Universities and Colleges Should Make 2021 “The Year of Opportunity”

Universities and colleges should make 2021 the year that they learn crucial lessons from the lockdown and take advantage of emerging opportunities, according to Questionmark, the online assessment provider.

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“Education has changed forever. While this presents challenges for the traditional university and college business model, it also creates limitless exciting opportunities. ”

Education changed forever in 2020. The traditional, campus-based three- or four-year degree programs are less appealing to “traditional students” following the experiences of the last year.¹ Many are looking for new ways to study.

But growing familiarity with online learning is also increasing the potential pool of students. More “non-traditional students”, those that do not proceed straight from school to higher education, are enrolling in courses. Some 59% of them will continue to work full time.² During 2020, colleges and universities have proven that they can deliver education without requiring every student to be physically present at lectures and seminars.

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The shifting landscape creates new opportunities for colleges and universities. By asking and answering three crucial questions, institutions can quickly start reaching for new opportunities and revenue streams.

1. Can programs be made more flexible? The campus-based delivery model remains popular. But increasing numbers of people are looking for different ways of studying.
2. Can curriculums be diversified? A greater range of skills is required for the modern workplace. Students will increasingly seek to gain a wider breadth of knowledge across different subject areas to increase their chances of employment.³
3. Can programs be delivered more efficiently? In the US, the debate around the necessity of a four-year degree program is gathering pace.⁴ Can courses be taught more efficiently over a shorter period?

Answering these questions could help colleges and universities diversify their offer, take advantage of new opportunities and increase revenue streams. To do this, they must also be able to deliver a wide variety of ways to assess student performance quickly.

Lars Pedersen, CEO of Questionmark, said: “Education has changed forever. While this presents challenges for the traditional university and college business model, it also creates limitless exciting opportunities.

“By ensuring they can quickly deliver a variety of online assessments, institutions can continue to evolve their delivery models. They can assess the progress of a wider range of learners and create an offer which is relevant for 2021 and beyond.”

A greater range of assessments is required when teaching a greater range of skills. Measuring progress at every stage is essential to delivering courses more efficiently. Creating a secure online exam environment is a prerequisite of serving non-traditional students.

The Questionmark enterprise-grade assessment platform can help higher education institutions move exams, quizzes and other assessments online quickly and securely. The platform:

• Offers a one-stop shop – integrating all aspects of creating and delivering assessments including authoring content, e-commerce, proctoring or invigilation, reporting and digital badging for successful candidates
• Makes content easy to create and update – it is quick and easy to create assessments using a wide variety of question formats
• Creates a secure online exam environment – when the stakes are high a range of proctoring or invigilation services guard against cheating and ensure the results of the test can be trusted.

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