How We Can Make Education More Accessible?
According to David Yoo, APC’s Founder and Managing Director, algorithms are the key to making education more accessible. Algorithms don’t just belong to the world of AI. We use simple algorithms and logic every day. From creating a shopping list for out-of-stock items for our homes to designing the policies that influence the inputs and outputs of our education systems. By focusing on high-quality inputs and the process of selecting those inputs, David hopes to create meaningful experiences for students throughout their learning journey.
Focus on the Process
Every decision that we make at APC has to be student centred. Will our refund or course progress policy stop a student from being globally and socially mobile? Will it help or hinder their future opportunities? Is the time we take and the manner in which we respond helping or hindering their objectives? If it doesn’t serve the student, get rid of it. That’s how our policies are written.
How do we measure student success? We ask students if they were engaged if they enjoyed their studies, and if they gained something from their experience. For example, when students come here from another country, they might arrive with certain expectations. However, their experience can be so different and that’s learning.
We want these intercultural experiences and the meeting of different minds to be accessible. That’s why we care so much about tracking the right metrics and designing policies in a student-centric way. If we can get the algorithm right, we can allocate our resources more effectively and ensure that our cost of delivery is kept low, making quality education more accessible. We constantly look at any friction that’s caused by our policies, because like algorithms, once we set them, we shouldn’t forget them.
Create a Community
A lot of our international students don’t have the same social capital as domestic students. So, we help to create networks accessible for all of our students and open up doors for them. That’s why we have created programs like ProjectBase. If they have one more connection that they didn’t have before they started with APC, then we have done part of our job. It’s not just about getting the qualification. It’s about getting in front of someone who can give them the job or the experience to get into it.
Learn and Unlearn
Our educators and students bring a lot of cultural baggage. We all have preconceived expectations of what educational experiences should be. That’s why we ensure that we are always caring for our students, staff, and ourselves. This helps us to not be bound by things from the past. We focus on what we can do for the student now to enhance their potential. That’s one of the reasons why over 15 years ago, we got rid of all exams and tests. We want our students to have experiences, to have meaningful opportunities that help them to reach their full potential.
Push Beyond What’s Required
We revisit our policies regularly to ensure they’re relevant to the student, not just our institution. Compliance is generally more relevant to the institution, but as any entrepreneur will tell you, a business that focuses on compliance requirements alone is a business to be doomed.
We’re here to push beyond what’s required and to balance that with accessibility. In everything we do, we think about the benefits to the student and ensure that what we’re providing are truly transformative experiences. They should be leaving us with more opportunities than when they started their journey with us.
Learn More
If you want to learn how to access meaningful education opportunities at APC, contact our friendly Student Care Team. You can reach out using the Live Chat feature below, in person at one of our campuses, or via our online contact page.
