CourseLoop currently has three clients in the United Kingdom and some boots on the ground with our local team. But a couple of key higher education conferences – THE Digital Universities Week_UK and the UCISA22 Leadership Conference – and the desire to see clients face-to-face for the first time since COVID-19 began, were more than enough reasons to head over to the UK in March.
Higher Ed Conferences
THE Digital Universities Week_UK
The THE Digital Universities Week_UK conference in London focused on equipping attendees with “… the knowledge and skills for a digital-first future” (THE DUW, 2022). Topics covered ranged from the digital transformation over the next 10 years to using technology to build a sustainable model of higher education. It was truly a great way for us to meet like-minded people and discuss best practices. The team had a terrific time mixing with representatives from 100 different universities, listening to their stories of success and discussing ways to solve the current challenges they are experiencing.
UCISA22 Leadership Conference
The UCISA22 Leadership Conference, held in the industrial heritage city of Manchester, had the theme of ‘Digital Leadership in a Post-Pandemic World’ and gave attendees (350 delegates from over 150 Universities) insights on achieving true digital transformation and empowered them to overcome the digital challenges they face today. We were proud to be one of the suppliers forming one of the years’ largest face-to-face exhibitions for higher ed.
Both these conferences were the fruit of some very engaging discussions with staff from some very student focused institutions, which led to some great site visits where we had the opportunity to showcase the CourseLoop Platform.
“We were blown away with how engaged people were and how eager they were to discuss how it is possible to digitally transform their curriculum management system to drive student success. It is a testament to their commitment to their students.”
– Rob Bild, CourseLoop Managing Director and Head of Global Client Success
Client Care – Face-to-face
Next on the agenda for the CourseLoop UK Roadshow was the team's onsite visits with clients, including Liverpool John Moores University, University of Huddersfield, and Nottingham Trent University. Finally, after what felt like a lifetime on Zoom, thanks to COVID, we were able to enjoy connecting with our clients face-to-face. Spending quality time together to talk about our client's needs and how we can better our services to them is always incredibly valuable.
Rob Bild, CourseLoop Managing Director and Head of Global Client Success (left) and Peter Katis, CourseLoop Head of Professional Services (right) catch up with the Nottingham Trent University client team at the UCISA Leadership Conference.
Roadshow hot topics
Not only did the UK higher education crowd indulge a very excited CourseLoop team, but they provided us with some valuable insights regarding their curriculum management digitization journey so far. Several institutions who are amid their digital transformation asked us:
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How do we get our curriculum data all in one spot and then integrate it with our other systems?
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Does a curriculum management solution that meets our needs already exist, or should we build one from scratch?
Want data integrity? Want deep integrative capability? Start with the data model.
Curriculum data is at the core of any higher ed. business. It is ever-changing and difficult to capture in a single, complete picture. Even when a complete picture is taken, if it is not structured right the use you get out of that data will be limited. If you want to capture, manage, and maintain comprehensive curriculum data in a way that lets you maximize its use, you will need a data model that is robust and flexible.
The data model is the scaffolding that allows you to capture and use your curriculum data. The flexibility and robustness of a data model determine the level of usage possible for a given data set and the surety of its integrity.
CourseLoop’s robust, flexible data model
CourseLoop’s data model is robust and flexible. We take your comprehensive curriculum data and decompose it into its component elements. Then we organize it into a highly structured system, so you can get the most use out of it and trust its integrity. With the CourseLoop data model you can:
- Capture detailed data about program plans, completion rules, outcomes-based learning, learning activities, assessments, accreditation requirements, and more, in one place.
- Seamlessly integrate with your SIS, LMS, & wider technology ecosystem.
- Get administrative control, user access and visibility, and powerful version management.
- Have confidence in your data integrity.
To build or not to build? – is there a SaaS solution that already meets our needs
When evaluating curriculum management solution options, typically institutions will evaluate building their own and scan the market for a SaaS or purchasable solution that meets their needs. It is essential to carefully consider each option on its merit to both meet your budget and give you the capability needed by your institution.
31% of 90 respondents from UK institutions in a UCISA survey reported having no curriculum management system and 25% reported using a bespoke/in-house system.
In the past, there were no solutions and institutions had to solve problems on their own. Well, this is no longer the case. Certainly, we have a solution for you. But let’s briefly compare an in-house solution with our SaaS solution, so you can make up your own mind.
If you want to develop an in-house software solution you will likely be solving from scratch. This means figuring out how to capture and structure your data, how to build capabilities like workflows, collaborative tools, curriculum mapping, and catalog publishing. Then you will need to work out how to integrate it with downstream systems, such as your SIS, and so forth.
Of course, being an institution of higher education you probably have staff with the talent to build such a solution. However, the ongoing operational costs for using and maintaining the system, and repeated capital expenditure every time new capability is added can put pressure on the budget. Further, if the system is not usable then it can result in wasted staff time and effort, perhaps even putting unreasonable pressure and reliance on the staff who maintain the system.
Alternatively, our tried and tested SaaS solution is comprehensive and purpose-designed, capable of giving your institution immediate and ongoing benefits. The CourseLoop Platform gives you end-to-end curriculum management capability with a clean user interface that frees up staff time so they can spend it on things like perfecting the curriculum for student satisfaction and success.
By taking on our SaaS solution you could benefit from:
- Removed need to develop your own software.
- Eliminated development costs.
- Known and lower ongoing costs.
- Faster implementation at a reduced cost.
- Greater functionality (e.g. curriculum mapping and publishing).
- Greater UX (e.g. User Dashboard and accessible design).
- Immediate benefits (e.g. a single source of truth for your data and greater access to curriculum information for staff).
The CourseLoop team will be back in the UK in June.
Get in touch to find out how we can help you.