The London School of Economics’ United States Centre responded by launching the State of the States, a free, apolitical online resource giving in-depth information about each of the 50 US states, along with up-to-date information about policies and political developments drawn from local news sources and blogs.
It developed from the centre’s US American Politics and Policy blog, where academics posted daily articles and book reviews on all aspects of US governance, economics, culture, politics and society. With Trump’s victory relying on narrow margins in a handful of states, they felt that an understanding of trends in specific US states was needed to help predict future developments.
Using digital agency Soak to build the interactive aspects of the website, the team began data-gathering, bringing together more than 2,500 pieces of information and producing a prototype of the site, with the aim of making it as user-friendly as possible for those with no knowledge of US politics. Users click on a map of the US to access a mini-profile of each state, plus stats on the political makeup of the state senate and assembly, key political figures, representation in Congress, demographics, economy, healthcare and attitudes to policy areas ranging from capital punishment to cannabis.
It is also possible to search, by time period and state, for political updates on specific topics such as abortion, free speech, gun laws and trade unions.
The website launched on 6 November, the same day as the US midterm elections, and has been updated regularly since.
The LSE’s South Asia Centre is now developing a similar interactive resource ahead of the Indian elections in 2019, and the State of the States will be the model for a future global electoral interactive overview being planned by the university’s government department.
Many universities have experimented with online degrees but Coventry has done so with spectacular gusto. In just 18 months, its provision of wholly online degree education has grown from nothing to reach 80,000 learners in 188 countries.
Coventry University Online now delivers 12 degrees and 45 open courses, and the aim is that by 2022 the number of degree programmes will have increased to 50.
Coventry launched its first online master’s degree, in nursing, in January 2018, before adding a suite of further master’s including construction management, cybersecurity, emergency management and organisational psychology. Students can take an online master’s in business administration focusing on a specific specialism such as healthcare, artificial intelligence, cybersecurity management or sustainable tourism.
The university has also developed a postgraduate certificate in higher education practice for its staff across the world to study for an internationally recognised teaching qualification, and pre-sessional English provision for prospective students to improve their English language provision before undertaking further study.
It has partnered with the Open College Network London to deliver an open course in mental health targeted at school leavers, and with Deakin University in Melbourne, Australia to deliver a postgraduate certificate in entrepreneurship. The aim is “to give people a ladder up to begin a degree or progress, not just complete one course and log off”.
This rapid development was made possible by the university becoming the first UK higher education institution to partner with the social learning platform FutureLearn. It has also invested in a studio to create its own digital media, including video content and high-quality podcasts.
But flexibility has been key. Students are able to scale their studies up or down each semester according to their personal circumstances, using a pay-as-you-go financial model. They are also encouraged to “try before they buy” by engaging in the first two-week course of each module, which is free, before enrolling on a full degree. Every course is suitable for PCs, tablets and mobile devices in low bandwidth areas.
Once signed up, students become part of a small cohort with access to a network of named tutors, learning coaches and technical support, and on graduation receive the same qualification as on-campus students.
The results have been as impressive as the rate of expansion, showing 96% retention and 85% student satisfaction.
How can universities respond to the demands of a large student body that expects answers on demand 24/7 without driving staff into the ground? The answer, for Staffordshire University, is artificial intelligence.
Beacon is its new AI-driven chatbot – or digital coach and assistant – primed to support students with everything from remembering where their next lectures are to filling in council tax forms. The university estimates that within three weeks of being launched in January 2019, it had helped more students than a single member of staff would in a year.
The app recognises students when they log in and can respond either to text or voice. As well as being able to answer questions about timetabling, how to log in to university wifi, where to find something to eat or when the library opens, it can proactively suggest societies for students to join and events to attend, as well as prompting them about revision, giving them reminders about lectures and assignments, and notifying them of the next bus home.
The idea is that Beacon will become smarter the more students use it, offering personalised advice such as which books and study aids to use. It should also be able to step in when students’ engagement appears to be waning, setting new goals for them to reach and reminding them to see a personal tutor.
Staffordshire was the first university in Europe to migrate fully to cloud hosting, which has made digital innovation easier. It has laid out a digital vision for 2030, which includes the idea that over the next 10 years students will interact more with AI day-to-day than with any member of staff.
Students, academics and a development company with experience of AI all contributed to the Beacon project before its release. It is now one of the top apps in the App Store for education, and Staffordshire county council is exploring with the university how Beacon could also be used to support local school children.