ReportWire

Tag: higher ed

  • PROOF POINTS: Teens are looking to AI for information and answers, two surveys show

    PROOF POINTS: Teens are looking to AI for information and answers, two surveys show

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    Two new surveys, both released this month, show how high school and college-age students are embracing artificial intelligence. There are some inconsistencies and many unanswered questions, but what stands out is how much teens are turning to AI for information and to ask questions, not just to do their homework for them. And they’re using it for personal reasons as well as for school. Another big takeaway is that there are different patterns by race and ethnicity with Black, Hispanic and Asian American students often adopting AI faster than white students.

    The first report, released on June 3, was conducted by three nonprofit organizations, Hopelab, Common Sense Media, and the Center for Digital Thriving at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. These organizations surveyed 1,274 teens and young adults aged 14-22 across the U.S. from October to November 2023. At that time, only half the teens and young adults said they had ever used AI, with just 4 percent using it daily or almost every day. 

    Emily Weinstein, executive director for the Center for Digital Thriving, a research center that investigates how youth are interacting with technology, said that more teens are “certainly” using AI now that these tools are embedded in more apps and websites, such as Google Search. Last October and November, when this survey was conducted, teens typically had to take the initiative to navigate to an AI site and create an account. An exception was Snapchat, a social media app that had already added an AI chatbot for its users. 

    More than half of the early adopters said they had used AI for getting information and for brainstorming, the first and second most popular uses. This survey didn’t ask teens if they were using AI for cheating, such as prompting ChatGPT to write their papers for them. However, among the half of respondents who were already using AI, fewer than half – 46 percent – said they were using it for help with school work. The fourth most common use was for generating pictures.

    The survey also asked teens a couple of open-response questions. Some teens told researchers that they are asking AI private questions that they were too embarrassed to ask their parents or their friends. “Teens are telling us I have questions that are easier to ask robots than people,”  said Weinstein.

    Weinstein wants to know more about the quality and the accuracy of the answers that AI is giving teens, especially those with mental health struggles, and how privacy is being protected when students share personal information with chatbots.

    The second report, released on June 11, was conducted by Impact Research and  commissioned by the Walton Family Foundation. In May 2024, Impact Research surveyed 1,003 teachers, 1,001 students aged 12-18, 1,003 college students, and 1,000 parents about their use and views of AI.

    This survey, which took place six months after the Hopelab-Common Sense survey, demonstrated how quickly usage is growing. It found that 49 percent of students, aged 12-18, said they used ChatGPT at least once a week for school, up 26 percentage points since 2023. Forty-nine percent of college undergraduates also said they were using ChatGPT every week for school but there was no comparison data from 2023.

    Among 12- to 18-year-olds and college students who had used AI chatbots for school, 56 percent said they had used it for help in writing essays and other writing assignments. Undergraduate students were more than twice as likely as 12- to 18-year-olds to say using AI felt like cheating, 22 percent versus 8 percent. Earlier 2023 surveys of student cheating by scholars at Stanford University did not detect an increase in cheating with ChatGPT and other generative AI tools. But as students use AI more, students’ understanding of what constitutes cheating may also be evolving. 

     

    More than 60 percent of college students who used AI said they were using it to study for tests and quizzes. Half of the college students who used AI said they were using it to deepen their subject knowledge, perhaps, as if it were an online encyclopedia. There was no indication from this survey if students were checking the accuracy of the information.

    Both surveys noticed differences by race and ethnicity. The first Hopelab-Common Sense survey found that 7 percent of Black students, aged 14-22, were using AI every day, compared with 5 percent of Hispanic students and 3 percent of white students. In the open-ended questions, one Black teen girl wrote that, with AI, “we can change who we are and become someone else that we want to become.” 

    The Walton Foundation survey found that Hispanic and Asian American students were sometimes more likely to use AI than white and Black students, especially for personal purposes. 

    These are all early snapshots that are likely to keep shifting. OpenAI is expected to become part of the Apple universe in the fall, including its iPhones, computers and iPads.  “These numbers are going to go up and they’re going to go up really fast,” said Weinstein. “Imagine that we could go back 15 years in time when social media use was just starting with teens. This feels like an opportunity for adults to pay attention.”

    This story about ChatGPT in education was written by Jill Barshay and produced by The Hechinger Report, a nonprofit, independent news organization focused on inequality and innovation in education. Sign up for Proof Points and other Hechinger newsletters.

    The Hechinger Report provides in-depth, fact-based, unbiased reporting on education that is free to all readers. But that doesn’t mean it’s free to produce. Our work keeps educators and the public informed about pressing issues at schools and on campuses throughout the country. We tell the whole story, even when the details are inconvenient. Help us keep doing that.

    Join us today.

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    Jill Barshay

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  • Antiwar protesters at Auraria Campus have ended their encampment

    Antiwar protesters at Auraria Campus have ended their encampment

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    Tivoli Quad at Auraria campus, after students and administration removed a protest encampment that lasted three weeks.

    Auraria Higher Education Center

    After more than three weeks, organizers at Auraria Campus protesting the war in Gaza officially announced they were ending their protest encampment Saturday.

    The three weeks their tents were up made the encampment one of the longest running of the student-led antiwar protests that took off nationwide after police arrested students at Columbia University in April. The protests oppose the war in Gaza, which began in October when Hamas killed more than 1,000 Israelis and took another 200 hostage. Tens of thousands of Palestinians in Gaza have been killed in Israel’s counterattack.

    On Friday, protesters scattered across the Auraria campus, moving the dozens of tents and public art pieces that had been set up on Tivoli Quad to new locations. On Saturday, Auraria Higher Education Center spokesperson Devra Ashby called the encampment “abandoned” and said staff have begun cleaning up the quad.

    80 people have been arrested over the course of the Auraria protests, including 16 active students and three staff and faculty members

    Protesters at the Auraria antiwar camp are moving their tents campus-wide. Friday, May 17, 2024.
    Rebecca Tauber/Denverite

    In a statement Saturday, organizers with Students for a Democratic Society touted the encampment for raising awareness about the war.

    “Since April 25, 2024, the Auraria Encampment for Palestine, organized by the Denver Students for a Democratic Society (SDS), has achieved significant milestones that have made clear the power of student organizing; have shown the strength of community solidarity, and have strengthened our movements for liberation,” SDS organizers wrote in a statement posted to their Instagram Saturday.

    The statement pointed to Metropolitan State University’s agreement to provide information related to its investments as a concrete win from the protest, though MSU has not yet released that information. Organizers did not get any other clear concessions from MSU or the University of Colorado around investments, nor did the schools meet their other demands, which included issuing statements in opposition to the war and severing ties with companies that hold contracts with Israel and the U.S. military.

    “No regent is offering any policy changes in response to the demands,” wrote the University of Colorado Board of Regents last week in response to the encampment.

    The end of the encampment comes as some students across the country have begun to strike deals with colleges in exchange for ending the protests.

    Last week, Harvard University agreed to discuss concerns around its endowment and reinstate students suspended during the protests. Other schools, like Brown University, have agreed to formally vote on divestment.

    The pro-Palestine protest camp at Denver’s Auraria Campus. May 14, 2024.
    Kevin J. Beaty/Denverite

    As the camp winds down, Auraria leadership said that Tivoli Quad and all other green spaces on campus will be closed until further notice as staff clean up the area and complete property repairs.

    At the end of last week, all three schools at Auraria switched to remote learning because of the encampment. Ashby said the campus will remain restricted to “critical personnel and operations” for now, without a clear timeline for if or when that might change.

    “Leaders have worked diligently towards finding a peaceful resolution,” Ashby wrote Saturday. “We hope this will end more than three weeks of unauthorized occupation that has increasingly escalated into dangerous activities, taken significant time, resources, and dialogue with student protesters to resolve, and has pulled us away from our academic mission and goals.”

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  • What were the most-read stories of 2023?

    What were the most-read stories of 2023?

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    It wasn’t all about AI in K-12 in 2023! SEL, equity, and more were top news. In this special episode of Innovations in Education, editors Laura Ascione and Kevin Hogan go through the list of the most-read stories from 2023 and identify the best insights for our readers.

    Kevin Hogan
    Latest posts by Kevin Hogan (see all)

    Want to share a great resource? Let us know at submissions@eschoolmedia.com.

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    Kevin Hogan

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  • PROOF POINTS: The myth of the quick learner

    PROOF POINTS: The myth of the quick learner

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    Some kids appear to learn faster than others. A few years ago, a group of scientists at Carnegie Mellon University decided to study these rapid learners to see what they are doing differently and if their strategies could help the rest of us.

    But as the scientists began their study, they stumbled upon a fundamental problem:  they could not find faster learners. After analyzing the learning rates of 7,000 children and adults using instructional software or playing educational games, the researchers could find no evidence that some students were progressing faster than others. All needed practice to learn something new, and they learned about the same amount from each practice attempt. On average, it was taking both high and low achievers about seven to eight practice exercises to learn a new concept, a rather tiny increment of learning that the researchers call a “knowledge component.”

    “Students are starting in different places and ending in different places,” said Ken Koedinger, a cognitive psychologist and director of Carnegie Mellon’s LearnLab, where this research was conducted. “But they’re making progress at the same rates.” 

    Koedinger and his team’s data analysis was published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), a peer-reviewed journal of the National Academy of Sciences, in March 2023. The study offers the hope that “anyone can learn anything they want” if they get well-designed practice exercises and put some effort into it.  Raw talent, like having a “knack for math” or a “gift for language,” isn’t required.

    Koedinger and his colleagues wrote that they were initially “surprised” by the “astonishing amount of regularity in students’ learning rate.” The discovery contradicts our everyday experiences. Some students earn As algebra, an example mentioned in the paper, and they appear to have learned faster than peers who get Cs.

    But as the scientists confirmed their numerical results across 27 datasets, they began to understand that we commonly misinterpret prior knowledge for learning. Some kids already know a lot about a subject before a teacher begins a lesson. They may have already had exposure to fractions by making pancakes at home using measuring cups. The fact that they mastered a fractions unit faster than their peers doesn’t mean they learned faster; they had a head start. 

    Like watching a marathon

    Koedinger likens watching children learn to watching a marathon from the finish line. The first people to cross the finish line aren’t necessarily the fastest when there are staggered starts. A runner who finished sooner might have taken five hours, while another runner who finished later might have taken only four hours. You need to know each runner’s start time to measure the pace.

    Koedinger and his colleagues measured each student’s baseline achievement and their incremental gains from that initial mark. This would be very difficult to measure in ordinary classrooms, but with educational software, researchers can sort practice exercises by the knowledge components required to do them, see how many problems students get right initially and track how their accuracy improves over time.  

    In the LearnLab datasets, students typically used software after some initial instruction in their classrooms, such as a lesson by a teacher or a college reading assignment. The software guided students through practice problems and exercises. Initially, students in the same classrooms had wildly different accuracy rates on the same concepts. The top quarter of students were getting 75 percent of the questions correct, while the bottom quarter of students were getting only 55 percent correct. It’s a gigantic 20 percentage point difference in the starting lines. 

    However, as students progressed through the computerized practice work, there was barely even one percentage point difference in learning rates. The fastest quarter of students improved their accuracy on each concept (or knowledge component) by about 2.6 percentage points after each practice attempt, while the slowest quarter of students improved by about 1.7 percentage points. It took seven to eight attempts for nearly all students to go from 65 percent accuracy, the average starting place, to 80 percent accuracy, which is what the researchers defined as mastery.

    The advantage of a head start

    The head start for the high achievers matters.  Above average students, who begin above 65 percent accuracy take fewer than four practice attempts to hit the 80 percent threshold. Below average students tend to require more than 13 attempts to hit the same 80 percent threshold. That difference – four versus 13 – can make it seem like students are learning at different paces. But they’re not. Each student, whether high or low, is learning about the same amount from each practice attempt. (The researchers didn’t study children with disabilities, and it’s unknown if their learning rates are different.)

    The student data that Koedinger studied comes from educational software that is designed to be interactive and gives students multiple attempts to try things, make mistakes, get feedback and try again. Students learn by doing. Some of the feedback was very basic, like an answer key, alerting students if they got the problem right or wrong. But some of the feedback was sophisticated. Intelligent tutoring systems in math provided hints when students got stuck, offered complete explanations and displayed step-by-step examples. 

    The conclusion that everyone’s learning rate is similar might apply only to well-designed versions of computerized learning. Koedinger thinks students probably learn at different paces in the analog world of paper and pencil, without the same guided practice and feedback. When students are learning more independently, he says, some might be better at checking their own work and seeking guidance.  

    Struggling students might be getting fewer “opportunities” to learn in the analog world, Koedinger speculated. That doesn’t necessarily mean that schools and parents should be putting low-achieving students on computers more often. Many students quickly lose motivation to learn on screens and need more human interaction.

    Memory ability varies

    Learning rates were especially steady in math and science – the subjects that most of the educational software in this study focused on. But researchers noticed more divergence in learning rates in the six datasets that involved the teaching of English and other languages. One was a program that taught the use of the article “the,” which can be arbitrary. (Here’s an example: I’m swimming in the Atlantic Ocean today but in Lake Ontario tomorrow. There’s no “the” before lakes.) Another program taught Chinese vocabulary. Both relied on students’ memory and individual memory processing speeds differ. Memory is important in learning math and science too, but Koedinger said students might be able to compensate with other learning strategies, such as pattern recognition, deduction and induction. 

    To understand that we all learn at a similar rate is one of the best arguments I’ve seen not to give up on ourselves when we’re failing and falling behind our peers. Koedinger hopes it will inspire teachers to change their attitudes about low achievers in their classrooms, and instead think of them as students who haven’t had the same number of practice opportunities and exposure to ideas that other kids have had. With the right exercises and feedback, and a bit of effort, they can learn too. Perhaps it’s time to revise the old saw about how to get to Carnegie Hall. Instead of practice, practice, practice, I’m going to start saying practice, listen to feedback and practice again (repeat seven times).

    This story was written by Jill Barshay and produced by The Hechinger Report, a nonprofit, independent news organization focused on inequality and innovation in education. Sign up for the Hechinger newsletter.

    The Hechinger Report provides in-depth, fact-based, unbiased reporting on education that is free to all readers. But that doesn’t mean it’s free to produce. Our work keeps educators and the public informed about pressing issues at schools and on campuses throughout the country. We tell the whole story, even when the details are inconvenient. Help us keep doing that.

    Join us today.

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    Jill Barshay

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  • Brigham Young University-Idaho Chooses Pathify to Personalize Student Experience

    Brigham Young University-Idaho Chooses Pathify to Personalize Student Experience

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    BYU-Idaho to drive better-informed decisions and enhanced digital community with Pathify.


    DENVER, April 20, 2023 (Newswire.com)
    –
    Pathify — the only centralized user experience hub for higher ed — proudly welcomes Brigham Young University-Idaho to the growing community of global customers dedicated to improving the student technology experience.

    BYU-Idaho, which is part of the worldwide Church Educational System of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, will use Pathify to help centralize critical communication about registration deadlines, financial aid, and other administrative updates with a dynamic dashboard for students to find personalized and timely information quickly. 

    In relation to the partnership, BYU-Idaho prepared the following statement:

    “Pathify will reduce students’ need to log in to multiple systems to get important updates, and will also include individualized portals for faculty, employees, and other audiences with dynamic widgets and customizable layouts. 

    BYU-Idaho will also benefit from several outbound channels incorporated in Pathify’s Engagement Hub, including mobile push notifications, feed posts, announcements, alerts, tasks, and nudges from SMS and email.” 

    Additionally, Pathify will develop a new parent portal to give permission-based insights from students to their parents to help increase student success and retention. Parents will share best practices with each other and receive important messages from the university.

    Pathify fills the massive user experience void at the center of the higher education digital ecosystem, delivering a personalized user experience unifying technology, content, communications and people. Offering highly personalized experiences for users at every point in their journey, the Engagement Hub encourages system-agnostic integrations, collaborative social groups, personalized tasks, and multi-channel communication with full web/mobile parity.

    “We’re so excited to be working with BYU-Idaho after their detailed and instructive evaluation of our solution,” said Matt Hammond, Chief Revenue Officer at Pathify. “Their deployment will be one of the most comprehensive to date and was an exciting capstone on another year of stellar growth in 2022. We look forward to continuing the outstanding relationship with their leadership team, and can’t wait to see the great work they do with the platform.”

    BYU-Idaho joins the Pathify customer community with recent customers such as Howard Payne University, Aquinas College, and BYU-Idaho’s sibling institution – Brigham Young University-Hawaii.

    About Brigham Young University – Idaho

    Brigham Young University-Idaho provides a unique educational experience with the objective of preparing students for lifelong learning, employment, and roles as disciples of Jesus Christ who are leaders in their homes, the Church, and their communities. To this end, BYU-Idaho strives to foster a healthy academic, cultural, and social environment on its campus in Rexburg as well as with its expansive online student community.

    Learn more at byui.edu.

    About Pathify

    Obsessed with making great technology while developing incredible long-term customer relationships, Pathify remains hyper-focused on creating stellar experiences across the entire student lifecycle — from prospect to alumni. Delivering cloud-based, integration-friendly software designed to drive engagement, Pathify pushes personalized information, content, and resources to the right people, at the right time — on any device. Led by former higher ed executives, entrepreneurs, and technology leaders, the team at Pathify focuses every day on the values Impact, Wit, Contrast, Technique and Care. 

    Learn more at pathify.com.

    Source: Pathify

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  • Pathify Partners With Ferris State Streamlining Their Student Experience

    Pathify Partners With Ferris State Streamlining Their Student Experience

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    Ferris State doubles down on their commitment to personalized education by implementing a true student experience hub.


    DENVER, April 13, 2023 (Newswire.com)
    –
    Pathify — the only centralized user experience hub for higher ed — proudly welcomes Ferris State University to the growing community of global customers obsessed with improving the student technology experience.

    Dedicated to offering resources in support of student success and meeting the needs of the student body, Ferris State amplifies its support with a unifying platform tailored to current students, faculty and alumni needs. 

    “I don’t know if there is anything we won’t be using Pathify for,” said Eric Hazen, Director of Digital Marketing at Ferris State University. “This will be a student’s way of connecting and interfacing with the University from the time they become a Bulldog until the time they become an alumnus and hopefully through that lifelong learner journey.”

    Hazen continued to say, “We’re excited to replace our legacy portal with Pathify, allowing us to meet modern learners’ expectations — something we can’t do with our current technology.” In addition, Hazen stated, “Pathify will also have an enormous positive impact on the great work of our faculty and staff members. Our new portal will help them discover and use the tools they need to succeed in their roles.”

    “We see Pathify as how all of our staff, faculty and students will start and end their day,” says Charlie Weaver, Chief Information Officer at Ferris State University. “Pathify is where everyone will go to get things done.”

    Pathify fills the massive user experience void at the center of the higher education digital ecosystem, delivering a personalized user experience unifying all technology, content, communications and people. Offering highly personalized experiences for users at every point in their journey, the Engagement Hub encourages system-agnostic integrations, collaborative social groups, personalized tasks and multi-channel communication with full web/mobile parity.

    “The values Ferris State embodies when it comes to a personalized student experience represent perfect alignment with what we do every day at Pathify,” said Matt Hammond, Chief Revenue Officer at Pathify. “We’re absolutely thrilled to support this work for many years to come.”

    Ferris State joins the rapidly expanding Pathify customer community in Michigan, along other customers such as Cornerstone University, Aquinas College and Western Michigan University Cooley School of Law.

    About Ferris State University

    Ferris State University is a mid-sized four-year public university known for its quality of instruction and large selection of academic programs, ranging from associate to doctoral degrees, offered through seven degree-granting colleges. The University strives to align its practices and resources in support of its core values of collaboration, diversity, ethical community, excellence, learning and opportunity. Ferris’ mission is to prepare students for successful careers, responsible citizenship and lifelong learning. Through its many partnerships and its career-oriented, broad-based education, Ferris serves our rapidly changing global economy and society.

    The University’s main campus is located in scenic Big Rapids, Michigan.

    Learn more at ferris.edu.

    About Pathify

    Obsessed with making great technology while developing incredible long-term relationships with customers, Pathify remains hyper-focused on creating stellar experiences across the entire student lifecycle — from prospect to alumni. Delivering cloud-based, integration-friendly software designed to drive engagement, Pathify pushes personalized information, content, and resources to the right people, at the right time — on any device. Led by former higher ed executives, entrepreneurs, and technology leaders, the team at Pathify focuses every day on the values Impact, Wit, Contrast, Technique and Care. 

    Learn more at pathify.com.

    Source: Pathify

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  • Pathify Experiences a Landmark 2022

    Pathify Experiences a Landmark 2022

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    Pathify achieved another impressive year of growth, signing new customers from across the world

    Press Release
    –

    Mar 9, 2023 08:00 MST


    DENVER, March 9, 2023 (Newswire.com)
    –
    Pathify — the only centralized user experience hub for higher ed — proudly announced another stellar year of business growth, nearly doubling revenue year-over-year.

    Pathify’s technology and services continue to resonate with new higher education clients worldwide, filling the increasingly apparent void at the center of many institutional digital ecosystems — laid bare by the pandemic. The Engagement Hub creates a highly personalized digital user experience eliminating friction and increasing efficiency.

    “I’m awed by all the different kinds of institutions looking to Pathify to give students a more engaging experience,” said Matt Hammond, Chief Revenue Officer at Pathify. “Our focus on helping schools get more out of their existing systems really resonates and is a driving force behind much of last year’s growth.”

    Notable new partnerships from 2022 include:

    • University System of New Hampshire
    • St. Petersburg College
    • Winston-Salem State University
    • RMIT Online
    • Southern University System
    • North Orange County Community College District

    Pathify continues providing hands-on service to clients, helping them achieve recruitment, retention and graduation goals by maintaining world-class customer satisfaction, all while maintaining an average net promoter score of 60 (top percentile) over the past year. 

    Pathify looks to continue its momentum in 2023 by maintaining high levels of service to current customers and creating new partnerships, as well as improving existing platform functionality.

    “At a time when a majority of the tech industry is noticing flat or declining growth, we’re truly thankful to be in such a strong position in the first quarter of 2023,” said Chase Williams, Chief Executive Officer of Pathify. “I think much of our success comes because we have such an open and continuous dialogue with customers, ensuring we stay up to date with the latest needs in higher ed.”

    About Pathify

    Obsessed with making great technology while developing incredible long-term relationships with customers, Pathify remains hyper-focused on creating stellar experiences across the entire student lifecycle — from prospect to alumni. Delivering cloud-based, integration-friendly software designed to drive engagement, Pathify pushes personalized information, content, and resources to the right people, at the right time — on any device. Led by a team of former higher ed executives, entrepreneurs, and technology leaders, the team at Pathify focuses every day on the values Impact, Wit, Contrast, Technique and Care.

    Learn more at pathify.com.

    Source: Pathify

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  • Pathify Announces Partnership With Allan Hancock College

    Pathify Announces Partnership With Allan Hancock College

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    Allan Hancock College selects Pathify to drive student engagement via a customized communications portal

    Press Release
    –

    Mar 2, 2023


    DENVER, March 2, 2023 (Newswire.com)
    –
    Pathify — the only centralized user experience hub for higher ed — proudly welcomes Allan Hancock College (AHC) to the growing community of customers obsessed with improving the student technology experience.

    Dedicated to offering resources in support of student success and meeting the needs of the student body, AHC amplifies its support with a unifying platform tailored to current students, faculty and alumni needs.

    “It has been a long-term goal to have a high-quality campus mobile app for students, and we are excited to partner with Pathify to make this happen,” Director of Information Technology Services at Allan Hancock Andy Specht said. “At the same time, we are using Pathify’s platform to develop a modern portal experience for our students and employees.”

    Pathify fills the gaping UX void at the center of the higher education digital ecosystem, creating a centralized user experience unifying all technology, content, communications and people. Offering highly personalized experiences for users at every point in their journey, the Engagement Hub encourages system-agnostic integrations, collaborative social groups, personalized tasks, and multi-channel communication with full web/mobile parity.

    “Community colleges serve highly diverse student populations with a ton of different needs, and providing a modern experience has never been more important,” Pathify Chief Revenue Officer Matt Hammond said. “We’re thrilled AHC shares our mission in creating a unified experience for students regardless of background.”

    Allan Hancock College joins existing California community college customers such as Antelope Valley College, Chaffey College, Ventura County Community College District and Lassen College.

    About Allan Hancock College

    Allan Hancock College is located in northern Santa Barbara County, California. The college is ranked as one of the five best community colleges in California and one of the top 120 community colleges in the nation.

    Approximately 11,500 credit students enroll each semester at one of the district’s four locations in Santa Maria, Lompoc, Santa Ynez Valley or at Vandenberg Space Force Base. The main campus is in Santa Maria, a 105-acre park-like setting that provides students with exceptional teaching and state-of-the-art technology.

    About Pathify

    Obsessed with making great technology while developing incredible long-term relationships with customers, Pathify remains hyper-focused on creating stellar experiences across the entire student lifecycle — from prospects to alumni. Delivering cloud-based, integration-friendly technology designed to drive engagement, Pathify pushes personalized information, content, and resources to the right people, at the right time — on any device. Led by a team of former higher ed executives, builders, and technology leaders, the team at Pathify focuses every day on serving the needs of learners everywhere. 

    Learn more at pathify.com.

    Source: Pathify

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  • Pathify Announces Partnership With RMIT Online

    Pathify Announces Partnership With RMIT Online

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    RMIT Online selects Pathify to drive student engagement via a customized communications portal

    Press Release
    –

    Feb 23, 2023 08:00 MST


    DENVER, February 23, 2023 (Newswire.com)
    –
    Pathify, an Australian-founded higher ed tech company and the only provider of a centralized higher education Engagement Hub, proudly welcomes a new partnership with RMIT Online, the premier Australian university’s digital extension, into its growing roster of customers who share in the mission of improving the college experience.

    Dedicated to offering students high-quality digital education, RMIT Online will amplify its support with a unifying platform tailored to its large and complex student population.

    “At RMIT Online, we are passionate about making online learning as engaging, innovative, and fun as the on-campus experience RMIT is globally renowned for delivering,” says Director of Technology and Enablement, Will Calvert. “We chose Pathify as our platform to help us achieve this goal and provide our students a single home to consolidate and easily access all their systems and services. This is particularly important for the lifelong learner audience RMIT Online services.”

    He continued to say, “We see Pathify playing a major role in helping students access, plan, and understand their learning journey and enjoy all the social and support services one would expect on campus. We’re very excited for what 2023 has in store for our student experience!”

    Pathify’s Engagement Hub fills the void at the center of the higher education digital ecosystem. It creates a centralized user experience unifying all things digital. Offering highly personalized experiences for users at every point in their journey, the Engagement Hub encourages system-agnostic integrations, collaborative social groups, personalized tasks, and multi-channel communication across web and mobile.

    RMIT Online joins existing Pathify customers such as Utah State University, Alabama A&M University, Johnson & Wales University—and many more.

    About RMIT Online

    RMIT Online is a subsidiary of the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology, which serves as the university’s digital learning platform providing a variety of short courses and accreditation courses designed for professionals seeking to upskill and progress in their careers.

    Learn more at online.rmit.edu.au.

    About Pathify

    Obsessed with making great technology while developing incredible long-term relationships with customers, Pathify remains hyper-focused on creating stellar experiences across the entire student lifecycle—from prospects to alumni. Delivering cloud-based, integration-friendly technology designed to drive engagement, Pathify pushes personalized information, content, and resources to the right people, at the right time—on any device. Led by a team of former higher ed executives, builders, and technology leaders, the team at Pathify focuses every day on serving the needs of learners everywhere. 

    Learn more at pathify.com.

    Source: Pathify

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  • Pathify Announces New Funding From Brex Asset Management

    Pathify Announces New Funding From Brex Asset Management

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    Pathify closed a new funding deal with Brex Asset Management to help universities drive greater student engagement via its Engagement Hub

    Press Release
    –


    updated: Feb 2, 2023 08:44 MST


    DENVER, February 2, 2023 (Newswire.com)
    –
    Pathify, a leading provider of student portals for colleges and universities, today announced it has recently received funding from Brex Asset Management. This new capital will help Pathify expand its student portal offering throughout the United States and beyond. The funding from Brex Asset Management came in tandem with further investment from Pathify’s existing shareholders.

    The Pathify Engagement Hub fills the void at the center of the higher education digital ecosystem, creating a centralized user experience unifying all things digital. Pathify has achieved a greater than 100% compound annual growth rate on recurring revenue over the past four years, as the Engagement Hub gains traction at institutions across the country. 

    “We’re thrilled to partner with Chase, James, and the team at Pathify that has reimagined the student experience and modernized the university tech stack,” said Benjamin Wu, CEO of Brex Asset Management. “Pathify is a great addition to our portfolio. They provide a mission-critical service to an underserved market with a capital-efficient business model. Our mission is to support our customers at every stage of growth, and we are excited to support Pathify through this next phase.” 

    This deal marks continued momentum for Brex Asset Management and its affiliated fund, which U.S. fintech company Brex launched as a way to provide companies with growth capital and help founders take their business to the next level. Brex Asset Management selectively provides capital to scaleable, high-growth startups with strong recurring revenue in expanding sectors. 

    “We’re excited to partner with the team at Brex to further strengthen Pathify’s Balance Sheet, particularly in the current tech environment,” said Pathify Chief Financial Officer and co-founder James McCubbin. “Brex met all the key criteria we were looking for in a financial partner and we look forward to our ongoing relationship with them.”

    The Brex funding will help Pathify continue to scale its product suite and deepen integrations with strategic partners, all while maintaining its industry-best customer success and support.

    “We experienced rapid growth last year and this capital allows us to continue our expansion plans this year and beyond,” said Pathify Chief Executive Officer and co-founder Chase Williams.

    About Brex Asset Management

    Brex Asset Management (“BAM”), Brex’s asset manager focusing on supporting companies with venture debt and growth capital, leverages Brex’s reach within the venture fund-backed startup industry and offers alternative investment opportunities to investors around the world — including institutional investors, endowments and foundations, financial institutions, and private wealth investors. BAM is a wholly owned subsidiary of Brex Inc.

    About Brex

    Brex empowers the next generation of businesses with an integrated corporate card and spend management software. We make it easy for our customers to manage every aspect of spending and empower their employees to make better financial decisions from anywhere they live or work. Brex proudly serves tens of thousands of growing businesses, from early-stage startups to enterprise leaders. Learn more.

    About Pathify

    Obsessed with making great technology while developing incredible long-term relationships with customers, Pathify remains hyper-focused on creating stellar experiences across the entire student lifecycle — from prospects to alumni. Delivering cloud-based, integration-friendly technology designed to drive engagement, Pathify pushes personalized information, content, and resources to the right people, at the right time — on any device. Led by a team of former higher ed executives, builders, and technology leaders, the team at Pathify focuses every day on serving the needs of learners everywhere. Learn more at pathify.com.

    Source: Pathify

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  • Pathify Announces Widget Library at EDUCAUSE 2022

    Pathify Announces Widget Library at EDUCAUSE 2022

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    New solution empowers users to create a unique and interactive dashboard with no dev work required.

    Press Release
    –

    Oct 26, 2022 08:00 MDT


    DENVER, October 26, 2022 (Newswire.com)
    –
    Pathify, an innovative leader in higher education technology, launched Widget Library, a new, groundbreaking capability, at EDUCAUSE 2022. Widget Library fills a dual void that currently exists in higher education by creating a personalized user experience for students without requiring additional development work of the IT department.  

    Leveraging Recipes, institutions install purpose-built integrations and widgets, allowing users to see and act on the most important information from across systems in one role-based dashboard. 

    Students are further empowered to personalize their dashboards by selecting widgets from the Library, ensuring the portal remains relevant and useful in their day-to-day lives, increasing the likelihood of driving adoption across campus. 

    “This space has never seen a hub that brings together complex information from your higher ed ecosystem in intelligent, meaningful ways out-of-the-box,” said Chase Williams, Pathify CEO. “And this is just the beginning. We’ll be adding more Recipes all the time so institutions can connect, simplify and elevate their digital experience.”

    Widget Library delivers a configurable, personalized experience giving the institutions and users the ability to configure the Engagement Hub exactly to their liking. 

    At release, Pathify has added integration recipes for:

    • Alerts
    • Balances
    • Calendar integrations
    • Third-party job boards
    • LMS
    • Social media handles
    • Student success
    • Payments

    “We have conversations all day about the personalization gap that exists in higher ed. What institutions are really looking for is a way to keep their student portals engaging despite numerous constraints on the IT department,” Pathify CTO Chris Hagan said. “Widget Library is the result of those conversations and we believe the EDUCAUSE audience is perfect for the solution we’re bringing to the market.”

    Widget Library will be available for demo at booth #561 during EDUCAUSE from Oct. 26-27.

    About Pathify

    Obsessed with making great technology while developing incredible long-term relationships with customers, Pathify remains hyper-focused on creating stellar experiences across the entire student lifecycle — from prospects to alumni. Delivering cloud-based, integration-friendly technology designed to drive engagement, Pathify pushes personalized information, content, and resources to the right people, at the right time — on any device. Led by a team of former higher ed executives, builders, and technology leaders, the team at Pathify focuses every day on the company’s core values of Impact, Wit, Contrast, Technique, and Care. Learn more at pathify.com.

    Source: Pathify

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  • Pathify Announces Partnership With DIS

    Pathify Announces Partnership With DIS

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    DIS – Study Abroad in Scandinavia selects Pathify to drive student engagement via a customized communications portal

    Press Release
    –

    Sep 29, 2022


    DENVER, September 29, 2022 (Newswire.com)
    –
    Pathify, the only provider of a centralized higher education Engagement Hub, proudly welcomes a new partnership with DIS into its growing roster of customers who share in the mission of improving the college experience.

    Dedicated to offering students opportunities for meaningful cultural engagement and personal growth, DIS uses an innovative model for study abroad while amplifying its support with a unifying platform tailored to current student needs.

    DIS partnered with Pathify thanks to the Engagement Hub’s user friendliness and personalization.

    “We are thrilled to partner with the Pathify team and build the next generation of our student portal. Our goal is to tie together student involvement with community, academics, student services and overall outreach,” said Esben Lydiksen, Director of the Learning Lab at DIS. “We believe the tools Pathify provides will help simplify the student experience and bolster engagement.”

    The Pathify Engagement Hub fills the void at the center of the higher education digital ecosystem, creating a centralized user experience unifying all things digital. Offering highly personalized experiences for users at every point in their journey, the Engagement Hub encourages system-agnostic integrations, collaborative social groups, personalized tasks and multi-channel communication across web and mobile.

    “Our launch with Pathify has been a success already. Our entire student population has logged in and were active upon arriving in Scandinavia, as the app fully facilitated our orientation and welcome events schedules,” said Korbin Dimmick, Digital Platforms Manager at DIS.

    DIS joins existing customers such as Utah State University, Alabama A&M University, Johnson & Wales University—and many more.

    About DIS

    DIS is a non-profit study abroad foundation established in Denmark in 1959, with locations in Copenhagen and Stockholm. DIS provides semester, academic year, and summer programs taught in English, and offers high-impact learning experiences for upper-division undergraduate students from distinguished North American colleges and universities. The intellectually challenging curriculum is broad, cutting edge, and enriched by experiential learning components, including faculty-led study tours across Europe. It provides students with opportunities for meaningful cultural engagement and personal growth, which is further enriched through housing and extracurricular offerings. Learn more at disabroad.org.

    About Pathify

    Obsessed with making great technology while developing incredible long-term relationships with customers, Pathify remains hyper-focused on creating stellar experiences across the entire student lifecycle—from prospects to alumni. Delivering cloud-based, integration-friendly technology designed to drive engagement, Pathify pushes personalized information, content, and resources to the right people, at the right time—on any device. Led by a team of former higher ed executives, builders, and technology leaders, the team at Pathify focuses every day on the company’s core values of Impact, Wit, Contrast, Technique and Care. Learn more at pathify.com.

    Source: Pathify

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