What Does AI Mean for the Future of the Student Experience?
The arrival of new AI tools seems to be transforming the higher education sector. With the launch of generative AI tools, such as ChatGPT and Bard, many thought leaders in the sector have ruminated on how this form of AI will impact aspects of the student experience such as student assessment and curriculum design .
While ChatGPT may be a new tool, the influence of AI in the higher education landscape is not a new development. And, AI’s potential is already being realised in certain areas; for example, the use of automation in HE marketing, or the use of chatbots to provide information and support to students.
And the specific problems that AI tools like ChatGPT present aren’t new either. As former Vice Chancellor and Principal of the University of Edinburgh, Tim O’Shea, pointed out in a recent HEPI blog, student assessment has become an increasingly important battlefield in maintaining academic integrity as students have become more confident and competent at using digital resources such as Google.
However, on the flipside, integrating AI into higher education might mean greater impact and ease for some professionals, such as HE marketers and student support services. For example, HE marketers can take advantage of automation in their student recruitment campaigns. Meanwhile, student services who are struggling with resourcing can use chatbots to answer students’ questions and direct them to the appropriate source of support.
While we can’t be certain how quickly or efficiently these AI tools will grow, what’s certain is that the impact of AI will have significant ramifications for the student experience. In this article, we summarise the pivotal ways that AI is expected to transform – or may even already be transforming – the student experience and the work of professionals who seek to enhance or improve it.
Marketing and Recruitment
The first point at which a (potential) student engages with a higher education provider is during the recruitment campaign. This is a crucial moment as it sets students’ expectations for their university experience and can, as a result, impact how satisfied they are on the other side.
The growth of AI has already had a significant impact on the way universities market their offering and recruit students. Many institutions already use chatbots to answer prospective student enquiries or implement automation in their marketing campaigns. This is radically transforming the way prospective students research and engage with universities, ultimately playing into the decision-making process and impacting where students choose to apply and enrol.
The use of predictive analytics is also affecting how universities engage with prospects. For example, HE marketers might use predictive analytics to identify the impact of their campaign according to a specific geographic area or demographic, allowing them to assess whether to enhance or decrease their efforts. It can also enhance the student experience by identifying prospects who would be a good match for the university using a range of different variables.
Yet with opportunities also come challenges. With the arrival of open access generative AI tools, such as ChatGPT, there are rising concerns that students will utilise the tool to generate personal statements. This has increased concerns that students might be ‘wrongly’ matched with institutions on academic merit or interests, affecting the student experience at large. After all, if a student is not the right fit for an institution, it’s unlikely that they’re going to end up satisfied with their experience.
It will be interesting to see how this develops in tandem with UCAS’s plans to reform the use of the personal statement in university applications.
Overall, AI in HE marketing has several implications for the student experience. With new technology comes the opportunity to better match students to a university according to their ambitions and abilities. It may even inadvertently enhance progression rates, as algorithms enable HE marketers to identify what prospective students are more likely to succeed in their course and go on to graduate.
Teaching, Learning and Assessment
The loudest alarm bells raised about the growth of AI across the HE sector have concerned how it will affect teaching, learning and, especially assessment. Some fear for the way students could use tools like ChatGPT to complete assignments while others point to the limitations of the software, such as its inability to cite sources correctly or develop evidence-based arguments.
Yet generative AI also has the potential to enhance teaching and learning. For example, this might include:
Developing creative approaches to curriculum design, as Catherine Chambers has argued on HE Professional
Harnessing learning analytics and data to drive personalisation in the learning experience, identify ‘at risk’ students and drive student engagement
Using AI-powered technology to support professional development across academic and professional services colleagues, which can lead to enhanced delivery for students
Creating learning opportunities that are interactive (like chatbots and virtual tutors) and accessible (for example, speech recognition and text-to-speech converters)
Considering how the use of generative AI tools by students might signal potential ways that teaching and learning could be improved, so that students feel confident navigating assessments independently
Guiding students on how they might use AI to develop critical thinking skills, encouraging a culture of transparency and indicating how it can be used as a starting point (rather than a means to an end)
So, despite concerns surrounding assessment, it’s clear that AI provides a lot of scope to transform the student experience in many beneficial ways. Working with AI-powered technology, rather than against it, is key to ensuring this has the most favourable impact.
Employability and Careers
If the HE sector has been heavily impacted by the rise of AI, this is even more true of the world of work. There are growing concerns that AI might make some roles obsolete, while other commentators point towards the potential of AI to create new roles and make the ‘human touch’ an ever more employable attribute.
In this context, employability professionals will be called upon to provide support to students that helps them to navigate an employment market increasingly changed by the use of AI and build desirable skills to be successful within in. Some key areas of consideration include:
Preparing students for graduate life with a focus on supporting them to develop the skills that AI can’t replicate. For example, this could include the emotional intelligence required to navigate stakeholder relations and maintain good working relationships with colleagues.
Instructing students on how they might use generative AI to support them in applications, whilst also making them aware of the limitations of this approach.
Galvanising AI technology to help students to cultivate employable skills. A recent initiative by Jisc saw several institutions trial the use of AI and VR to support students in developing communication, teamwork and interview skills across several modules.
Adapting for the way that employers may be using AI in their own recruitment processes and making sure students are prepared. A recent study by the Institute of Student Employers (ISE) found this to be a growing trend and identified areas in which students were ill prepared for this, such as asynchronous interviews.
A careers service that supports students in developing the right skills and awareness for an evolving job market are crucial for student success and satisfaction – especially as students increasingly cite good graduate outcomes and employability as important to their university experience.
Student Support Services
With a growing number of students reporting mental health conditions, disabilities and financial hardship, student support services are coming under immense pressure across the sector. With limited resources and time, AI might offer some attractive solutions that can at once take pressure off student services, reduce administrative burden and support students.
An interesting example of AI technology being put to use in a student services function is The Open University’s use of Taylor, a digital assistant that enables new students to disclose disabilities.
After consulting their disabled students, the OU identified that the extra administrative burden placed on disabled students in disclosing their disability via series of forms was having a negative impact on their experience. In response, they developed the software, which functions with a range of bespoke features including the option to enable speech conversation, respond to and ask questions to verify the veracity of information before it is submitted, and to speed up or slow down on request.
The feedback from this initiative was overwhelmingly positive, with 65% of participants stating that they preferred using Taylor to the existing process. Not only that, but the success of the project has sparked interest in how similar technology can be used elsewhere across the university.
Having been put to use across other fields of HE, chatbots have great potential to transform the way student support is delivered. Not only can chatbots provide support and responses 24/7, but they can also answer enquiries and questions to reduce the burden on support staff.
Similarly, AI has the potential to improve student retention. A recent example saw a university in the US use predictive modelling to identify students at risk of dropping out based on data concerning engagement, attendance and academic performance. This information was then used to deliver tailored, early interventions to support those students.
Of course, there are limitations to this. Bots cannot replicate the impact that a face-to-face conversation can have for a struggling student and the technology isn’t foolproof. While predictive analytics can identify problems based on one variable, it can struggle to identify more complex situation – so, if a student is less engaged because of multiple factors, such as academic difficulty or financial hardship, predictive analytics may not be able to indicate this. And, of course, not all students who are struggling will necessarily experience a dip in attendance or achievement.
Despite these limitations, it’s important to understand how the development of these technologies will continue to impact the student experience and identify areas in which they can support increasingly under resourced services in supporting students.
The Future of the Student Experience
It’s clear that AI is transforming the HE landscape. While some may highlight the challenges, there is significant evidence to indicate that AI tools can be harnessed to deliver a university experience that is more supportive and fulfils the needs of students. This is true of the entire student journey, from engaging them as a prospect to seeing them through to graduation.
Importantly, as the reflections in this article have suggested, AI should be harnessed not to replace the work that humans do across the HE sector, but to enhance it and provide support where necessary. Being aware of the growing developments in technology and understanding some of the impacts this means for delivery and the ethical concerns it poses is a great starting point.
