If you, like many universities, want to deliver a differentiated experience, start by exploring the value of personalisation.

More and more, universities across the globe are looking at the role the student experience plays in creating a lasting competitive advantage—and the need to deliver differentiated experiences has only increased post-pandemic. The growth in online course delivery with the help of hybrid learning platforms has opened new opportunities for students to study outside their immediate geographic location, creating a more competitive environment.

As universities increase their investment in differentiated student experiences, the value of personalisation has also risen. A personalised experience is not only one that is aware of the individual user, but also the context through which they engage with a product, service, or application. Put another way, a personalised experience is contextually aware of what the user is looking to achieve and then adapts to deliver access to the information, services, or tools in a more streamlined and efficient manner.

Does this sound challenging to scale across 5,000, 20,000, or even 50,000 students? It doesn't have to be. In this blog post, we’ll look at how it’s possible for you to scale personalisation across your entire student base.

The Individual is the Starting Point

To deliver a personalised experience, you need to start with an awareness of the individual. This provides the foundation from which you can segment and adapt the student experiences you deliver.

Student portals are usually the main hub that brings together different systems, resources, and information for each student. Because of this, the portal needs to understand the unique traits that make up each student. At a basic level, this should include:

• What they are studying (courses and units)

• Where they are studying (on-campus or online)

• How long they have been studying (part-time/full-time and number of years they have completed to date) ​​​​​​​

Often this information comes from one or more systems, such as a student information system (SIS) or CRM, across the university. Being able to unify this information and leverage data points from multiple systems enriches the student experience.

Contextual Awareness is Key

A student portal armed with this knowledge of the user creates a wealth of options to optimise the end-user experience. Beyond understanding what the student is studying, information and access to resources and different student services can be personalised based on their mode of study and overall student experience.

For example, a student who has just started their studies remotely may be prompted to engage with different information or services compared to a third-year student who studies on campus. The end outcome of each engagement is the same: to support the student; but by being contextually aware, universities can deliver more timely information and support services that will provide more value to the student.

The Value of Segmenting Students Based on Known Information

Segmentation of students can contain two broad categories:

• Known information. These are largely static data fields that change over a longer period of time (e.g., at the end of each semester or even over the course of an entire academic year.) Examples include the course a student is studying, the mode in which they study, or past academic results.

• Acquired information. This is information about a student that is acquired over time using analytics and is more dynamic. For example, analytics may inform you of the specific times a student logs into their student portal and how often, or even predict likely academic outcomes for upcoming assessments. 

Although  your long-term goal may be to deliver a personalised experience based on real-time data and predictive analytics, it’s important not to overlook the value of existing information. Creating segments of students based on these known attributes allows you to scale the personalised experience they provide across groups of students that have multiple attributes in common. For example, you could segment a group of students based on the following attributes:

• Studying economics

• Studying part-time and online

• In their first year of study

• Scored less than 60% in their most recent assessment​​​​​​​

With this segment defined, you could then deliver targeted content and messaging via your student portal and other marketing channels. Given students are studying online, maybe that could mean prompting them to attend an online video call to discuss additional support optionsavailable. In this example, you can see how the known information available about a student allows you  to create a unique experience, while still enabling scaling.

What's more, this type of segmentation can be easily replicated across numerous situations or groups of students, with each segment gaining access to information, resources, and tools relevant to them at that particular time in their student journey.

Enhancing Personalisation Through Dynamic Segmentation

In order to achieve more dynamic segmentation of students, consider the value of advanced analytics, artificial intelligence (AI), and machine learning (ML) in accelerating the delivery of models that can segment students and predict outcomes. However, with this comes the challenge of using all of that data and insight to actually deliver the personalised experiences identified as valuable through analysis. So what should you do?

This is where  advanced analytics and digital experience platforms (DXPs) can work together. Analytics provide the back-end, feeding data and insight to the DXP, which uses these dynamically generated segments to update the student experience in real-time. For example:

• If a model predicts a student might fail a course, , their experience in the student portal is updated dynamically. 

• Course materials, study resources, and support are elevated to the home page.

• A chatbot opens upon login, prompting the student for feedback, while targeted messages are sent via a student’s preferred communication channel.

This process enables universities to personalize the student experience at scale. However, to implement it effectively, universities need tools that empower staff to create and adjust these experiences without relying heavily on IT.

Low-code and WYSIWYG interfaces are crucial because they allow marketing teams, student support, and academic staff to:

• Easily iterate and update messaging.

• Test, refine, and improve the student experience.

Ultimately, delivering on the promise of personalization depends on user-friendly tools that allow various university departments to collaborate efficiently.

Success Story - Enabling Meaningful Online Interactions for Remote Students

As the world's oldest provider of distance education, the University of London faced the unique challenge of fostering meaningful interactions with over 170,000 students scattered across the globe. The solution was a revitalized student portal built on Liferay DXP. This platform allowed them to streamline processes, offer personalized experiences, and create a vibrant online community, resulting in increased student engagement and satisfaction.

In order to replicate this success and cater to a large number of students while delivering a high degree of personalisation, you can take the following steps:

• Student-Centric Approach: Begin by truly understanding your students' needs, preferences, and pain points. 

• Seamless Integration: Break down data silos and connect disparate systems to create a unified student experience. A DXP like Liferay can help integrate legacy systems with modern technologies, providing a single access point for students to manage their academic journey.

• Personalization at Scale: Leverage data analytics and AI to deliver tailored content, recommendations, and support to each student.

• Intuitive User Experience: Design a user-friendly portal with clear navigation, self-service options, easy-to-use features, and accessible information.  

• Community Building: Foster a sense of community among remote learners through discussion forums, virtual events, and collaborative tools.

• Continuous Improvement: Regularly gather feedback from students and faculty to identify areas for improvement. Use data analytics to track engagement and measure the success of your digital initiatives.

Creating a more meaningful and engaging experiences lies at the heart of a personalised and engaging student experience.

Read more here about how Liferay DXP can help your educational institution personalize experiences, safeguard sensitive data, and modernize your digital world without compromising legacy systems.