Dive Brief:
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A recent Eduventures survey found 60% of institution officials say their campuses are in early stages of planning the use of technology as part of their retention strategy, but 88% said they were using external tech — even absent the strategic planning.
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In a post for EdTech Magazine, analyst Kim Reid says institutions need to think critically about what problems they’re hoping to solve before deploying tech solutions without strategy.
- Reid called the disparity in implementation vs. strategy telling, reporting only 52% of respondents said they were satisfied with the results in boosting retention, and only 38% satisfied with boosts in completion after deploying the tech solutions.
Dive Insight:
As retention and completion see greater focus in the conversation about ROI in higher ed, Reid suggests “retention is the new enrollment.” She said the purpose of tech in higher ed is to both “investigate and diagnose causes and to enact strategy,” and that to be truly effective, one cannot exist without the other.
The pressure to integrate technology into a number of processes coupled with the tendency to skip the strategy step, is not unique to higher ed. Many educators in the K-12 space lament the emphasis on technology without proper training and understanding of how it fits into the bigger picture of increasing efficiency and improving student learning. In corporate environment, too, similar frustrations have been expressed around tech rollouts.