• While the sector feels that the existing curriculum is able to prepare young professionals with future-ready skills, this is in contrast with overall Asia Pacific sentiment where lack of skills and resources is the No. 1 transformation challenge faced by organisations.
Microsoft has released findings from its Unlocking the Economic Impact of Digital Transformation in Asia Pacific* study, specific to the higher education sector. The study found that higher education institutions that have begun their digital transformation journeys are already seeing 14-19% improvements in areas such as student engagement, utilisation of new and existing education products and services, higher rate of teaching innovation and profit margins.
Respondents polled also indicated that they expect to see at least 40% improvement to the top five benefits tracked in three years. Close to three quarters of respondents in the education sector (72%) also feel that existing curriculum and systems can prepare young professionals with future-ready skills to meet the demands of digital transformation. This is in contrast with the overall Asia Pacific sentiment. According to the study, lack of skills and resources is the No. 1 transformation challenge faced by organisations.
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| Source: Microsoft. Digital transformation improvements in three years compared to today for higher education institutions. Student engagement is expected to grow 1.8x as a result of digital transformation. |
Microsoft has released findings from its Unlocking the Economic Impact of Digital Transformation in Asia Pacific* study, specific to the higher education sector. The study found that higher education institutions that have begun their digital transformation journeys are already seeing 14-19% improvements in areas such as student engagement, utilisation of new and existing education products and services, higher rate of teaching innovation and profit margins.
Respondents polled also indicated that they expect to see at least 40% improvement to the top five benefits tracked in three years. Close to three quarters of respondents in the education sector (72%) also feel that existing curriculum and systems can prepare young professionals with future-ready skills to meet the demands of digital transformation. This is in contrast with the overall Asia Pacific sentiment. According to the study, lack of skills and resources is the No. 1 transformation challenge faced by organisations.
“Education is the bedrock of economies, where a country’s growth is dependent on the skills of workers. In the age of digital disruption, institutions need to go beyond imparting hard skills, and instead focus on developing future skillsets among students. In addition, the profiles of students are changing rapidly – they are digital natives across age groups. Our research shows that leaders in the sector expect positive benefits in student engagement and empowered faculty from a formed digital transformation strategy,” said Larry Nelson, Regional GM, Education, Microsoft Asia.
The study found that higher education institutions are concerned with how technology is changing students’ consumption habits rapidly; the need to improve curriculum quality and norelevance, and new disruptive players in market.
“The rise of digital-first and alternative institutions are offering students more choices in their learning journey and may well become substitutes for conventional schools. Hence, it is encouraging to see that leaders in the higher education space realise the need to embrace a 360-degree transformation to stay competitive, whereby establishing the culture of innovation and continuous learning is the No. 1 priority for respondents,” added Nelson.
To embrace education transformation, institutions need to establish a holistic vision and integrate multiple tools and data into a single, intelligent system. This requires leaders in the sector to embrace 21st century education goals. Such goals include creating connected experiences both on- and off-campus and developing effective institutions that can address fast-changing market demands.
In Singapore, the National University of Singapore (NUS) will collaborate with Microsoft to harness the power of the Microsoft Academic Graph (MAG), hosted on Azure, to bolster its research and innovation capabilities.
For any institution to be successful in digital transformation, they must have a digital footprint to start. Data is a critical ingredient for unlocking the digital potential of higher education institutions, especially existing data.
With data, institutions can create more effective operations to deliver better student and staff experiences. For example, by using existing information, institutions can establish digital learning management systems which will allow for instant and personalised delivery of educational courses, as well as more effective administration.
In addition, when institutions collect data in a structured manner, they can enable better student lifecycle management, which will result in improved student engagement.
Lastly, data can help develop intelligent campuses with the use of connected devices and the Internet of Things (IoT) to enable better facilities management, and even effect distant learning capabilities.
In addition, when institutions collect data in a structured manner, they can enable better student lifecycle management, which will result in improved student engagement.
Lastly, data can help develop intelligent campuses with the use of connected devices and the Internet of Things (IoT) to enable better facilities management, and even effect distant learning capabilities.
As student profiles change, there is a more immediate need to deliver personalised learning experiences. With data, educators can tailor materials and engage with students accordingly based on their specific learning curves. In addition, data, when supported by machine learning and artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities, can unlock limitless research.
The encouraging news is that education leaders surveyed are looking at investing in core and emerging technologies to unlock the data potential. Cloud, mobility and big data analytics are the top three core technologies that institutions are looking to invest in this year; while AI and IoT are the top two emerging technologies they will invest in.
Beyond investing in technologies, it is important for academic leaders to look at new key performance indicators (KPIs) to evaluate data usage and how such information can be used to improve upon existing delivery of education services, and drive innovation. For example, institutions that are successful in using business intelligence and analytics tool can better track student completion in real-time. It can help contain or reduce tuition costs, and ultimately remove barriers to access the higher education.
“Higher education institutions need to adopt a people-centric vision that encourages lifelong learning and experimentation,” Nelson added.
“At Microsoft, we are committed to investing and democratising new technologies, including AI, so that more can benefit from them. Acknowledging the pivotal role education institutions play in preparing a future-ready workforce means that we need to partner with the sector better to deliver tools and experiences that will benefit students in the new, digital economy.”
The encouraging news is that education leaders surveyed are looking at investing in core and emerging technologies to unlock the data potential. Cloud, mobility and big data analytics are the top three core technologies that institutions are looking to invest in this year; while AI and IoT are the top two emerging technologies they will invest in.
Beyond investing in technologies, it is important for academic leaders to look at new key performance indicators (KPIs) to evaluate data usage and how such information can be used to improve upon existing delivery of education services, and drive innovation. For example, institutions that are successful in using business intelligence and analytics tool can better track student completion in real-time. It can help contain or reduce tuition costs, and ultimately remove barriers to access the higher education.
“Higher education institutions need to adopt a people-centric vision that encourages lifelong learning and experimentation,” Nelson added.
“At Microsoft, we are committed to investing and democratising new technologies, including AI, so that more can benefit from them. Acknowledging the pivotal role education institutions play in preparing a future-ready workforce means that we need to partner with the sector better to deliver tools and experiences that will benefit students in the new, digital economy.”
*Unlocking the Economic Impact of Digital Transformation in Asia Pacific conducted with 1,560 respondents in 15 markets, including 166 from the education industry
• Fifteen Asia Pacific markets were involved: Australia, mainland China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, India, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, New Zealand, Philippines, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Thailand, and Vietnam.
• Business and IT leaders from organisations with more than 250 staff were polled.
• Industries polled included education, financial services, government, healthcare, manufacturing, and retail.
• Respondents are decision makers involved in shaping their organisations’ digital strategy.
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