Education International
for monetisation and investment.119 In autumn 2020, Pearson launched its Pathways platform, a service allowing users to search for, compare, and receive personalised recommendations about online job-focused courses.120
8. Challenger universities and new PPPs Throughout the pandemic there has been a rise in advocacy for alternative providers of HE that aren’t in the form of traditional ‘outdated’ universities. For example, UK edtech investor, Emerge Education, has published a series of think pieces about how we might conceive ‘challenger universities’, or alternative providers.121 There is a sense across this series that HE is a landscape devoid of innovation, and that there is a pressing need for new entrants that can improve the student experience and offer better outcomes at scale. Part of this is about recognising the future student - largely as someone online or offshore that is attempting to balance study with work and/or family commitments. Also, it’s about understanding Gen Z, and tailoring learning in ways that will better engage them. According to Barosevcic who authors these think pieces, a challenger university should be distinguished from other educational offerings (like the Micrsosoft and Google Certifications above) by three key dimensions: 1) Length and depth: 1–4-year holistic learning journeys often equivalent to undergraduate/BA or postgraduate/MA degrees covering a depth of learning outcomes furthering both skills and knowledge. NOT short 3 to 12-month diploma/ vocational experiences that are primarily skills-focused. 2) Independence: organisations that drive innovation in house and have it at their core, and own each part of the value chain from student acquisition, delivery of teaching to student success, rather than relying on or being third parties such as online programme managers (OPMs) or massive open online courses (MOOCs). 3) Innovation: programmes that have distinguishable features across at least one of the following traits: student experience, student outcomes, programme scalability and target audience.122 119 Wan, T. 2019, 13 November. A $157M Fundraise for Guild Education Births Edtech’s Newest Unicorn. EdSurge: https://www. edsurge.com/news/2019-11-13-a-157m-fundraise-for-guild-education-births-edtech-s-newest-unicorn 120 Pearson Pathways: https://www.pearson.com/pathways 121 Barosevcic, M. 2020, 15 April. Challenger universities: the case for innovation. Medium: https://medium.com/emerge-edtechinsights/challenger-universities-pt-2c-the-case-for-innovation-d8d1867bb131 122 Barosevcic, M. 2020, 23 April. Challenger universities: the challenger university landscape. LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin. com/pulse/challenger-universities-pt-3a-university-landscape-mario-barosevcic
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