4 Great Ideas to Gain Institutional Support for Adaptive Learning Technology at Your University

This is a guest post provided by Nanda Krish from Wisewire. I found the information to be relevant and in line with the value of content we like to provide on our Collaborate! blog. Please note: FSR doesn't endorse (or not endorse) Wisewire, as we have not evaluated their services. But we thank them for sharing this information with our readers! Enjoy:

You have a unique challenge ahead of you. You know valuable learning tools are emerging and your institution needs to keep up with educational trends. But working within a budget, juggling your day-to-day tasks, and trying to have meaningful conversations with people short on time is not easy. How do you convince multiple education professionals to invest in adaptive learning tools and materials (available from numerous online sources, including Wisewire), which may be an unfamiliar approach to student learning?

What Matters?

Gaining support for any initiative in higher education will always be contingent on whether the idea is best for students. It’s important to completely understand the benefits of adaptive learning tools for individual students and be prepared to describe these benefits to key stakeholders. In addition to basic questions, leaders will have their own specific areas of...

Student Benefits

Each department within an educational institution has at minimum an indirect connection to students, if not a direct one. Keeping students happy is a generally accepted goal for department heads, though it isn’t always possible. Many situations will arise where you won’t be able to make every student happy, but adaptive learning tools may be one way to help relieve students’ stress in and out of the classroom.

There are a variety of options for adaptive learning tools, and most have data available that can help you identify and explain their benefit to each of your team members. As an example, consider alta, Knewton’s fully-integrated adaptive learning courseware. Of the 10,000 students who used alta in its development phase, 87 percent achieved mastery in their course. Perhaps more significantly, of students who struggled with an assignment, 82 percent ultimately achieved mastery. Can you imagine sharing these kinds of successful results with people in your organization who genuinely care about student success?

Knewton’s courseware is just one example—and maybe it isn’t the one you’re considering. Whatever program you’re exploring, be sure to uncover and share the measurable stats that speak to a positive student experience.

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