Welcome to Interact’s new news roundup, where you will find the top headlines in education and MarTech. Here are the articles you don’t want to miss:
Education News
Kamala Harris Critiques Four-Year Degrees: ‘Our Nation Needs to Recognize the Value of Other Paths’
Pssst: Community colleges might become the top dogs for Democrats. At a recent rally, Vice President Harris said she would ensure Americans can climb the career ladder without needing a baccalaureate.
“For far too long, our nation has encouraged only one path to success: a four-year college degree,” said Harris. “Our nation needs to recognize the value of other paths, additional paths, such as apprenticeships and technical programs.”
Vice President Harris
Harris also plans to remove unnecessary degree requirements for federal jobs and encourages the private sector to follow suit.
As the article states, “Employer-focused groups welcomed the plan, which comes at a time when more employers are embracing a skills-based hiring approach and Americans overall are increasingly questioning the cost and value of higher education.”
At Interact, we’ve been talking for a long time about how students are increasingly questioning the value of a degree, especially our Gen Z demographics. It’s time for colleges to demonstrate their ROI, and we think our two-year institutions are uniquely poised to thrive, especially given the shift in the political conversation.
Read more on Inside Higher Ed: https://www.insidehighered.com/news/government/politics-elections/2024/09/18/harris-joins-calls-nondegree-pathways
Providing Safe Havens via ‘Safe Parking Programs’ for Homeless Students
In California, some schools, like Long Beach City College, are providing “safe parking programs” to help homeless students living in their cars. According to a Community College League of California report, two out of three California community college students struggle to meet their basic needs, and nearly three out of five are housing insecure.
While there has been some legislative talk of instituting a similar safe parking program statewide, a bill has not yet passed. Some issues include cost and liability risk.
Long Beach City College staff say the safe parking program is not in lieu of housing. Instead, it provides a safe short-term solution while students are connected to long-term housing resources. Last academic year, 24 students used the safe parking program, and half of them subsequently found housing.
The article goes on to explore the nuance and controversy of such programs at other colleges.
Read more on CalMatters: https://calmatters.org/education/2024/09/california-homeless-college-students/
Reducing Recidivism, Increasing Opportunities:
New Tablet-Delivered Education Will Help Incarcerated Students Earn High School Diplomas
Talk about technology for good: A new, free program is launching in U.S. prisons to help incarcerated students earn high school diplomas. The classes will be asynchronous and available through a partnership with a digital device supplier, an education tech company, and an online school based in South Florida. Seven hundred thousand tablets are already in use in nearly 2,000 prisons.
The program aims to help incarcerated students gain opportunities and greater earning potential while reducing recidivism.
Keri Watson, head of the Florida Prison Education Project at the University of Central Florida, said, “The more programs in as many modalities as possible, the better.”
Read more on AP News: https://apnews.com/article/prison-high-school-education-tablets-d8e8f844611383f86ffab6dd0d48c16e
Is COVID Stress Reducing Cognitive Skills of Students and Teachers?
Are weakened memory and decreased “flexible thinking” skills linked to the pandemic? A new working paper seems to think so. The research points to harmful brain changes due to stress, affecting students — and their teachers.
The study from the tutoring firm MindPrint Learning found that while all children across ages and economics were affected, the impact on younger children seems especially pronounced.
“Younger kids haven’t really developed a lot of these core cognitive skills,” Nancy Tsai of Harvard University said. “It hasn’t solidified for them, either through development or just through practice in the classroom. And so younger kids are more vulnerable to these pandemic shifts.”
Read more on The 74: https://www.the74million.org/article/exclusive-study-finds-covid-harmed-cognitive-skills-of-students-and-teachers/
Virtual Confusion: Survey Shows Students Unsure About College AI Policies
About a third of students are unsure if they are allowed to use AI in their coursework, according to Inside Higher Ed’s 2024 Student Voice survey. Of the students surveyed, 3,500 were from four-year schools, and 1,400 were from two-year institutions.
As the article states, “Experts say providing clear and transparent communication about when AI can or should be used in the classroom is critical and requires faculty buy-in and understanding of related tools.”
Many times, colleges lack a clear campuswide policy, letting each faculty member decide for their own classroom. That can lead to confusion, especially since instructors are divided on the issue.
Read more on Inside Higher Ed: https://www.insidehighered.com/news/student-success/academic-life/2024/09/16/college-students-uncertain-about-ai-policies
MarTech News
Google Ads Will Get a Makeover: From Video Action Campaigns to Demand Gen
What do marketers have to look forward to in 2025? Google Ads is consolidating its video action campaigns (VAC) to demand generation, allowing advertisers to take advantage of better reach and targeting.
If you’ve been using VAC, then get ready! You might see some big benefits from the new demand generation campaigns, which may increase conversions by as much as 20%. You’ll be able to use both video and image ads in the same campaign and hopefully enjoy better audience targeting with lookalike segments.
As the article says, “DoorDash reported a 15x higher conversion rate and a 50% more efficient CPA using Demand Gen compared to VAC.”
So, if you were a VAC customer in the past, get excited for the second quarter of 2025.
Read more on Search Engine Land: https://searchengineland.com/google-ads-to-upgrade-video-action-campaigns-to-demand-gen-in-2025-446250#:~:text=Google%20Ads%20is%20merging%20its,through%20a%20multi%2Dformat%20approach
TV Victory: YouTube Takes Top Television Viewing in July
Here at Interact, we’ve been saying for a long time that as far as social media goes, YouTube remains a sure bet. According to our Media Prefs data, only 16% of students nationally say that they “never” or “rarely” use the platform. So, YouTube gets plenty of eyes across all demographics.
And sure enough, YouTube is also topping the charts when it comes to TV viewing. A whopping 10.4% of American TV watching time happened on YouTube this July, the first time a streaming company has broken the 10% barrier of total American viewership in a single month.
Keep in mind, though, that a multiplatform approach is usually a smart strategy. After all, year-to-date numbers still rank Disney as the top TV distributor, garnering 11% of America’s tube time.
While broadcast viewing earned 20.3% and cable 26.7% of TV viewing, the streaming category scored 41.4%, a record high! So, if your college isn’t taking advantage of advertising on streaming platforms, now might be the time to give it a try.
Read more on Yahoo News: https://www.yahoo.com/news/youtube-accounts-10-4-tv-173244259.html
The 101 on Google Adtech’s Antitrust Trial
The tech giant Google is undergoing an antitrust trial for alleged monopolistic practices in adtech. The trial could lead to some big changes to come in digital marketing.
“The U.S. Department of Justice claimed that through acquisitions and anticompetitive conduct, Google seized control of the full advertising technology (“adtech”) stack: the tools advertisers and publishers buy and sell ads and the exchange that connects them,” reads the article.
On the other hand, the tech giant argues that several ad companies are competing in the space and claims that small businesses will suffer the most if Google loses.
The outcome? We might see big changes in Google; however, experts say that advertisers may be hurt. On the other hand, it’s possible that the trial might go in Google’s favor, and practices may remain the same.
CEO of Goodway Group Jay Friedman brought up a good point in his testimony, showing “Google’s inherent conflict of interest in controlling both the buy- and sell-side of the ad market.” Others say Google’s advertising practices could be unfair, opaque, and even prevaricatory.
The trial should last a few weeks, and if Google loses, they may face up to $100 billion in lawsuits.
Read more on MarTech: https://martech.org/google-adtech-antitrust-trial-everything-you-need-to-know/
Did you enjoy our news roundup? Please keep your eyes peeled: We hope to make On the Cutting Edge a regular feature! Want to be the first in line when Interact publishes useful tips and tricks, news, and best practices?
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