Search
Showing 10 of 7183 results
-
International education adds value across New Zealand
The reports follow theEconomic Impact of International Education 2015/16 released in November 2016. While that research looked at the New Zealand-wide picture, the latest reports, commissioned by ENZ, detail mean living costs and tuition fees, the number of jobs supported and contribution to GDP in specific regions – covering Northland, Bay of Plenty (including Tauranga and Rotorua), Taranaki, Manawatu-Whanganui, Hawke’s Bay, Nelson Marlborough, Otago (including Dunedin and Queenstown) and Southland.
As well as economic gain, the social and cultural benefits of international education have also been felt across the country – among students, teachers, families, businesses and communities.
MetOcean Solutions, a Taranaki-based company specialising in oceanography and marine forecasting, has found enormous help in Mariana, an international student from Brazil. Dr Malene Felsing, MetOcean Solutions Science Communications, said Mariana’s cultural insights have been a big help for the company, which exports to South America.
“Having Mariana on hand to tell us about the culture there, what kind of marketing people respond to, and how to foster relationships has been very helpful – and the fact that she speaks Portuguese is an added bonus,” said Felsing.
In Whanganui, Rosie Austin, Director of International Students at Whanganui Collegiate School, said international students contribute to the wider community as well as within the school.
“As members of the school choir, youth orchestra and jazz band, our international students are out and about performing for the local community. Some play in the Whanganui Orchestra, one has been invited to play in the New Zealand Junior Symphony Orchestra, and another in the recent International Flute symposium in Christchurch.”
In Tauranga, Janelle and Brendan Mark are one of countless host families who welcome international students into their home each year. The Marks are currently hosting Aki, a 16-year-old from Japan, who Janelle and Brendan’s children, aged 8 and 12, particularly enjoy having in the home.
“Aki has already taught them some Japanese and how to make origami," said Janelle.
“She is a big part of our family and is going to be a hard one to let go of at the airport in December. Though I have no doubt we’ll do it again next year. It is a huge responsibility taking care of someone else’s child, but it’s a wonderful and rewarding experience.”
-
Around the world in five
CHINA
Why international scholarship programmes are flocking to Asia
In this new era of globalisation, China seems poised to assume a greater leadership role in world affairs. Many fellowship foundations, university leaders and students have recognised this shift and, as a result, international student numbers in China have skyrocketed from 100,000 in 2004 to 400,000 in 2015. It is important that universities support any students keen to study in China by encouraging them to apply their interests during their undergraduate years – including acquiring language skills.
CANADA
Canadian college builds app to help international students settle in
Nova Scotia Community College (NSCC) is building an app to guide its first-time international students to Canada with practical living information from housing to clothes. The app will act alongside its website and orientation sessions to better relay information about life on campus and in Canada.
RUSSIA
Russia to simplify visas, boost international student quota to 200,000
The Russian government has upped its international student quota for universities to 200,000 and put in place plans to simplify visas for students. The plans are part of an ongoing drive to boost the global profile of Russian higher education. The number of scholarships awarded to international students to study at Russian universities will also rise from 15,000 to 20,000, covering both tuition fees and a monthly stipend.
U.S.A
A pause in international students?
A new survey reveals that four in 10 U.S. colleges have experienced a decline in international applicants for the Fall 2017 term. The survey of around 250 colleges and universities was conducted in February, and more than three-quarters of institutions surveyed expressed concern about future enrolment. The most significant decline in applicants came from the Middle East, with a reported 39 percent decrease in undergraduate applications and a 31 percent decrease in graduate applications.
GLOBAL
Cultural experience the big driver of study abroad for Generation Z
A new global survey of more than 5,000 students in 27 countries found that six in 10 students between 13 and 18 years old have considered study abroad, with the main motivation being to seek out new cultural experiences – contrasting motivations among college-aged students, who demonstrate a much stronger focus on employability and employment outcomes.
-
Successful Brazil media famil
Media familiarisation trips are a great way for journalists from our key markets to develop a better understanding of New Zealand’s education system, possible study options, and the experiences of international students.
The journalists received a warm welcome from education providers in Wellington, Canterbury, Hawke's Bay and Auckland – thank you very much to everyone involved. Special thanks also to our regional education partners, especially Brook Pannell (Wellington), Bree Loverich (Canterbury), Steph Kennard (Hawke’s Bay) and Nick Arnott (Auckland).
Sylvia Santos, Maths Tutor at Ara, brought the journalists home-baked Pão de Queijo (Brazilian Cheese Bread)
There were around 3,000 Brazilian students in New Zealand in 2015, and on this trip the journalists met Brazilian students and staff everywhere they went – which was a great way to build relationships and showcase the opportunities for students here.
The famil is a long-term investment in promoting international education – but two very positive articles have already been published by Camila on Exame.com, the online content and news portal of Exame Magazine, which is the largest and most influential business and economy publication in Brazil:
Esta é a cidade da Nova Zelândia mais promissora para engenheiros (This is the most promising city for engineers)
A Nova Zelândia quer atrair mais profissionais de tecnologia (New Zealand wants to attract more technology professionals)
Lyn Garrett, Senior Lecturer and Major Coordinator for Industrial Design at Massey Wellington with Camila and Luiza in the workshop
The new Engineering Core at University of Canterbury displayed a special welcome sign for the group
Julia Kowalski, international student from Brazil, and Charlotte Taurima-Thomas, Head of Māori Students, showing the journalists how to hongi during a powhiri at Taradale High School.
Camila, Luiza, Steph Kennard and Tales prepare for a brief wine tasting at EIT
Luiza chats with Brazilian students Susana do Nascimento and Rene Souza, hosted by ATEED
-
NZ firm a finalist in global EdTech 2017 Awards
"We're delighted," said Lift Education Publishing Manager Matt Comeskey. Lift Education is a division of South Pacific Press Limited.
Matt described CSIPrivate Eye as "an online series of solve-as-you-read mysterious, interactive adventures".
Lift Education Publishing Manager Matt Comeskey
"It is aimed at engaging students in years 4–9 in reading and writing, while boosting their literacy and critical thinking skills. Students travel back and forward in time, and use fun digital tools to navigate their way through each adventure," said Matt.
Mysterious topics include a 'forgotten' moon landing, a disappearing pharaoh, an ancient terracotta army, a remarkable castaway tale and a New Zealand mystery – The Ship that Time Forgot. Each online experience contains science, history, geography, maths, and more.
"In addition to learning about fascinating topics, students use their close-reading skills and strategies, vocabulary acquisition, and reading fluency to engage with the texts. They also write and record their observations and predictions online as they gather evidence."
CSI Private Eye was made available to schools in early 2016. To date, about 25,000 student accounts have been allocated across seven countries, with approximately 400 schools/700 classes signed up to either a trial or a paid subscription.
So far, six interactive adventures have been developed, along with comprehensive writing lessons, teacher support, adventure walkthrough documents, and curriculum correlations for New Zealand, Australia, the US, UK and Hong Kong.
Matt said feedback had been overwhelmingly positive, with one principal saying his students' engagement was "off the scale" particularly for boys.
He put this down to several factors including the tool's story-telling approach, interactivity, high quality visual content, and the fact it was browser-based (no software downloads required).
CSI Private Eye development was enabled with a $50,000 match funding grant from Education New Zealand via the IEGF fund. This allowed for the illustration and technical development of each adventure.
Matt said his company planned many more adventures in the CSI Private Eye series.
"We want to build a large library of stories from around the world, accessible in several languages and at various difficulty levels."
Winners of the EdTech Digest Awards will be announced before end of March 2017.
Video: https://tinyurl.com/zm8y2yr
Demo and free trial (NZ) www.csi-literacy.nz/demo
Demo and free trial (US) www.csi-privateeye.com
-
Students flocking to Study in New Zealand website
SiNZ is now the top-ranking site in Google results for people in the UK, US, India, Thailand and Viet Nam when they search ‘studying in New Zealand’. It also ranks highly for ‘cost of living New Zealand’ and ‘universities in New Zealand’.
From December 2016 to January 2017, organic (unpaid) traffic to SiNZ increased by 24%, which means that the site is easier to find online. The SiNZ pages driving the most organic traffic include Scholarships, Study options and Work while you study.
Lucia Alarcon, ENZ’s International Digital Project Manager, said SEO (search engine optimisation) is a long-term strategy that helps make the site increasingly easy to find online.
"Having a SEO strategy helps to drive the right traffic to studyinnewzealand.govt.nz, growing value and conversion opportunities,” said Lucia.
As a result of this work, the bounce rate (the percentage of visitors who leave the site after seeing only one page) dropped from 15% to 13% between December 2016 and January this year.
Organic visits from mobile phones have increased 61% since July last year, corresponding with an impressive 70% increase in referral conversions from mobile phones. The site has also had a 44% increase in organic visits from tablet devices since last July.
These results demonstrate the importance of the site in raising awareness of the benefits of studying in New Zealand and in increasing referrals to institutions.
Other work contributing to these results includes better use of insights to create more engaging content, and tighter integration of social media channels with SEO, which ensures a more secure website that meets Google’s mobile-friendly criteria.
-
Miriama Kamo returns to NZIEC
Miriama Kamo
“Miriama did such a great job emceeing last year’s conference that we’re delighted to have her return to NZIEC 2017,” says Sam Mackay, ENZ Strategic Projects Manager.
Miriama is presenter of TVNZ1’s flagship current affairs programme, Sunday, co-presents current affairs programme Marae, is a regular 1NEWS newsreader and is the host on TVNZ1’s new lifestyle programme, Kiwi Living.
“I learned so much from NZIEC 2016 that I’m coming back for more!” says Miriama.
“I’m looking forward to seeing everyone again at this year's conference.”
“Miriama will be joining us for the duration of conference and will bring her considerable interviewing talents to several breakout sessions,” says Sam.
“I’m sure Miriama will keep our panel participants on their toes!”
The 26th New Zealand International Education Conference and Expo will be held at the SkyCity Convention Centre in Auckland on 22 and 23 August 2017. Registrations will open in May.
For more information, check out www.nziec.co.nz and keep an eye out for our e-News updates.
-
ACG opens new International Welcome Centre
The centre opened at ACG’s Pathway Campus on Queen Street just two months ago and has already attracted lots of interest.
ACG Director of Marketing, International, Kim Harase, said the centre is open to anyone interested in exploring study opportunities at ACG.
“One family arrived in the country from Malaysia last week and came straight from the airport to talk to us about the right educational pathway for their son,” said Kim.
“We were there to provide personalised information to the family, organise campus tours of ACG vocational colleges, and enrol the young man into his chosen hospitality management course.”
The centre is open every day, and is manned by staff who speak multiple languages.
Kim said education is one of the largest investments and toughest decisions a parent will make, and they need to trust their chosen provider.
“We have a friendly and knowledgeable team to talk to each visitor about their background and goals and can help tailor an educational pathway that matches their needs and expectations,” said Kim.
“We want to provide the best possible experience to our customers – especially when their decision involves sending their child to New Zealand.”
-
NZQA consults on publishing statutory action
This is a move towards greater transparency and accountability.
Publishing this information would provide domestic and international students and the wider public with more complete and accurate information on any regulatory decisions made by NZQA in relation to the activities of a non-university tertiary education organisation or a signatory to the Education (Pastoral Care of International Students) Code of Practice 2016 (the Code).
Feedback from stakeholders will be analysed before NZQA provides a summary of findings and relevant decisions in June 2017.
This consultation is open until Friday 5 May 2017. More information can be found on the NZQA website.
-
New Zealand China Sister Schools Fund recipients announced
The announcement was made during Mr Goldsmith's visit to China this week.
The recipients were:
- Cambridge Primary School
- Owairoa Primary School
- Whanganui High School
- Fairfield College
- Onehunga High School
- Blockhouse Bay Primary School
- Glenfield Intermediate
- Wakaaranga Primary School
- Kirkwood Intermediate
- Howick Primary School
More information about the New Zealand China Sister Schools Fund can be found here.
-
Solar-powered street lamp wins Unitec solar sustainability challenge
Zheng’s winning design was a dual-facing street light which looks like a sturdy bamboo stalk.
Originally from the Hebei Province in China, Zheng is currently in his second year of a NZ Diploma of Engineering at Unitec.
Unitec lecturer Anthony Lai described Zheng’s design as being fascinating, with clean lines and great aesthetics.
“I was very impressed, and in my own thinking, he was in for a chance,” he said.
Zheng recently spent his summer break working for a solar-power company in China.
After graduating from Unitec, he would like to work as either an engineer or a teacher.
Zheng won $3000 towards his course costs.
Zheng Sibo’s top prize-winning 3D design of a solar-powered street lamp.
