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Education is one of the few key sectors in which using AI creates an outcome for the customer that is “not only more efficient, but vastly superior” maintained Saigal, adding that for business schools, it represents the biggest disruption since the invention of the classroom. “The future of education is personalised and synthetic”, he concluded. Integrating applied psychology into the MBA Daniel Tuma, founder of the Made in Czechoslovakia Business School, discussed the need for future leaders to study psychology, as he said he believed this would help them deal with a number of pressing issues in the workplace today, including the clash between generations and an increase in mental health problems. He highlighted that the total cost of mental health disorders in Europe is estimated to be €240 billion a year, a figure that includes medical treatment as well as lost productivity, ie employee sick leave. Work‑related mental health problems can include stress disorders, burnout, anxiety, depression, fatigue, social phobias and panic attacks. Tuma then cited statistics showing that almost one in two Europeans between 15 and 24 years old have unmet mental healthcare needs, while the number of 18-to‑29‑year-olds reporting symptoms of depression more than doubled during the pandemic. Some 60 per cent of the world’s population is in work and in that context no fewer than 301 million people live with anxiety, 280 million with depression and 703,000 died by suicide in 2019. This needs to be addressed, argued Tuma, because around half of the total societal cost of mental health conditions is driven by indirect costs such as reduced productivity: some 12 billion working days are lost every year to depression and anxiety and the financial toll to the global economy is a staggering $1 trillion. Tuma pondered on what to expect from the next generation of managers, noting that they’re more likely to have low resilience, inferior coping skills when it comes to stress, lack of engagement and high vulnerability, as well as issues of low self-esteem and confidence, plus dysfunctional relationships with peers and parents. In contrast, future leaders must possess certain key personality traits, insisted the Made in Czechoslovakia founder. These include the ability to overcome fear related to taking on responsibility; being able to deal effectively with stress; having a fully developed EQ, ie understanding emotions and showing empathy; possessing the knowledge to recognise mental health issues and the capacity to manage crisis situations.
Ready Education Andrew Taylor, vice-president of sales for EMEA & APAC at Ready Education, and colleague Nathalie Madsen explored the headwinds facing business schools when it comes to delivering a world-class digital experience for their students during their keynote address to the audience. They began by looking at student success challenges, noting that one third of students do not participate in campus life beyond the classroom and another 35 per cent do not feel a sense of belonging at their school. There is a notable gap between communication and engagement, as the Ready Education executive pointed out: in fact, some 39 per cent of emails to students from advisers are ignored and, even worse, 54 per cent go unread. Ready Education can help students succeed by providing a platform to target communications, grow engagement, increase efficiency and proactively support them. One of the ways to achieve this is by creating a personalised experience, featuring information on both classes and social events; schools should also look into creating a central hub to encourage students to engage with their community. “It’s important to keep content updated, as well as refreshing images on a regular basis,” advised Taylor. He then presented a case study from Denison University in Ohio which used a virtual bulletin board that students could access from anywhere, highlighting the most important information for them on any specific day. Another case study involved Columbia University’s School of Professional Studies, which opted for a weekly newsletter with tailored key announcements for students. Checklists can also be used to encourage engagement, as was the case at Kansas State University. The Ready Education VP suggested that schools consider gamification, badges, monetary incentives or prizes to further encourage activity and engagement, as well as recruiting student influencers and using social media takeovers. The same system can be used to unify alumni engagement, an option that was picked up by Spain’s IE university, where a multi‑channel campaign was launched to show how the app elevates alumni engagement. This resulted in some 4,000 downloads of the app, plus a 71 per cent increase in unique monthly log-ins.
Daniel Tuma, founder of the Made in Czechoslovakia Business School, discussed workplace mental health issues
may be obvious, but the applications surrounding them are not. The Gisma professor also urged universities to become “courageous role models for future leaders and entrepreneurs”. Choosing an AI learning buddy Kunal Saigal, professor of business management and the academic director at IU International University in Germany, introduced the audience to Syntea, a synthetic, AI-driven teaching assistant. According to Saigal, IU is the first university worldwide to integrate GPT4 technology in order to provide personalised learning. Syntea is being rolled out to IU students across 200 English‑language and 750 German-language courses via the IU learn app, which is being used by 73 per cent of the university’s students. The system has an avatar-based natural interface that students have commented makes it “feel like talking with a human”. The recently released Gen 2 is fully conversational, featuring natural interaction, an orchestrated and guided learning sequence, plus individually adapted training and assessment. The learning dialogue is based on the Socratic method and the trainer aims to provide “a hitherto unparalleled amount of personal feedback”, according to the IU professor. The benefits of the system include more targeted personalisation in order to shape the students’ learning experience and make it more engaging.
Ambition | SEPTEMBER 2024 | 25
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