Innovation in Education

Innovations in Technology can Help Prospective Students Attend the Right School

The Harvard business article "The Social Network - College Edition" by Tom Dretler, addresses the fact that one out of three college students will transfer at some point in their college career. Tom explains that universities and colleges in the U.S. need to to use technology to give perceptive students an accurate feel and description of what they can expect from the school, and the area around the school. Tom explains the disconnect between what the potential student think the college or university is like, and what it is actually is like. He explains that M.I.T. and Boston University are being proactive in providing blogs written by students you can view, and games you can play to get a better feel of the school and its surroundings.

Boston University has an array of student and faculty videos for prospective students.

Boston university has informed videos on their site, where you can see Boston University students unbiased opinion about their school. They also have all kinds of videos of students, professors, and alumni talking about athletics, faculty, internships, dining, housing, and many other aspects of the school. They even provide current students typical weekly schedule. Boston university site is different from other universities admission sites, because it is so interactive. The site does not just provide statics or facts about the school. They go in depth about the city life in Boston, and the student life at the school. They do not just talk about the general features, for example, the video below is of BU students, giving tips and opinions on fashion at BU.

Check the Boston University admissions site for yourself 

http://www.bu.edu/admissions/you-at-bu/

Massachusetts Institute of Technology has student and faculty write blogs, about what ever is on their minds. 

M.I.T. is also a step ahead of other schools in my opinion; in helping potential students out if their school is right for them. Similarly to Boston Universities student interaction videos, M.I.T. also has this but in blog form. But rather than talking about one specific thing about the school,  M.I.T. students and faculty are paid to talk about anything they want. Students and faculty blog about anything, from eating to much nutella to how they spend their friday nights. I find this blog very innovative, because students faculty are able to write about anything they would like. Unlike other schools where students will only talk about the school itself, and its surroundings, when students and faculty are able to write freely you get their unbiased opinion. Also you hear about things that you would not be able to hear about on a tour, or just through looking at videos or information about the school. For example one student blogged about how a lot of students enjoy this new song called gangnam style, and students all over campus are starting to dance to it.

Check out M.I.T.'s student written blogs
http://mitadmissions.org/blogs

Overall both of these schools have been and need to be very innovative in providing a sense of the atmosphere at and around the school. Because both of these well known schools attract students from all over the world, and some are unable to tour the school in person.


Pick your location wisely.

Picking the right college is debatable the most important decision in your life. Not only will you be attending the college for four years, but there is a good chance you will be starting a family and spending the rest of your live in the same general area where your college is located.

On sites like college board, for example you can view general information about the school like, the size of the school,  the majors,  the location, the tuition, required GPA and standard testing scores, tuition etc. Depending on your GPA and standardize testing scores, you will have choose of location, do you want to be close to home, or do you want to travel.  If you want to attend college far away it might be hard to visit the college, depending on your circumstances.

This is where potential students need to relay on the internet to get all their information about a school they can no visit in person. school, but the problem is so many kids are transferring, and their exceptions of the school are different from what the school is really like. This article explains that there should be more innovations online, giving more details about the school and the area the school is in. I agree with this author, that there should be more resources available online to give you more of an in depth feel of how the college really is. Especially for well known schools that have kid traveling from all around the world to go to schools like Harvard, Boston University, Stanford and Texas University, just to name a few. I think in the near future people will start to attempt  to make websites similar to college board, but more interactive with the current students and faculty at the school talking to the prospective students more directly through video chat. As oppose to just viewing pre made video tours about the college.

Below is a video by Boston University, about freshman just arriving at the BU.

Clark University

I am currently attending Clark university in Worcester Massachusetts. Because I only live a hour away from Clark I was able to visit the school multiple times. I knew just about everything I needed to know about the school, but the main concern I had with the school was if I was going to get along with the students there, which I think a lot of people are concerned with. You can visit the school and take a tour a see the kids in the school, but except doing that there is not really anyway you can tell if you will get along with the kids there. Clark is such a well known school people travel all around the world to attend, in fact fifteen percent of the students here are international. This makes it hard for students to visit from far away places, so they need to relay on resources online to learn more about the school. Clark university has many videos online of students explaining what the school is like, but the problem is a kid from Texas but be giving his opinion of this school, and his opinion might be different from a kid from Chinas prospective of the school.

Improving Clark Universities admissions site, by matching current students with prospective students based on their hometowns. 

One thing I would do to improve Clarks admission site is connect current students and prospective students based on where they lived for the majority of their life. For example, if a prospective student is thinking about attending Clark form California, then they will connect with a current student at Clark that is originally from California. This way they can share their similar experiences, and the current student can tell the prospective student what the differences and similarities between Massachusetts and California. They can talk about weather, the type of people in both places, overall atmosphere of the state, and many other things. I would suggest they can chat by video, or online chatting. Since commutation through online video is becoming more popular, I would suggest having multiple prospective students all video chat with the current student at Clark at the same time. I would also connect potential transfer students to Clark and students who are currently at Clark that transfered there. Overall I would connect more current students with prospective students through live communication.


Clark Universities admissions site
http://www.clarku.edu/admissions.cfm

Link to the article I am referring to- "The Social Network - College Edition" by Tom Dretler
http://blogs.hbr.org/innovations-in-education/2011/03/the-social-network-college-edi.html