Education

Digital universe redesign of a public distance learning institution

This institution has more than 200 000 registered students and is a major player on the distance learning and training market.

Needs and uses are constantly changing with the advent of digital technologies and ICTE. Clients are now mobile and connected, relations to time and space evolve, the volume of interaction increases and coaching is even more customized.

The Institution realized that they needed a complete redesign of their digital presence, their relationship marketing and their offer of service in order to keep a leading position on the market.

Redsen presented the following digital repositionning strategy: the scope definition phase, aiming to identify requirements for the new digital universe, was an essential condition for success in this project.

It included various workshops involving the Executive Management and several Operational Departments. We led this phase on the basis of our matrix, specifically designed to address this type of issue: we were able to reach the following conclusions:

• The definition of a unified, consistent and engaging digital presence
• A comprehensive framework of requirements
• An implementation roadmap (Quick wins, IT and business projects portfolio)
• Business cases enabling the Executive management to assert opportunities based on the level of investment needed and the benefits expected, as well as the capacity of their team to fulfill the roadmap.

This transformation plan, supported by detailed business cases, enabled the executive management to evaluate and prioritize the projects. Some of them with very short deadlines, so that the Institution could become a dominant player on the digital learning scene.

Definition of an IT action plan for a European Ministry of Education

The Information System (IS) supporting the different levels of education (primary and secondary school, apprenticeship and specialized education) shows heavy technical and functional deficiencies, with global impacts on ministry services and institutions operational efficiency.

Furthermore, the evolution of the legal framework implies new major requirements and an effort towards regulatory compliance applied to the entire Education information system.

The extent of required changes, the technological debt accumulated, the lack of integration between the systems implemented in the Ministry and its institutions made it clear for the Business Departments and the ITD that a global remodeling of the Education IS was needed.

Redsen designed an IT and business action plan based on the in-house Pragmatys Enterprise Architecture methodology: we were able to project the main Business and IT transformations for the 2010-2017 period.

This action plan is updated every three months to include new constraints, if needed.

Following this phase, Redsen helped the Ministry in the steering and execution of the roll-out and implementation actions, focusing on the issues below:

• Budget definition and follow-up for the schools
• School life management
• ICTE implementation
• Creation of Student, Teacher, Apprentice, and Training companies databases
• Management of evaluation and examination
• Performance management

Redsen designed an action plan, combined with a program plan, to warrant its implementation. The first stages of this action plan were focused on making the most critical applications compliant with regulatory constraints, following a very tight legal calendar.

Set up of Student and Teacher databases for the Education Department of the Swiss Cantonal Administration

Data quality can suffer from the absence of Student and Teacher databases. It also makes communication between applications more complex in the various levels of education (Compulsory Education, Vocational Training, Gymnasiums and Specialized Education). It proves difficult to follow-up academic careers without proper Student and Teacher structured repositories.

From a Master Data Management approach, Redsen designed two standard repositories:

• Students: Connected with the state record of natural persons, which helps anticipate students’ demand according to demographical variations.
• Teachers: Connected with the HRIS, to manage extra hours and replacements during the school year more easily. This repository also allows a better understanding of the teaching staff’s skills and qualifications. A great asset for the HR Department, especially considering that over 40% of this staff will be retired in 10 years.

Redsen provides a guidance methodology to address this issue, following this apparatus:

Implementing these two datasets will give the HR Department control of the teaching staff’s skills as well as a global view of the students and their academic career in any education level.