Abstract

This IDC Perspective discusses how educators are seeking to build what IDC defines as a "responsive education institution" — an education institution that is equipped with the tools, information, and human capacity to enable faculty/staff to provide high-quality educational and wraparound support that proactively meets the individual needs of all learners in all situations.

Enhancing student success efforts and addressing the mental health and well-being crisis in education is top of mind for educators around the world. In the past few years, IDC has seen a significant increase in interest from education leaders in identifying solutions that can enable faculty and staff to provide more timely, personalized, and holistic services to students/learners. Overall, their institutions are seeking to take a proactive, rather than reactive, posture in providing services to get ahead of student challenges before they become a crisis.

In response to this demand, IDC set out to conduct in-depth research to get a clear understanding of the challenges that prevent institutions from being more responsive to learners in their time of need and to identify critical technical capabilities that can enable institutions to be more responsive. The goal of this research is to offer a clear definition of what a "responsive education institution" looks like, identify best practice examples, and provide education leaders with practical guidance for how to build a responsive education institution. This research was informed by interviews with K-12 and higher education leaders as well as education technology vendors.

"Education leaders around the world are balancing the need to advance student success efforts while addressing the student well-being crisis," said Matthew Leger, research manager for IDC's Worldwide Education Digital Strategies research program. "IDC's framework for a responsive education institution is designed to help guide education leaders through the technological and institutional transformation required to provide learner-centric, wraparound support to each individual student in their time of need."

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