university
Social gaming on campus saves energy
Eneractivity has developed a social game for college students that schools can use to drive energy savings. Groups can compete against each other as they race around a virtual dorm room to turn off lights and adjust settings, destroy things, and get recharged by pizza. Based on the new energy consciousness the game imparts, Eneractivity estimates colleges with 5,000 students can save about $24,000 a year in energy costs — a 300% ROI. (Does anyone else think it’s ironic that you have to use electricity to play this game?)
Anyway, it sounds fun, so I got to thinking about what I would like to learn from the games I play. For instance, maybe Farmville could teach me how to conserve water and reduce my virtual methane production. And maybe Diner Dash(tm) could teach me how to say ‘no’ to that hamburger, fries and shake. Sweet Tooth 2, you could teach me how much I could save on the family’s dental bills every time I cleared the board of those yummy looking candy pieces. I wish you would.
Find out more about Eneractivity, their mission, and their new game at http://www.eneractivity.com/
Architects of Education 2.0
During a casual conversation today, I complimented a young marketer on her MBA from the University of Maryland. She went on to tell me that she never met any of her professors, never set foot on campus and never so much as shared a beer with a fellow student. She had completed her MBA from her home in Atlanta completely online.
While distance learning is not a new concept, this particular conversation begged the question about how far the Internet will take higher education. According to a recent Fast Company article entitled Who Needs Harvard?, American higher education is being transformed by the Internet at an accelerated pace.
Startups are poised to harness the exhaustive amount of open courseware, social media and video capability. Though, it’s still too early to tell whether the Internet will disrupt our college and university systems to the same degree it impacted the newspaper and music industry, exciting market forces are at work bridging the gap between free information and less expensive education.
It’s no surprise that venture capitalists have mobilized in support of for-profit online education, as well. Many attractive, innovative companies have solved the technology and knowledge-sharing challenges and are now working on establishing rules for accreditation and assessment. In the meantime, colleges and universities gain an opportunity to generate new revenue streams by considering to license content, which could point to a win win scenario.
If nothing else, we should probably all prepare for more complex answers when simply asking about someone’s college education.
Education innovation: a streamlined model led by Arizona
Three state universities in Arizona just might be onto something. The Arizona Board of Regents is reviewing their proposals to open satellite campuses and offer low cost degree programs. The institutions want to attract students who may not be able to afford to attend a large, four year university. The theory is that these students need an alternative to community colleges that don’t provide four-year degrees. Read more at abcnews.com, and then let us know what you think.
Free! Sampling in Educational Lead Generation
Suddenly, I’m seeing a lot more elasticity in offers; unfortunately as a response to the economy. ‘Free’ is a powerful word. Instead of the ubiquitous open-house, a prominent for-profit university is now offering a handful of free workshops on resume writing and popular software. At least three local community colleges are opening their doors to district residents who are out of work. They are offering free classes, filling vacant seats in programs with available capacity. It’s time to fully explore sampling beyond the campus tour, online demo, and brochure download. Sampling venues are a terrific opening to long term, profitable relationships. And in this increasingly commoditized sector, they provide a golden opportunity to differentiate.
Differentiation was not in the mail
My teenage son has been going through the process of choosing a college, and I have been keenly interested in the volumes of mail he’s received. (Anyone want a stack of over 300 college solicitations?) As I was purging last month’s mail last night, I pulled out two pieces — from a state university and a private college. I asked my son to tell me about what he thought about each school. He barely glanced at the mailers and said “I don’t know. They look about the same to me.” I asked him what kind of mail he would notice, and he said “Something more energetic. The pictures are boring.”
Now, I know that all that mail is meant to influence me as much as it is to increase his awareness. That well-written copy and sedate, collegiate-looking photography looked “right” to me. When I compared the two pieces, I have to admit that my take away was also that these two schools seemed about the same. But this morning I couldn’t tell you which two schools I was comparing last night. So they did a good job of “selling the category” but not differentiating themselves.
I know we were only a focus group of two, but there may be something in there to learn from.
