VFS Edu Support Services, the education services arm of VFS Global, has announced a partnership with UK-based Edtech Oxademy Technologies and its subsidiary Oxademy Business School to form the new global digital learning platform VFS-Oxademy. The platform will offer a “first-of-its-kind” knowledge-driven artificial intelligence (AI) cloud infrastructure called OX360 which identifies each learner’s strengths and weaknesses and generates learning paths based on individual learner’s behaviour, personalising the learning to each individual student. The new platform is designed to be a response to the limitations of purely online courses, which have suffered from high drop-out rates, due in many cases to the lack of a personalised learning element, the monotony of rote learning, and students feeling isolated compared to education models in which they direct contact with a teacher.
The intuitive system will also provide real-time analysis of their performance data and include features such as a chat facility so that students can speak to tutors direct at any time and a mobile app to prompt students on which course material they need to study ahead of their next online session.
VFS-Oxademy will provide internationally-accredited post-graduate and executive education programmes in full online and ‘blended’ modes – combining online with classroom learning – for aspiring students and professionals from across the globe. Students can simply log on to these universally accessible programmes that will be affiliated with top universities in the UK and US, and benefit from expert tutelage of prominent alumni networks from across the globe.
Some of VFS-Oxademy’s key programmes include Masters in Business Administration (MBA), Masters in Strategic Leadership (MSL), Masters of Science in Organisation Leadership (MSOL), Global Leadership Programme (GLP), Authentic Leadership Development (ALD), Programme for Leadership Development (PLD) and Advanced Management Programme (AMP).
OX360 will allow MBA students to undertake virtual work placement with a blue chip organisation as part of the final stage of their studies, which require that they help solve a real-life business problem. This allows students in the Middle East or India to work with a company in the UK via virtual technologies. OX360 courses will also address frequently raised concerns over fake qualifications in online courses.
Another benefit to students is the substantially lower cost of obtaining an accredited qualification through VFS-Oxademy. The ‘study from anywhere, anytime and on any device’ model of education allows students from across the world real-time accessibility to world-class education courses, at a price that is substantially more cost effective. For example, the cost of an MBA course under OX360 will be less than one third of the usual cost. Oxademy has already partnered with Kazan Federal University, providing technology and modules towards its MBA, and with Northwood University in the US where it is running its Master of Science in Organisational Leadership.
VFS Edu Support Services will leverage on its wide geographical network of technology-enabled infrastructure to support the rollout OX360 technology and learning programmes globally. The fundamental objective of this collaboration is to revolutionise education by offering students from across the globe enhanced accessibility to world-class learning through an AI-driven next-generation digital platform.
Syed Shahzad (Oxon), founder and CEO, Oxademy, said, “We are bringing learning to people instead of people to learning and its done by embracing the latest technologies available in digital human interaction and by using huge amount of data. We have developed an innovative platform and programmes that enhance the learning at large scale. VFS – Oxademy partnership is leading the way and pushing the boundaries by incorporating features that make use of artificial intelligence, big data, and analytics to evolve the education sector.”
Bernard Martyris, chief of human resources, VFS Global, said, “A high quality education, especially for advanced professional degrees, carries lifelong benefits. A unique feature of the VFS-Oxademy programmes is that they can be customised to individual needs of students, irrespective of location or background. We are delighted to partner with Oxademy to offer digital learning programmes that make higher education more accessible to students, in a format that offers them all the advantages of getting an international degree from anywhere in the world.”
