CEO Keys

CEO Keys - 2024 Predictions

ashley.mcguire1 — Wed, 13 Dec 2023 14:20:59 +0000

CEO Keys - 2024 Predictions

ashley.mcguire1 Wed, 12/13/2023 - 07:20

Over the past year, we have collectively sought to establish a new sense of normalcy following three years marked by the challenges of COVID and its aftermath. While the enduring impacts of the pandemic, such as hybrid work and schooling, persist, we are starting to find our working norms. 

Well, that was until new Generative Artificial Intelligence technologies (AI) entered our world and are now accessible at our fingertips. You cannot go to a conference, hear a lecture, or see an advertisement without the word AI. In the realm of Higher Education, questions arise about the implications for learning, innovative teaching methods, issues like plagiarism, and the overarching influence on future careers.

Higher education finds itself amid yet another upheaval, navigating the uncertainties of a future where relevance to the evolving job landscape is paramount. Although it has long been acknowledged that university curricula may become outdated by the time a student graduates, the unprecedented pace of technological change in our current era adds a new dimension to this challenge.

Here are my 2024 predictions for the education industry: 

1. Teaching with technology

As technology platforms, virtual reality, simulation, and AI continue to advance, educators must grasp how to incorporate these innovations into the learning process. Universities will embrace the potential of these technologies and ensure that students are equipped with the necessary knowledge to seamlessly transition into the workforce. Practical applications, such as virtual care, which involves the integration of telehealth and advanced monitoring equipment, are currently under development and actively being implemented. It is essential to adequately prepare graduates to thrive in these evolving environments.

2. Bridging the gap to job readiness

There has been a persistent trend indicating that the skills possessed by students upon graduation often do not align with the immediate requirements of employers and the transition period to attain job readiness can extend from months to years of in-house training. To address this challenge, universities will be focusing more on job preparedness assessments, enabling a comprehensive understanding of the skills students bring from their academic journey and those required for immediate on-the-job readiness.

While workplaces typically resolve this issue, universities will play a role by providing targeted, brief skill gap courses either before or immediately after graduation. While the short course market has expanded, there is a call for universities to offer more skill courses explicitly designed to bridge the identified gaps, guided by thorough skill assessments of their graduates.

As it relates to healthcare the stakes are even higher in job readiness (or bedside readiness). These graduates deal with human life and not being bedside ready can be the difference between life and death. Today, bedside readiness rests on the hospital or healthcare affiliates. We need to quantify better what skills and competencies are needed for the healthcare sector and see how these key elements are developed and assessed in clinical/field placements during the programs so that universities are part of the solution in preparing graduates with job readiness. 

3. Online - hybrid formats

I addressed this trend in last year's predictions, but I'd like to delve deeper into it. The trajectory of highly intricate programs, especially in healthcare, will continue to transition towards more online or hybrid formats. Fields in this trajectory include Occupational Therapy, Speech-Language Pathology (SLP), Mental Health, Pre, and Post Licensure Nursing, and growing Social Services programs (e.g., social work, counseling, psychology). In addition, Doctoral programs such as EdD, Pharmacy (PharmD), Nurse Practitioner (DNP), and Juris Doctorate (JD) will continue to expand more to hybrid and online. 

In addition to these complex degree programs offering fully virtual and hybrid options, we will see more traditional online programs move from 100% to hybrid formats. MBA and STEM education programs will connect their campuses to differentiate in a crowded market. 100% online programs in these verticals are becoming increasingly regional and universities will use the ability to connect on campus to network and connect with university services and faculty to be differentiated. This is not to say 100% online will decline but we will see education continue to cater to students who want a more combined online and on-campus experience. 

At Keypath we are dedicated to transforming education - to transform the world. Partnering with universities across the globe, we are working to help close the gap on major skills shortages that have a significant social and economic impact. 

To partner with Keypath in 2024 and beyond, contact our team here.

To become a Keypather and make an impact every day, look at our career opportunities here. 

Be safe and be well. 

Steve Fireng

Global CEO 

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CEO Keys - 2023 Predictions

ashley.mcguire1 — Mon, 12 Dec 2022 17:25:30 +0000

CEO Keys - 2023 Predictions

ashley.mcguire1 Mon, 12/12/2022 - 10:25

Since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in early 2020, institutions of higher education around the world have shifted from hurried, emergency remote teaching to longer-term thinking and strategies around the role of online education for them, their employees, and their students.

Universities and higher education institutions have pondered countless questions including:

What is next now that the pandemic has been stabilized and an end could be in sight?
Have student behaviors changed over the past 3 years? And if so, how and are these changes permanent or transitory?
Should we implement a permanent work-from-anywhere policy for our employees, require employees to return to the office, or offer a hybrid approach?
What degrees, and in which fields, should we be focused on?

While preparing for a sustainable future, university administrative and academic leaders need to address these and other pressing questions while managing resources, costs, and budget challenges.

Universities are faced with making strategic choices on where they should be investing, where they need to partner with third-party subject matter experts to support these investments, and which initiatives they may need to stop or delay.

While there are many trends within higher education, for my 2023 predictions I’m focusing my ‘top 3’ on the healthcare field.

1. Telemedicine

The remote diagnosis and treatment of patients by means of telecommunications technology is here to stay – and advancements in this area are happening rapidly.

According to a report from the Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in October 2022, 37% of adults in the United States used telemedicine in the past 12 months.
The Australian Department of Health and Aged Care reported that over 100 million telehealth services were delivered to approximately 17 million Australians between March 2020 and March 2022.

More and more students in the healthcare field are learning via sophisticated remote technologies employed by universities and their partners.

The pandemic has also provided opportunities for great innovation, and educators have had to be agile and inventive in different placement models – including virtual placements that leverage telehealth to meet the demands of clinical education. AI and machine learning are also playing expanded roles in healthcare on the research and patient care sides.

Universities are going to have to account for this sea change and adapt their programming accordingly.

2. Education to Employment

Hospital and healthcare affiliates must develop additional “education to employment” pathways to recruit, educate, employ, or retain practice-ready professionals.

There have always been working relationships between universities (that educate current and future healthcare professionals) and the healthcare industry at large (that provide clinical experiences to these students). While these relationships provide mutual benefits, they are often more tactical than they are strategic, and there are meaningful gaps – that are especially acute in rural or disadvantaged areas.

Creating stronger, more strategic partnerships and program designs to facilitate practice-ready students will help bridge the gap with healthcare professional employee shortages. Both universities and hospitals, working together, have an immense responsibility to provide better care.

3. Online-Hybrid Formats

Emerging, complex degree programs in the healthcare field will transition more quickly to an online-hybrid format. These complex degree programs will be in fields such as Occupational Therapy, Pharmacy (PharmD), Speech Pathology, Mental Health, Pre-Licensure Nursing, and growing Social Services programs (e.g., social work, counseling, psychology).

One of the outcomes of everything ‘going online’ during the pandemic is that we had to figure out how to make programs previously not deemed appropriate for an online format work. As the saying goes, “necessity is the mother of invention.”

The need to move to an online format during the pandemic opened people’s eyes to the fact that these complex programs (or substantial portions of them) can indeed be delivered in an online-hybrid format without sacrificing quality learning and outcomes.

As I said at the start, given the criticality of healthcare education (particularly in a post-pandemic world) I’ve opted to stay in that lane for my 2023 predictions.

But there are many other exciting trends in higher education to watch – including stackable credentials, degree alternatives, globalizing online learning, and learning technology (with Metaverse and AI helping the overall student experience).

At Keypath we are dedicated to transforming education - to transform the world. Partnering with universities across the globe, we are working to help close the gap on major skills shortages that have a significant social and economic impact.

To become a Keypather and make an impact every day, look at our career opportunities here.

Be safe and be well.

Steve Fireng, Global CEO

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CEO Keys - 2022 Predictions

Keypath Education US — Mon, 13 Dec 2021 19:54:41 +0000

CEO Keys - 2022 Predictions Keypath Education US Mon, 12/13/2021 - 12:54

The transformation of higher education across the globe has continued in 2021.

While many universities are re-opening their doors to on-campus students, I believe the way we deliver education has fundamentally changed as universities work out how to meet the flexible, digital learning experiences many students now expect.

As always, future forecasting is a roll of the dice. Let’s look back at my predictions for 2021 and what happened, and then ahead for 2022.

Here’s a recap of my 2021 predictions:

1. Nursing programs will continue to be among the fastest-growing programs – both qualifying programs like the ABSN, and programs that help already qualified nurses to upskill and specialize – as the demand for general registered nurses, and nurses with specialized skills will grow at unprecedented rates. Before Covid-19, the World Health Organization estimated that we will need an additional 9 million nurses worldwide by 2030 to meet the Sustainable Development Goal 3 on Health and Well-being.

There is no profession that has been impacted as greatly as nursing during the pandemic. Our need for nurses has only increased in 2021 and while many nursing programs have expanded their capacity and numbers of students, the shortage continues. According to a recent article on AP News (many hospitals, especially rural and smaller ones, are running approximately five fewer nurses than is optimal. With increasing retirements and nursing burnout, the need for new nurses is still an acute issue globally.

2. We will see an increased demand for programs delivering the skills and knowledge to work in mental health services. Across social work, counselling, psychology, and mental health nursing programs, 2020 has only increased the already under-supplied demand for qualified practitioners and services in these areas.

Programs that deal with mental health continue to grow substantially to fill an ever-increasing need – including programs such as social work, counselling, and mental health nursing. The global pandemic has decreased our collective mental health with a recent study finding 53% of people are negatively impacted due to worry and stress over the coronavirus. Keypath has seen demand for programs that deal with mental health increase in 2021. But, because these programs are typically 2-3 years in length the lag between interest and more qualified graduates entering the profession will take several years to resolve.

3. The need for speed and digital will be prioritized. With unemployment in the U.S almost double today compared to February, and still requiring improvement in economies like Australia where they have returned to a COVID-normal state, the drive for re-skilling is paramount to economic recovery. The World Economic Forum called for a "re-skilling revolution” back in Jan 2020. Covid-19 has only increased the need for the global workforce to be re-skilled quickly via access to a wide range of high-quality, university-accredited programs that deliver on the needs of the future of work.

We have seen many education companies (including Keypath) see increases in up-skilling or re-skilling on-demand courses. Even though many industries have bounced back we still see a shortage in labor within STEM fields. The question longer term will be, can “short” courses give enough skill-based learning to re-skill longer term? I believe students value the choice of obtaining shorter-term skills, but unlike full degrees, these skills are short-lived and must be continually upgraded to keep pace and advance.

Looking forward to 2022, we can expect Covid-19 to be part of our lives and our education choices well into next year.

Here are my three predictions for 2022

1. The acceleration of healthcare-related programs that lead to professional licensure will continue to expand to more online/hybrid formats. Because most universities had to “figure out” these complex programs during the pandemic, the acceleration of acceptance of digital within these programs will increase.

2. With the ever-increasing demand for online courses and programs, investment in course development and improving the student online experience will increase. Most universities had to just get the program online so students did not have to stop their education. As a result, the investment in online courses needs considerable attention so that the experience with online continues to be positive long-term.

3. We still have millions of students globally who have some college and no degree. There will be an increase within universities offering more 100% online options at the undergrad level. These courses could be bundled as a certificate or stacked into a full degree. As we know, online education has increased largely at the postgraduate level. Higher education will continue to work on solving this very large opportunity within undergraduate programs.

At Keypath, we’re dedicated to transforming education to transform the world. Working with universities across the globe, together we’re helping to close the gap on major skills shortages that have a large social and economic impact.

To partner with Keypath in 2022 and beyond, reach out to our team here.

To become a Keypather, and make an impact every day, take a look at our career opportunities here.

Be safe and be well

Steve Fireng, Global CEO

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Keypath Education US

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