3 Tips to Ace Digital Transformation in Education

The sudden shift to remote learning has brought to light the issues of disparity in access to technology, and a huge responsibility and opportunity educational institutions have to address in terms of accessibility and digital literacy. These are the revolutionary impacts of digital transformation on the education industry, pushing schools to adopt digital solutions for remote learning, teaching and campus environments.?

The spread of digitisation in both teaching methodologies and management processes has led to schools adopting a more streamlined approach to curriculum and student assessment across facilities in different locations.

However, the impact of digital transformation is not just limited to the classroom and learning. It goes above and beyond learning and teaching methodologies, affecting the strategic goals, objectives, people and processes throughout the school.

3 main elements of digital transformation in education?

Digital transformation consists of three main elements:

People: Digital transformation changes how people work, helping them become more productive by creating new ways to engage stakeholders.?

By harnessing emerging technologies like AI, cloud computing and machine learning, educators can help students gain skills for future success.

Processes: Digital transformation helps educators understand how schools operate by offering a 360-degree view of all facets of school operations — from administration to teaching to activities.?

This is essential when it comes to making decisions on how best to improve day-to-day operations — such as increasing engagement levels with students or reducing absenteeism rates.

Technology: Through digital transformation, educators can drive innovation and better understand their students’ needs. Investing in new technologies can lead to improvements in learning outcomes and better student experiences that set learners on the path to success beyond the classroom.

Acing digital transformation in education

?Turning an organisation into a digitally-driven entity can be difficult, but with the right foundations and ideas, it can be achieved with ease. Here are three tips to help educators improve their digital presence and accelerate their transformation plans.

1. Effective planning and open communication

Effective planning and open communication will help you manage change. Communicate with parents, teachers and students to build trust and create a sense of shared ownership.

As you start on the journey of digital transformation, it is important to take input from those that will be directly impacted by the change such as parents, teachers and students – on where and what to digitalise. Open and frequent two-way communication is key to successful digital transformation. You can manage change by using storytelling as an effective technique to inform people about where you are heading in terms of the changes, expected timeline and why digitisation is important.?

For example, if you are thinking about including augmented reality in your chemistry curriculum to enable a better experience for the students and improve learning outcomes, you can write a brief story on your website or social media talking about the plan of implementation and how you are going to evaluate the progress.?

An effective change management model is important to guide the implementation of the plan, receive feedback and respond to it as you prepare the stakeholders for the change.?

2. Upgrade tools and processes

The next step is to select the most appropriate tools and processes for digitalisation. It is important to identify the right mechanisms that will lead your organisation towards its goals.

To streamline their process, schools can transform from unidirectional information such as emails and memos to bidirectional media like surveys, discussion forums, wikis and social media. They can also add self-service options to internal and external processes.?

When implementing an administrative or student process automation system, it is important to review and refine the process prior to automation in order to get the most out of it. Identifying service providers and vendors, especially those with experience in the education sector, to partner with you in the digitisation project can lead to successful outcomes.

3. Support change management

Helping your staff, students and parents develop and enhance their digital skills is essential to enjoy the benefits of the digital tools and processes that have been transformed. In addition to building a digital workforce, it is important to identify the need for devices, software and connectivity at various levels. For instance, if you want to improve communication by introducing digital forms, the step is to provide training to those involved and ensure that they have access to all essential tools and services. Identify the group that can quickly adapt to the changes and develop best practices to smooth the transition throughout the institution.

For smooth execution of digital transformation efforts, create roles and responsibilities to lead specific projects and promote cross-functional collaboration to help the processes reach a broader audience. Finally, it is important to celebrate success at every level and identify the best practices to promote the broader adoption of technology.

To conclude…

While challenges are a part of digital transformation initiatives in every organisation, don’t let the expectations and pressure of successful implementation weigh you down. A well-executed digital transformation in education can help you provide a better learning experience to your students, teachers and parents.

It will help you leverage technology to offer greater flexibility, personalisation, and convenience to students and parents. Digital transformation is essential for the smooth functioning of schools in the new normal. It provides opportunities for teachers to complement the traditional learning methods with modern techniques, enabling effective teaching even from a distance.

There are multiple ways in which you can achieve digital transformation in education. But remember that it's not about merely adopting technology. It's about improving workflows and processes by making them more efficient, productive, economical and safer.

It is about delivering positive change through its use that has an impact on many lives beyond the boundaries of the classroom.??

Caspian Digital Solutions provides services tailored to achieve your digital objectives. With expertise in various aspects of digital solutions,? we recognise that each client is unique and offer bespoke services aimed at meeting specific goals. Contact us to know more about what we can do for you. We would love to hear from you and assist you in every way we can.