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Et4e registrations open
The impressive line-up of international speakers includes Frank Catalano of Intrinsic Strategy, who will bring a US-based view of edtech trends, and Hong Kong and Japan-based Allison Baum of Fresco Capital who will cover edtech investment in the high growth Asian region.
Of equally high calibre are the local speakers and panellists: Frances Valintine of The Mind Lab by Unitec will inspire delegates with her use of technology and global approach, and Education Perfect’s CEO and 2014 Internet Entrepreneur of the Year, Craig Smith, will contribute to the panel discussion on developing products and services in response to demand. Sharing tips on how to tackle export markets will be the focus for two panels made up of experienced exporters such as South Pacific Press, ADInstruments/Kura Cloud and more recent entrants to the world of exporting such as Kiwa Digital, as well as successful start-ups such as Boardingware.
The diverse and entrepreneurial edtech community is made of up education publishers, game developers, ICT companies and educationalists and the et4e conference provides great opportunities for making connections. Delegates are often on the lookout for new ideas and partners to collaborate with. An educational publisher who attended the first et4e conference in 2013 was inspired to form a new company with a game developer. In the space of two years, this has led to the launch and export of a new early childhood literacy product, Bud-E Reading.
Et4e is organised by Education New Zealand and Grow Wellington in recognition of the edtech sector’s growing contribution to export growth in international education. New Zealand’s high quality and innovative education system, combined with its entrepreneurial and creative culture, is the perfect ecosystem for the development of leading-edge edtech products and services. Huffington Post recently cited the Hamilton-based company, CodeAvengers, as one of its top ten online learning sites to watch in 2015. CodeAvengers founder Michael Walmsley Jr. will be a panellist at this year’s conference.
Educational Technology is an exciting and growing sector – it is currently worth $86 billion globally and is forecast to grow to $257 billion by 2017. Find out more about et4e 2015 and take advantage of the early bird tickets.
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Massey study abroad programme a big hit
Greg Huff, Manager of Student Mobility, said 38 students from the United States (US) have signed up for this year’s National Expedition and Internship, up from the first year tally of seven.
Education New Zealand provided financial support through the International Education Growth Fund to help kick-start the programme.
The expedition and internship, which can be selected separately or together during June and July, hosts students for two weeks’ travel through New Zealand followed by a four week internship in Hawke’s Bay while earning university credits. Massey's six week study abroad programme takes place during the US summer holidays and is equivalent to earning half a semester's worth of credits that can be transferred back to their home university.
This customised study abroad experience provides opportunities for students studying agriculture, agribusiness, environmental science and wildlife management to gain hands-on professional experience relevant to their degree.
The current programme has proven to be so successful Massey will next year offer a programme targeting students studying journalism, public relations, advertising, media studies, marketing and communications. Details are still being developed but it is likely to be based in Wellington.
Greg is promoting the programmes at NAFSA (National Association of International Educators – previously foreign student advisers).
While Massey is focusing its recruiting efforts on the United States, students from any country are welcome to attend. Some international students studying in the US have chosen to come on this programme.
Massey is also looking to start a third programme in 2017.
“We’re looking at programmes that are complementary so they do not cannibalise each other. We are very pleased with the interest shown by students.”
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Catching up with the Canadians – news for the school sector
“Everyone knows that Canada is a key competitor for NZ’s school sector,” Mary says. “I wanted to find out more about their success and learn about the challenges they face”.
“Many of the people I met were surprised to learn that NZ hosts about 16,000 international school students – punching above our weight internationally when compared with Australia’s 18,000 – but still a long way from Canada’s 46,000 enrolments! Nevertheless Canada does see Australia and NZ as its main competitors offshore.”
The theme of the Conference was Collaborating to Educate Tomorrow’s Global Citizens. It was attended by 250 delegates from across Canada. Delegates represent school districts or boards, so each delegate could be working with 10 or 50 schools.
International speakers at the conference noted New Zealand’s recent increased profile and activity level in the school sector, citing government support and the establishment of SIEBA as positive developments.
“We are developing a relationship with CAPS-I, with both sides keen to explore potential collaboration” says Mary.
“During my visit I learnt a lot about Canada’s school international education industry. They draw from many of the same markets we do, but as you might expect NZ is stronger (relatively speaking) in South East Asia while Canada is stronger in Latin America.
“There is very little federal government support for Canadian schools’ international business, because education is a provincial responsibility. Canadian schools are committed to delivering high quality student experiences, but they don’t have a Code of Practice equivalent to regulate high professional standards.”
Mary will be sharing more about her learnings on Canada at a pre-conference workshop at NZIEC 2015.
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Inbound expertise – host an intern from South and Southeast Asia
ENZ recently announced a competition to drive greater awareness of New Zealand in India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, and Viet Nam. The competition, which is now open, invites students currently enrolled in undergraduate programmes in business, marketing or related disciplines at selected institutions, to submit a marketing strategy.
The strategy must promote New Zealand as an education destination in the student’s own country over a 12 month period. The students must illustrate how it will form part of an overarching three-year strategy with an indicative budget and clear details around return on investment. We will be looking for creative, critical and innovative strategies which demonstrate new thinking and fresh ideas in line with ENZ’s ‘Think New’ brand values.
ENZ welcomes expressions of interest from providers who are looking to grow their engagement with any or all of the five markets and who are keen to host one or more interns for up to four weeks in July or August this year. ENZ is fully-funding the programme and is looking to partner with providers who can ideally manage the internship process from start to finish. We are also very interested in having providers participate in the selection of the competition winners noting the competition closes 6 June for India and 8 June for South East Asia. Winners will be announced 19 June.
If you are interested in taking up this opportunity to benefit from new perspectives and understanding market nuances from a fresh angle, please send through an email by 10am Tuesday 2 June to Francesca.Hilbron@enz.govt.nz with a summary of your market interests and preferred country or countries, activity or projects that could engage an intern, and confirmation that you are likely to be able to host during the July/August period.
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Eighteen million views and counting
Yichen is a cartoonist with five million followers on Weibo. (Weibo is one of the most popular social media platforms in China. A mix of Twitter and Facebook, it’s used by more than 30% of Chinese internet users.)
Yichen was accompanied by a team from Sina.Com. A multimedia outlet, Sina.Com owns Sina Weibo (which hosts Yichen’s account). Its education outlet, Sina Education, was the first professional education-focused online media platform in China. An interactive campaign involving Sina Education; Yichen’s dedicated visit Weibo account and her own personal account, and ENZ’s Weibo account, ensured maximum profiling of this visit on these channels.
The group visited eight institutions in Dunedin, Otago and Queenstown to raise the profile of the South Island as a study destination.
“Yichen’s followed by millions in China for her quirky and positive cartoons and posts about life. She began sharing her work on Weibo when a student at Tianjin Normal University, and has gone from strength to strength since then. Her work is clever, creative and innovative – all qualities that speak to the way that we seek to position and profile New Zealand education,” says Regional Director – Greater China Alex Grace.
“What better way to grow awareness and build preference for New Zealand than inviting Ding Yichen and Sina.com here to truly experience studying in the South.”
From the trip, Yichen produced posts illustrating her New Zealand experiences, which have been viewed 18 million times to date, and Sina.com are publishing content about New Zealand on a specific mini site.
Alex says giving the group a taste of New Zealand’s course content by doing – rather than just showing or telling – made all the difference.
Yichen took part in an animation taster class, took a cooking class, delved into winemaking, and drew with our students.”
“I encourage providers hosting international guests to think about how they can make their visits stand out by ‘doing’, as well as telling and showing. Kiwi students learn by doing, and our guests are here to understand us and our education system better. Let’s make it memorable!” says Alex.
The trip was part of Education New Zealand’s visiting media programme, which brings international media to New Zealand from targeted print, online and broadcast organisations.
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INAKL ambassadors welcome
It is an exciting milestone for the INAKL programme, which is a key project for Auckland Tourism, Events and Economic Development – which drives the growth of the international education through its specialist team Study Auckland.
The ambassadors will regularly blog about their experiences as an international student in Auckland on a new site which went live this week.
Ketaki Khare was among the ambassadors who were formally announced by Auckland Mayor Len Brown at an international student function held at Auckland Zoo last month.
As well as being a student ambassador, Ketaki is among 10 Indian students awarded the New Zealand Prime Minister’s Sports Scholarships for 2015. She is a member of the Indian women’s rugby team, is India’s first female rugby referee and the first Indian woman to pursue a professional career in rugby.
Ketaki Khare says: “Being an INAKL International Student Ambassador is an amazing opportunity to view this magical city in all its glory and it gives me immense pleasure to be able to write about all my experiences.”
Birgit Hermann, Project Manager – International Student Experience, says: “The ambassadors’ role is to experience everything Auckland has to offer and talk about them to international students who are here or may come here.”
The event at Auckland Zoo was the second in a series of INAKL events organised by Study Auckland for the region’s international student community. Some international students also enjoyed an INAKL group attendance at an Auckland Blues rugby game last month, and a recent Immigration New Zealand seminar about how they could potentially make Auckland their permanent home.
The programme kicked off with the resoundingly successful International Student Welcome held at The Cloud in March, which attracted about 2,400 students.
“The recent immigration seminar was fully subscribed within 10 hours and the INAKL Facebook site reached more than 2000 likes this week. The programme is achieving great results, but we would like to see it continue to grow and benefit students,” says Birgit.
For further information please visit aucklandnz.com/inakl or contact inakl@aucklandnz.com.
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You’re invited: Minister’s Latin America insights
There will be an opportunity for asking questions and networking.
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Apply on Behalf explained
The service, which goes live early next week, will allow third parties to lodge visa applications on behalf of students.
Different versions of the flyer have been produced for education agents applying offshore, and for education providers.
Education agents are legally allowed to provide immigration advice to offshore student visa applicants only. Education providers can help students complete and upload the forms online, but they are not allowed to provide immigration advice.
To use Apply on Behalf, education agents and providers need to create their own Immigration ONLINE account on the Immigration New Zealand website.
The account shows a summary list of applications and PDF versions of application forms and supporting documents that third parties submit to Immigration ONLINE on behalf of students.
A third version of the information flyer, for students, updates the one produced when online applications became available for students last August.
Later this year, eVisas – passport-free and label-less visas – will be available to students from visa-waiver countries (these are countries whose citizens do not need a visa to travel to New Zealand).
Also later in 2015, education providers will be able to view their students’ visa status through Immigration New Zealand’s VisaView service.
Download the online application flyers:
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South Canterbury welcomes Thai agent
What was the purpose of Pear’s visit to South Canterbury?
Education South Canterbury is working on developing an MOU with Thai schools introduced to us by Pear. She was in South Canterbury specifically to familiarise herself with our schools and to experience the region as the students do. She visited each of Education South Canterbury’s member schools and met with students at each one.
How did Pear’s visit fit in with Education South Canterbury’s goals?
Thailand is a focus market and an important and valuable partner for Education South Canterbury.
In the Education South Canterbury strategic plan we are working to develop capability and support the government goals for 2025.
As we are developing an MOU with schools in Thailand that Pear works with, we felt that the familiarisation visit would give her a strong understanding of the educational experiences offered by institutions and the student lifestyle here in the region.
Education South Canterbury was delighted to give Pear a first-hand experience of the region, so that she can support and promote the special features of the programmes that we offer.
What did Pear see and experience during her visit?
Pear’s visit started with a welcome dinner with the members of Education South Canterbury and included a lunch hosted by the Mayor.
We wanted to give Pear the opportunity to experience the activities that our students take part in while studying in the region – she went to a country cafe complete with farmyard animals, and mini golf and afternoon tea with Thai students currently studying at a local school and Aoraki Polytechnic.
Pear visited the Te Ana Rock Art Centre and was very impressed with the cultural history of the region
Unfortunately, the planned trip to Tekapo for a jet boat ride had to be cancelled due to gale force winds! So, that gave her first-hand experience of New Zealand’s changeable weather patterns.
Pear stayed in Geraldine and Timaru, getting a taste of both town and country lifestyles, and experiencing both homestay and motel accommodation, further strengthening her insights in to the student and parent experience.
What did Pear enjoy most?
Pear really enjoyed the chance to meet all of the Education South Canterbury members and develop relationships with the International Directors at each of the institutions.
She loved meeting the current students and felt their enthusiasm and honest feedback was really valuable.
In Geraldine Pear loved looking at the stars after we had been out for a meal. With no light pollution she had some great views of the Milky Way – the clear night air almost magnifies the vista. This is something Pear just doesn’t get to see in the large cities of Thailand.
What did you learn about Thailand from Pear?
All Education South Canterbury members are familiar with Thailand and have visited regularly, so we were especially pleased to get specific information about the schools we are dealing with and the expectations around our MOU from the Thai schools’ perspective. We really appreciated Pear’s forthrightness in working through the specifics of the process.
How are you maintaining the relationship now that Pear’s gone home?
We have been in regular email contact with Pear since her return to Thailand, and we are planning an Education South Canterbury group delegation visit in early September to see Pear and visit NZ Study.
What do you see as unique about South Canterbury education and culture?
In South Canterbury we don’t just do international education, we internationalise our education.
South Canterbury offers an authentic small town Kiwi experience, where all students are known in the school and warmly embraced by the wider community. Students get an individual and intimate experience – they are all made to feel special and develop lifelong friendships with Kiwi students and homestay families.
The experience is very much a two-way exchange between the international students and the Kiwi students. The visiting students opened our Kiwi students’ eyes to their lifestyle, culture and life experiences… so becoming the educators of our students!
South Canterbury is “New Zealand at your back door”. We offer beaches, mountains, rivers and diverse landscapes – outdoor excitement with a sense of security. In South Canterbury, you can travel from the Southern Alps to the ocean in two hours or less.
Students in Education South Canterbury schools learn in the environment. Field trips and outdoor pursuits take them out into the real New Zealand and they are immersed in the environment they are learning about.
Students in South Canterbury schools can embrace the arts – music and theatre, orchestras, brass bands and sing in New Zealand award-winning choral groups.
No matter what students want to pursue, South Canterbury offers the opportunity!
L – R: Julie McLean, Pear and Mayor of Timaru, Damon Odey
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Learning on the land – Semillero Rural students arrive
Semillero Rural, the Chilean Ministry of Agriculture's scholarship scheme for vocational students from the regions of Chile, enables students from agricultural schools to learn new skills, develop their English language capabilities and apply their new knowledge by working on a New Zealand dairy farm or in fruit production.
Students then return to apply their new skills at home.
This year 18 students are enrolled in programmes at the National Trade Academy (NTA) and 14 students are studying at Otago Polytechnic in Cromwell.
“The 18 students enrolled with NTA are participating in an English plus Agriculture Programme,” says Craig. “The programme consists of six weeks of learning English, including agriculture terminology, and developing knowledge of health and safety, milk production, fencing, animal husbandry, pasture management and more.
“The students enjoy visiting local farms, learning to ride motorbikes and quad bikes, and learning new fencing skills. The biggest difference between farms in Chile and here in Canterbury is the scale of farming. In spite of New Zealand being a much smaller country, our farms are much bigger in terms of land area, the number of cows milked and the use of technology to improve production.”
During trips to recruit students and build the programme, Craig’s learnt to build relationships first and to be flexible.
“You can’t just take a programme over to Chile and say this is it. We need to be flexible and ask what would work for them,” he advises.
“The other point is to be patient. Nothing happens overnight as there is a process that has to occur. However, once you get final approval it will happen quickly so, as a business, you have to be ready to act. Feedback is also important and you will need to visit the market more than once to build relationships and trust.”
“In my view it is better to look for partner organisations, such as institutions with similar courses, who can promote NZ study opportunities to their graduates, who can then follow up with agents as to enrolments. Chilean parents are fully involved with the whole process and they like to be able to know who they are dealing with,” he adds.
In 2008, NTA contracted a person in Chile to act as their representative, a move that has expanded their network of contacts and proved highly successful.
“The support of New Zealand Trade and Enterprise and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade in the early years was critical, as is the more recent support of ENZ as they understand the market and can assist with introductions that we likely couldn’t make ourselves.”
The ‘Semillero Rural’ scholarship was the pilot for the Primary Sector Training Visa recently approved in New Zealand for Chile.
