Empowering the future of learning: Building platforms for education growth and engagement

No time to read? Snack on these:

• Education institutions face challenges across admin, disconnected systems and manual processes. 

• Microsoft’s Dynamics 365 tracks students from first enquiry to graduation, offering real-time insights into their progress. 

• The University of Venda pioneered facial recognition in Africa, managing 16,000 students’ daily campus access. 

• After going digital, the university saw security incidents plummet to zero whilst better identifying at-risk students. 

• Mint Group collaborates with education institutions to redesign legacy systems with technology that makes a difference. 

Meeting student needs is challenging, particularly in the South African context. Education institutions are juggling increasingly complex administrative burdens – a load that takes up a significant percentage of educator time. Teachers struggle with endless spreadsheets; it’s challenging to track engagement across multiple platforms – especially in areas where access to technology is limited – and student support teams work with fragmented information to identify those at risk of falling behind. These disconnected systems and manual processes create barriers between students and their potential and inhibit the true depth of teaching that educators and institutions can provide. 

The challenge facing most education institutions is to create an environment where every student has every opportunity to thrive and yet many find themselves caught in inefficient processes, siloed information, and increasingly complex administrative requirements. Staff spend hours on tasks that could be spent on teaching, mentoring and supporting students.  

Shifting the narrative: Empowered by technology 

There are technology solutions on the market designed to simplify and streamline education institution systems and processes. However, what’s needed is a more comprehensive approach that changes how institutions operate and approach their data and admin. Connecting student data, administrative processes and engagement tracking into a unified system would allow for an education institution to move away from the traditional constraints that come with paperwork in triplicate and outdated systems. 

Microsoft Dynamics 365 offers the education sector an ecosystem designed to meet its unique needs within a framework that has a low barrier to entry and an accessible interface. The platform allows for educators to gain a complete view of each student’s journey, from their first enquiry though to graduation. Educators can access real-time information about student progress and attendance and can use these insights to provide students with support when they need it.  

The platform also offers institutions the ability to: 

• Streamline admin. Microsoft Dynamics 365 will reduce the admin burden by automating routine tasks such as student enrolment and registration processing; course scheduling and timetable management; assignment tracking and results recording; student and parent communication and collaboration; and allocating resources. 

• Enhanced student engagement. Integration with Microsoft Teams make it easy to create a learning environment that offers students the ability to quickly and easily access course materials and resources; participate in virtual classrooms; submit assignments and receive feedback; collaborate with other students on group projects; and schedule sessions with tutors. The platform can also benefit from being integrated with Microsoft Power Platform which allows institutions to create custom applications and workflows that suit their unique requirements. 

• Data-driven decision-making. Dynamics 365 offers an impressive range of analytics tools that help institutions make informed decisions about their programs. Using the platform, educators can track student performance trends; identify students who are at risk early on; measure the effectiveness of different teaching methods; monitor resource usage; and assess each program’s overall success and student engagement. 

A Proven Solution: The University of Venda turns to digital  

The University of Venda (Univen) was dealing with a number of challenges. It needed a solution that would allow it to better manage access control for 16,000 students every day, track classroom attendance, monitor student performance, provide content on demand online, access data to guide students, and ensure campus security. The university collaborated with Mint Group to implement an integrated technology solution that was the first of its kind on the African continent. 

Combining the Mint Vision Application with local talent and Microsoft technologies, Mint developed a pilot to address the challenges felt by the university. The results were impressive: 

• Security incidences dropped down to 0% 

• Improved staff allocations 

• Data-driven insights to detect dropouts and build future roadmap strategies 

• Enabled facial recognition and access control for 16,000 students daily 

The university’s success story showcases how modern technology can transform education, improving efficiencies while supporting the goals of the institution and its students. Mint partners with education institutions, communities and technology providers to create relevant solutions with lasting impact, and it’s as easy as getting in touch.