to their convenience. Education no more requires you to run after a ticking clock, you can set it in line with your preference.

Several Opportunities:

Gone are the days when you missed lectures as you missed a class; and struggled badly to understand further chapters. Video instruction has solved the issue. You can hear to a lecture whenever you want and keep repeating it as long you don’t get a hang of it.

Technological Tools for Education:

Technological intervention is a major event in the history of education. The exciting learning tools enhance your reading and writing skills by helping you to manage information, to make notes quickly and easily, understand and review performances. These tools even help you to get tips from specialist and remain posted about current events of the world. 

More Engaging Atmosphere:

Education today has come a long way from tiresome monologue. Today, it involves vivid activities and delivers knowledge through vibrant dialogues between peers and educators. This very fresh process of learning is supported by wikis, journals, blogs, and various forums. Education in recent times in collaboration with internet has made learning a social event.

Academic aspirers have always wished for a convenient education system that will not require people to abide by hundreds of rules. And it feels good to say that the time has come. Learning today is no more designed in accordance with intuitional norms but tailored to suit the learner’s preference. Students, who didn’t like sitting on the same bench, meeting same people and turning pages of that fat text book have different option to choose this time. The changes occurring everyday confirm that going back to school is not going back to the same rules. 

How To Design A Good E-Learning Course?

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E-learning is growing so popular all through the globe that almost every day we see many new projects initiated by the prominent educational institutions. The success of e-learning programmes is chiefly due to the lucid and simple design of curriculum and enormous flexibility one can enjoy around his course curriculum. All-round simplicity marks the huge popularity of e-learning in every sphere of learning.

Another factor playing vital behind the wide acceptance of e-learning is its lucid course content. People expect their e-learning courses to be very easily fit around their lives. So, the course content of e-learning programs must be kept as simple and user-friendly as possible. Equally important is the mobility and compatibility of online technologies that are employed in delivering course content. They should be always easy to handle and easy to access.

Let’s focus on some of the tools that can be best used to design e-learning courses:

Choose the perfect LCMS

Your wrong selection of learning content management system can take you to a trouble zone. You will have problem in integrating instructors, content tools, student comprehension and many more things. So, be absolutely careful choosing your LCMS.

Ensure your LCMS’ compatibility with MOODLE and other LMS

If you want a smooth and undisturbed process of online learning you must ensure the compatible integration between your LCMS and other LMS products.

Take careful measure in text properties

Your text content must be easily legible to the audience, so take special care of typographical characters and font sizes. You should give perfect format to your text content as well, so that everyone feels attracted to go through them.

Keep your content design attractive

Attractiveness is a vital issue in grabbing the attention of your audience, so you must design your course well-designed and well-composed.

Understand your target audience

Understanding the taste and need of your audience is essentially important to make your course successful. You need to have deep insight about the requirement of your audiences to see your course successfully going.

 Inspire participation

Every technical as well as pedagogical measure may turn fruitless if you cannot inspire your audience to actively participate in the learning process. Offer chance to external participation from different area of knowledge, as well, to enrich your curriculum.

Remain up-to-date with content authoring tools

Although it is pretty tough to make extensive use of all your tools at once, initiatives must be there to keep tabs on tools at newsletters, popular blogs, magazines and other prominent websites. You will get many good resources of potential audiences through these measures.   

    

Offer a free trial

Free trial ensures trust from the audience’s part. Once they become sure of the quality of the course content they will spontaneously jump for it. So, do not hesitate to offer free trials. It actually shows honesty from a course provider’s side.

Get more expert faculty

Expert faculty are the life of any course content, so be always enthusiastic to get more expert faculty for your e-learning course, who can deliver the best possible knowledge to your e-learners.

There are endless issues where you can continuously improve on the quality of content and mode of teaching-learning. We have discussed some of the basic issues here, following which you can successfully conduct a good online course.

Distance Learning Changing Education Scenario In Nigeria

Most of the individuals in Nigeria find it hard to go for a university degree because of many evident problems. We all know that the education scenario of Nigeria is not up to the mark. The universities there don’t have proper resources or even a suitable learning atmosphere. The lack of appropriate educators and the poor financial conditions of most of the residents there are some of the biggest hindrances in the field of education.

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Higher study, for the learners in Nigeria, is an expensive endeavour. There are many working professionals there who feel like getting another degree to gain proper knowledge but they find it hard for the increase in course fees. So, how can they cope up with this situation and how they can now polish their skills easily without even compromising with their present engagements?

Distance education is an answer!

Distance education had been a saviour for many around the globe and it can work wonders for the Nigerian residents as well. Technology has made its grip over the education sector and it has made one believe in the fact that quality education is not something which is out of reach from any individual. Now, even for the Nigerian learners, an online degree can act as a lifesaver. No matter how poor the college or university conditions are in Nigeria, the learners can always apply for a degree from some other country with just a few clicks on the web. The only thing he/she needs is a steady internet connection.

According to Yvonne Johnson, a Financial Analyst, the situation of mobile technologies and proper internet services is going to bloom this year. If this really happens, then the online learners present in Nigeria will be the most blessed ones. However, she is of the view that Nigeria still has a long way to go and to match up with the rest of the world. Although, she believes, that the infrastructure in Nigeria is quite well, still more applications has to be developed with local relevance.

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Distance learning in Nigeria

The nation of Nigeria has indeed taken a step ahead to improve the education scenario over there. The distance learning programmes which are offered to the Nigerian candidates from the various reputed worldwide universities have played a big role in the make-over of the education sector of Nigeria. This way, the learners in Nigeria have finally understood the importance of being knowledgeable and gaining a degree for oneself. No matter whether the learners need an undergraduate degree or a post graduate one, with the help of the distance learning programmes online, everything seems easy!

What's best about distance learning is that it helps students to complete higher studies with ease and convenience. Not only for the ones who need an university degree to further in career but online degrees also prove to be of great help for the working professionals in Nigeria. In order to strengthen their skills and expertise, they can now opt for an online degree and therefore, they will even be complimented at the workplace. This is how online education has been helping the learners around the globe and I am sure that it will help the Nigerian learners as well. 

Technologies that are Changing the Face of Education

Technology has taken the education sector to a different level making it accessible to people from all over the world. Technology has allowed people from different strata of society to receive and continue education. Technology trends have changed the face of education and continue to influence the sector in various ways. Technology has made education cheaper and well within reach. Here are a few technology trends that are making waves in the education sector, helping it to progress.

Massive Open Online Courses or MOOCs

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Education has become extremely expensive with colleges fees escalating to unreachable heights. This is the reason why students are dropping out of college or not attending them at all. This is where, MOOCs help out students who are keen to learn. MOOCs decreases learning costs and also make education available and accessible to a huge number of people. These courses have been around for quite some time but are gaining popularity as they are becoming accepted by more and more people. 

Big names in the education sector believe that MOOCs are the beginning of learning empowered by the internet for the future. These online courses are said to be the future of education that may impact the world in a huge way. These courses are yet to become a massive phenomenon but they are slowly getting there. This technological trend has great potential and can change the education sector for good making it easy for the world to attain education. 

Bring Your Own Device or BYOD

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This trend isn’t new but when it started out, very few educational institutions allowed or accepted the concept. However, these days, the concept is peaking as smartphones, tablets and phablets are becoming less expensive, therefore, attainable by most. Also, these days, takings these devices to educational institutions is accepted. 

This trend is becoming more and more acknowledged these days because it helps to enrich the learning experiences of students and also helps in increasing the productivity of teachers and instructors. These devices, tablets and smartphones, are taking the place of computers these days and they are improving the present technologies that are being applied. 

BYOD basically enhances existing technologies making them more acceptable and easier to use than before. Through this trend, learning is basically trying to shift from print to digital making it cheaper for the masses. 

Personalised Education

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A personal approach to education will work wonders for both students and teachers. Imagine a technology that will recognise a student’s need and suggest to the teachers ways to help them learn. Well, if you think this is just a figment of imagination, reconsider. IBM’s Personalized Education Through Analytics on Learning Systems or PETALS uses advance case management, predictive modelling, deep content analytics and machine learning to boost the learning and teaching process. This technology will add a personal touch to learning experiences and fulfil the needs of every single student. This technology will help bolster the performance of each and every student. 

Social Media

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Social media is an extremely important technology trend that has helped almost all sectors of business. This trend has also influenced the education sector a great deal, helping students do better. Already, one of the biggest examples is how teachers are using social networking sites like Facebook, to get to know their students better. Groups are created by teachers, on Facebook, to increase interaction with the students of the classroom. Colleges and universities are creating their own networks for students and even public networks that draw the attention of many students across the world.  The way social media is progressing, it will soon bring students from all corners of the world together discussing the education system or learning from each other’s courses. Social media can take connect education systems of the world. 

These technology trends are creating a stir in the education sector. These technologies will help simplify education needs of the students of the world. These trends are revolutionary in their own rights and can make a huge difference in the future. 

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