SAN MATEO, Calif. – March 9, 2022 – Engageli, a purpose-built comprehensive learning environment designed by educators to foster active, collaborative learning, and deeper peer-to-peer connections, shared key insights from its recent Engage 2022 virtual event, themed, “Driving the Evolution of a Flexible and Inclusive Learning Environment.”
Held on the Engageli platform, the summit’s sessions explored post-pandemic pedagogies, global business education, data-driven course design, and virtual STEM environments. The event also included a fireside chat with Engageli co-founder Daphne Koller; computer scientist, former Stanford University professor, and co-founder of digital education front-runner Coursera; on the need for tech and data in the classroom. Sessions were designed to foster active discussion and dialogue among attendees and speakers, exemplifying the rich engagement that is available to learners on the Engageli platform.
“We are thrilled with the response to Engage 2022. The focus of the event was on flexibility, inclusivity, and engagement, which are key issues for faculty around the world and important considerations as innovators select the classrooms of the future,” said Dan Avida, Engageli Co-Founder and CEO. “Colleges and universities are recognizing that virtual learning is here to stay and requires a modern, purpose-built approach to include in-person, virtual, and hybrid learning in a data-driven manner which enhances the experience for all.”
Coinciding with the launch of 2.0 of the Engageli platform, Engage 2022 brought together more than 400 attendees from more than 200 institutions in 30 countries, including Arizona State University; Coventry University; EDHEC Business School; ESMT Berlin, Gies College of Business, University of Illinois; African Institute for Mathematical Sciences; Imperial College London Business School; Northeastern University; Rice University; State University of New York; Technion – Israel Institute of Technology; Universidad Carlos III de Madrid; University of Illinois; University of Maryland; University of Michigan; University of Toronto; Vassar College; and the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania among others.
Feedback was overwhelmingly positive, as attendees showed their excitement about using technology to build community and a sense of belonging among learners, and their appreciation for the thoughtful tools embedded in Engageli that allow for greater connection both in real life and online settings.
There were four prevailing takeaways from the summit, which will be explored by the Engageli Advisory Boards and Engageli Research Community, new entities announced at the event.
Increasing student success requires greater flexibility on all levels: from institutional strategy to classroom access.
During the “Don’t Look Back: Learnings from Pandemic Pedagogies” session, Ian Dunn, Provost of Coventry University said, "I believe very much that we can liberate education to be available and much more accessible. ... what I'm talking about is a future where we experiment using technology for educational purposes, we experiment with focus, and we make sure that it's accessible and truly available to our students wherever they may be in the world."
In the same session, Maria Anguiano, EVP Learning Enterprise at Arizona State University added, "I think what technology can do is allow us to be more flexible in how we meet learner needs to make them more successful. As an example, we have a program at ASU called ASU local, which brings ASU degree programs to local communities where our students are rooted… I was listening to one of our first students give a speech, and she said, ‘I have everything I need in my community, my family. I don't want to leave. Why do I have to leave to get an education?’ The fact that ASU provided her an opportunity to stay where she was rooted, where she wanted to live her life, and still be able to attend a four-year research university, that's the type of flexibility that I think technology can enable."
Technology offers opportunities to transform learning and teaching. Academic institutions have a responsibility to seize them.
In the session “Teaching with Technology: How Connections and Community Can Enhance Business Education Globally,” Don Huesman, Ed. D. of The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania said “As an educator, we must recognize how much technology has changed the way individuals are learning and be quicker to adapt. That is the big challenge and long-term worry for the future—that schools drive change. We must keep adapting and bringing innovative solutions into the academic environment.”
The digital classroom makes education more accessible to broader audiences and provides the pedagogical tools for all to be included.
During “Data-Driven Planning: Active Course Design for Intentional Online Education,” Alexandra Pickett of the State University of New York noted, “When you’re thinking about being learner-centered, it’s not about your passion as an educator, but about catalyzing that passion in your students, and allowing them to engage and actively interact with your course topics and themes so they can learn things themselves.”
During “Don’t Look Back: Learnings from Pandemic Pedagogies,” Carlos Delgado Kloos, Ph.D., of Universidad Carlos III de Madrid said, “I think the rich combination of the physical, in-person meeting with virtual content, or virtual persons across spaces, is the future. Taking the virtual and the face-to-face together, and creating something better than either alone, for example, our school’s telepresence classrooms, where we’re putting together the experience of two geographically different classrooms. Is it online? Is it face-to-face? It's none of them. It's both of them.”
Online learning platforms support student inclusivity and community building, as well as provide a more personalized learning experience.
During “Promoting Inclusivity: Creating Effective Virtual STEM Environments” David Attipoe, Ph.D. of the African Institute for Mathematical Sciences and European School of Management and Technology (ESMT), shared “When COVID hit, we had to transition our in-person pan-African classrooms to an online classroom model and I was afraid we would lose the essence of what classrooms are supposed to give students in terms of human engagement. But after splitting our students into three different country groups and encouraging them to work with students from other countries online, we found that they formed close bonds with each other, as well as connections which continue to this day.”
“All of the participants shared their strong understanding of the importance of a transformed, data-driven classroom that empowers teachers to engage with learners, whether in-person, remote, or in a hybrid setting, as well as the importance of tools that can enable greater student collaboration, community, and inclusive student access,” added Andreina Parisi-Amon, Ph.D., Engageli VP of Learning & Teaching. “We are excited for these conversations to continue, and for Engageli to continue powering the evolution towards a more flexible and inclusive learning environment as the premier digital solution for educators.”
About Engageli
Engageli is advancing the higher education industry globally by improving virtual teaching and learning experiences. Its premier cloud-based, multimodal digital learning technology creates flexible, inclusive, secure environments optimized for student connections and active learning. Recognized for these innovations, Engageli was named to the 2021 HolonIQ EdTech 200 list, highlighting the most promising education technology companies in North America, and earned honorable mention in the 2021 Fast Company’s World Changing Ideas Award program, which honors companies and initiatives that inspire better and more equitable learning. Founded in 2020 by Dan Avida, Dr. Serge Plotkin, and Dr. Daphne Koller, Co-Founder of Coursera and Insitro, Engageli has raised over $47 million in funding. To learn more, please visit www.engageli.com.
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