TEACHING WITH TECH: THE DIGITALISATION OF SCHOOLS

TEACHING WITH TECH: THE DIGITALISATION OF SCHOOLS

When the pandemic first hit, it turned businesses all around the world into a massive Work-From-Home (WFH) workforce, the impact was felt in each and every sector.

Educators and students were equally impacted. A 2020 UNESCO report revealed that more than 1.2 billion children in 186 countries were affected by school closures due to the pandemic.

Many education learning institutions were far from ready for the shift, but the ones that had already kickstarted their digitalisation journey before the pandemic hit could easily adapt and scale – minimising disruptions amongst educators and students.

Learning institutions are beginning to be aware and accept that the new normal of oscillating between home-based and in-person learning will be here for a while, thus bringing forward plans to innovate with new tools and technologies. In this article, we’ll look at some of them and how they are being utilised to enhance the teaching and learning experience.

END-TO-END TECHNOLOGY IN EDUCATION

What’s one thing that University College School (London, England), Dawson County Schools (Georgia, US), Trevecca Nazarene University (Tennessee, US), and Ascham Schools (NSW, Australia) have in common? They each have adopted various end-to-end technology solutions to help make networking more efficient, innovative, and safe for educators and students, whether on- or off-campus.

Apart from networking solutions, there are many other different tools and technologies being used by schools in their digitalisation efforts. Here are some of them, and how they can be used to make the education sector more efficient, inclusive, and innovative.

BLOCKCHAIN

Tracing academic transcripts, credentials, and journals can be labour-intensive as they must be manually verified to ensure accuracy. With blockchain technology, schools and universities can obtain and crosscheck these records and more with a few simple clicks.

AI

To help educators do their job and students get better access to education, AI can step in to help everyone do more than ever before. From automating mundane administrative jobs to adjusting lessons based on individual needs, from developing and testing skills to making global classrooms understandable to students of different languages…The possibilities are endless!

MACHINE LEARNING

Not all students can learn the same way, at the same speed. Machine learning makes it possible for educators to quickly spot students who cannot cope, thereby making it possible to create an individualised educational experience where these students can follow a pace that’s right for them.

CLOUD COMPUTING

Students were once confined to textbooks and the four walls of their classrooms. Now, they can reach out to their phones and laptops as they are connected to the school, even if they’re miles apart. Cloud computing lets educators shift their physical resources to virtual ones, and at the same time helping students get exposed to technology skills that are needed in the real world.

EXTENDED REALITY

Also called ‘XR’ for short, this includes augmented reality, virtual reality, and mixed reality, all of which uses technology to build an immersive digital experience for all. Teaching doesn’t have to be boring, as concepts – such as what’s in a volcano or how a rainbow is made – can appear right in front of students, making it easier to understand and follow their lessons.

GAMIFICATION

Learning is fun, but let’s face it – it can be pretty boring at times! With exciting gamification mechanics such as levelling up and winning virtual points, the toughest lessons become a little less mundane and a lot livelier, as it incentivises and motivates students to be more engaged with the subject.

SMARTER DEVICES

For students and teachers to even begin using these innovative tools and technologies, they must first have smarter devices – such as laptops – that support these digitisation initiatives.

EFFECTIVE DIGITALISATION BEGINS WITH SMARTER DEVICES

While learning institutions can enjoy great benefits from the many advanced tools and technologies out there, it’s important to first have the right IT assets to support them.

IT assets should be updated constantly, and devices should come with the necessary hardware and software features to allow applications to run seamlessly. Thankfully, an IT refresh doesn’t have to burn a hole in your coffers. Through a leasing model, schools and campuses can get new andup to-date modern devices with proper and consistent maintenance at an affordable lease.

To know more about how you can kickstart your digitalisation journey with the right IT assets and leasing solutions, contact us today.

WFH IN 2022: WHAT’S NEW & WHAT’S OBSOLETE

WFH IN 2022: WHAT’S NEW & WHAT’S OBSOLETE

When the pandemic first hit, countries went into lockdown and businesses were forced to transform their workforce into one that would operate digitally and from the safety of their homes.

In EY’s COVID-19: Business Impact survey in 2020, it found that the Malaysian workforce had to adapt despite facing connectivity, tools and HR policy challenges.

Over two-thirds of companies (69%) in the survey faced disruptions in one form or another. Many of us assumed that 2021 would see the pandemic de-escalate as we revert to normalcy. However, as we make our way to 2022, it’s clear that Work-from-home, or commonly known as “WFH”, is here to stay.

With a WFH arrangement being more popular, it only increases the need for better and faster technology to ensure optimum productivity. Companies that made the necessary changes at the start of the pandemic could easily adapt and resume.

Employees and employers are beginning to see that WFH can give a renewed take on professional and personal development, while discarding unnecessary stress such as the daily commute to work.

WHAT WFH IN 2020/2021 LOOKED LIKE

As we make our way to 2022, we can now look back at the past two years to review some of the things we’re able to leave behind to work better and more efficiently. For a start, we have dropped traditional face-to-face communication as we can now jump onto Zoom calls as if it is our second nature.

While some still struggle, we’re generally less reliant on pre-COVID or legacy processes and tools as we adapt to newer and more innovative ways to collaborate despite working apart.

These two years saw a decline in sales and pitch meetings as potential leads held out for pre-COVID normality. There have also been fewer company town halls, events, and promotions.

On top of that, businesses saw a shift from heavily centralised to a distributed workforce. As teams tried to navigate through these unchartered waters, many internal meetings were also conducted as employees were constantly touching base on statuses and collaboration updates. Along with this, teams struggled to work with on-site asset management as they were all located miles apart.

OUR 2022 WFH PREDICTIONS

We’re optimistic that 2022 will see vast improvements to the current working experience. With herd immunity hopefully being established by then, we can look forward to an increase in sales or pitch meetings as leads get more comfortable and forecasting becomes easier to project. To that, we’ll see an uptick on sales, marketing, and promotional activities.

With an even more decentralised workforce, we’ll likely still see more virtual gatherings happening as teams continue bonding while working apart. On the operational end, by 2022 we’ll have more streamlined processes and events, therein creating the need for fewer internal meetings.

As new processes and tools no longer “feel” new, there will be scaled-up implementation of cloud-based platforms. In turn, this will create better and more optimised office and hybrid workplace asset management too.

As we progress further, we also foresee more wholesome workspaces as companies begin to empower their employees and provide a more inclusive and diverse workforce. With this also comes more flexible work hours as employees can better balance work and life. With an even more digitised workplace, it’s important for employers to ramp up their cybersecurity to defend and to detect and protect against imminent cyber threats.

We predict an uptick in better cameras and even more creative virtual backgrounds, as both employers and employees enhance their virtual working experience.

OUR 2022 WFH PREDICTIONS

There are many things to learn from this, but the three main insights are:

1. WFH is the new normal, and it’s unlikely for businesses to revert to their old ways of working solely from the office. Since we’re in this for the long haul, make relevant adjustments in every aspect, ranging from technology to HR, work operations to culture.

2. The right technology investments will let your businesses continue and thrive. Therefore, it’s more important now than ever to update your technology. Run a spring-cleaning session, get rid of technical baggage to modernise and stay competitive in your industry. Invest in technology that can help propel your business, and at the same time, refresh your team’s devices and IT infrastructure to drive productivity.

3. Don’t forget to lock the doors. As you make the shift towards an even more digital future, it’s equally important to be wary of looming cyber threats. Be sure to secure your network at every phase and across all IT assets. When it comes to network security, there is no such thing as being too safe.

If you’d like to know more about how you can digitise or mobilise your devices easily and safely, feel free to talk to us for more information.

A New Digitalised Customer On-boarding Experience

A New Digitalised Customer On-boarding Experience

Setting another key milestone in its growth trajectory, Rentalworks is pleased to announce its adoption of a fully digitalised customer end-to-end on-boarding process as a measure to enhance the overall customer experience.

“Simplicity, convenience and security are our top priorities, and we want our customers to benefit from a hassle-free on-boarding process. Where traditional practises in the IT asset leasing industry is reliant upon the submission of physical documentation, execution of wet signature and in-person verification, we have now digitalised these processes to enable a seamless customer experience” said Alan Puah, Managing Director of Rentalworks Group.

Customer On-Boarding via Trust Technology

Paper trails will be a thing in the past with Rentalworks’ digitalised on-boarding process. Our customers will now receive digital forms and agreements, for completion.

Documents and agreements will be digitally signed with auditable and verifiable trail and automatically transmitted back to Rentalworks for processing upon completion.

“Our customers will experience hassle-free and faster turn-around time”

Rentalworks digitalised on-boarding workflow will see customers benefiting from:

  • Online form completion hence eliminating the cumbersome tasks of printing and scanning completed forms.
  • No paper trails. With Rentalworks digitalised on-boarding process our customers can now store all documents and forms related to their lease arrangements with Rentalworks in their storage servers ensuring proper audit trails, quick and easy access of the documents.
  • Faster turn-around time. We understand that time is of essence to many of our customers. With its end-to-end digitalised process, there’s no longer a dependency on timely delivery of hardcopies to Rentalworks. All digital documents will be delivered to Rentalworks in real-time for its processing.

A digitalised environment supports our pledge in reducing carbon footprint

Our new straight-through digitalised on-boarding platform, in addition to being a boon to our customers’ journey with us, is a major leap for Rentalworks in its initiatives to propel into a paperless environment and support a sustainable green economy.

“It is our vision to create an impact where we help organizations and governments reduce their carbon emission from IT assets to net zero via a circular economy approach”, iterated Alan. The digitisation of the on-boarding platform will markedly improve productivity, security, and extensively reduce the number of paper trails, preserving our natural resources.

It is the aim of Rentalworks leasing and IT asset lifecycle solutions to support organizations’ sustainability goals. It allows our clients to have access to IT devices needed to run their business and take responsibility in extending its usable life. In doing so, optimizing the economic value of the devices and minimizing unnecessary e-waste.

Advantages of Digitalisation in Schools

Digitalisation in schools have been pushed forward when Covid-19 struck. Teachers and students had to pivot to home-based learning overnight and schools had to scale-up the digital equity amongst students to ensure no one is left out.

The future of learning in a digitally integrated ecosystem is not so distant anymore. The rapid rate and pace with which the education system has been disrupted by the pandemic and advancements in new digital technologies and Information Communications Technology (ICT) provide all the more compelling reasons for schools to carefully consider the role of technology on the systems, culture and pedagogy of education.

Failure to do so may culminate in a lost generation struggling to adapt to a new normal and lacking the right skill sets required for the 21st century.

Digital transformation in schools will have many advantages such as:-

IMPROVED PRODUCTIVITY

Students can have access to learning resources in an easier and less expensive way. Thanks to digital transformation, students can access many different contents at school, at home, wherever they are and regardless of their economic status.

There is no need to visit the library or decide which book to buy from amongst the long lists suggested by schools or shared by teachers. In the same vein teachers too will be able to access students’ homework and coursework submissions real-time online. Edits, commentaries can be viewed by students for reviews and improvements.

Tedious loads on teachers in reviewing homework or course-works on hardcopies and handing them back in-person to students will be a thing in the past.

BETTER COLLABORATION & ENGAGEMENTS

Digital platforms allow teachers and students to collaborate remotely from anywhere, anytime – this entails sharing of views, data and research papers. Project groups can organise virtual discussions or meetings without the need for in-person meetings or to await for availability of meeting rooms.

There are many collaborative and content sharing platforms which are accessible for use by schools for example Microsoft Teams or Zoom.

BROADENS CREATIVITY

Technologies such as augmented and virtual reality facilitate teaching. Educators get to engage students in ‘virtual show and tell’ presentations and similarly students in their presentations – showcasing their opinions and views. Digitalisation promotes a variety forms of expressions that utilise digital tools and platforms.

BRIDGING THE GAP

Promoting digital transformation process allows schools the use of artificial intelligence (AI) to personalise or customize students’ learning. With big data and data science, schools are able to suggest courses a student should pursue benched against examination scores, aptitude in addition to other metrics.

The opportunity to customize learning for each student makes education more productive: special needs can be quickly diagnosed and progress is accelerated.

Even as students and teachers return to school, Covid-19 has left an indelible mark on the future of education.

It is apparent that schools need to consider kick-starting digital transformation initiatives one way or the other.

One of the key success factors in ensuring optimal digital equity amongst students is to enable students with the right device and specifications – be it laptops or tablets. The right display size, microphone and camera capabilities in addition to durability are pivotal to ensure minimum disruptions.

Various adoption models which schools have and can deploy in ensuring students have compatible laptops or tablets; one of which is through a rental model, making it affordable for all students.