Usability and intuitiveness are by far the most important factors when choosing new student-facing technologies. This was confirmed by attendees at the Future EdTech conference last week in London. Technical, professional and academic delegates all agreed that investment in the end-user experience takes highest priority. Mobile optimization, system integration and support for learning and teaching outcomes also scored highly.

The findings were gathered by Lorensbergs at an event where the student experience and student satisfaction were front of mind as universities develop their digital strategies for advancing the academic institution.

When it comes to higher education technology, simplicity is highly prized – after all it is recognized as the “ultimate sophistication”¹. The push for user personalization – a theme which developed throughout the conference – carries much less importance than straightforward usability when selecting new technology. According to organizer Ovum’s own live delegate poll, achieving personalization of learning is more dependent on faculty training. This aligns to ideas around blended learning in course delivery – seen by many as an effective way to achieve personalized learning at scale. For blended learning, staff competencies and structures are considered paramount and supporting technologies secondary. Conference attendees agreed with this view, with only 20% seeing personalization of learning dependent primarily on technology availability...