Advancing digital alumni learning
Analysing and developing digital learning offers on a national alumni portal in a Service Design process
Daniela Becker MASTER’S THESIS February 2021
Master’s Degree Programme in Educational Leadership
Key words: digital lifelong learning, service design, national alumni portal, user- centered design
ABSTRACT
Tampereen ammattikorkeakoulu
Tampere University of Applied Sciences
Master’s Degree Programme in Educational Leadership DANIELA BECKER
Advancing digital alumni learning
Analysing and developing digital learning offers on a national alumni portal in a Service Design process
Master’s thesis 115 pages, appendices 58 pages February 2021
This thesis looks at digital learning offers for alumni on a national alumni portal as part of the portal’s overall alumni strategy. The Alumniportal Deutschland was introduced as Germany’s national platform and approach to alumni work in 2008. The thesis topic therewith pertains to the broad thematic fields of alumni work and strategies on the one hand and online offers for lifelong learning on the other hand.
As the author, who works for the portal, noticed the rising interest in digital learning during the global Covid-19 pandemic and as she assumes that the digital learning section on the Alumniportal Deutschland still holds potential for development, the decision was made to analyse the learning offers intending to redesign them. The objective was to achieve new digital learning offers that add value to the core users, and at the same time are effective from the providers’
perspective.
The author has chosen to follow a Service Design process to fulfil the service innovation task of the thesis project. Service Design applies design thinking to the innovation and design of services. Eventually, a combination of research and Service Design methods was used to approach the strategic task at hand.
The applied methods comprise an online survey, journey maps, a stakeholder analysis, benchmarking, personas, a trend mapping as well as a co-design workshop with users and team members of the Alumniportal Deutschland.
Based on the findings from the research and Service Design methods, the author formulated ten conceptual and practical recommendations for further developing the digital learning offers on the Alumniportal Deutschland in the future.
Overall, the thesis project has revealed insights that can give guidance when redesigning the digital learning offers on the portal so that they better meet alumni’s needs and expectations and therewith help to build and maintain valuable relationships with existing and future alumni groups. The author assumes that the gained insights cannot only provide strategic direction for the staff of the Alumniportal Deutschland but also could be useful to other providers in the market as well.
CONTENT
1 INTRODUCTION.……….……….... 7
1.1 Thesis topic and background……...……….… 8
1.2 Strategic purpose……..………..…… 10
1.3 Significance………..……… 12
1.4 Structure of thesis………..……..……... 13
2 LITRATURE REVIEW AND KEY CONCEPTS..……….. 15
2.1 Service Design process….……… 15
2.1.1 Phase I: Map and understand……….……... 18
2.1.2 Phase II: Forecast and Ideate…….……… 19
2.1.3 Phase III: Model and Evaluate……….………... 19
2.1.4 Phase IV: Conceptualize and influence...………….…… 20
2.2 Alumni strategies and relations………. 20
2.3 Virtual alumni communities and alumni portals……….. 23
2.4 Connecting digital alumni learning to lifelong learning………….. 25
2.5 Theoretical framework for mobile lifelong learning……… 27
3 METHODS………. 32
3.1 Research theory……….. 32
3.2 Research questions……… 33
3.3 Member survey……… 34
3.3.1 Data acquisition: survey planning and design………….. 35
3.3.2 Realization of member survey……… 37
3.3.3 Data analysis and interpretation………. 38
3.4 Service Design Methods……… 39
3.4.1 Journey Maps……… 39
3.4.2 Stakeholder Analysis……… 42
3.4.3 Benchmarking……… 43
3.4.4 Personas……… 46
3.4.5 Trend Mapping……….. 48
3.4.6 Co-design Workshop……… 49
3.5 Reliability, validity, and ethics……… 54
4 INSIGHTS GAINED FROM RESEARCH AND SERVICE DESIGN METHODS………. 61
4.1 Member survey……… 61
4.2 Service Design Methods……… 75
4.2.1 Journey Maps……… 75
4.2.2 Stakeholder Analysis……… 78
4.2.3 Benchmarking……… 80
4.2.4 Personas……… 86
4.2.5 Trend Mapping……….. 87
4.2.6 Co-design Workshop……… 88
5 RECOMMENDATIONS……… 95
5.1 Revision of syllabus and thematic range of offers………... 96
5.2 Diversification of learning formats and activities……….. 97
5.3 Adaptation of website structure and design………. 99
5.4 Revision of information on learning offers……… 100
5.5 Establishment of effective communication channels………….. 101
5.6 Creation of support services………... 101
5.7 Consideration of time factors……….. 103
5.8 Reduction of barriers of access and advancement of mobile learning………... 104
5.9 Promotion of exchange and interactivity………... 105
5.10 Inclusion of users in the process……… 106
6 CONCLUSION……….. 109
6.1 Discussion: evaluation and limitations……….. 109
6.2 Outlook: further research and development………. 113
REFERENCES………. 116
APPENDICES……….. 133
Appendix 1. Different forms of giving in alumni relations and possible benefits for institutions and alumni……… 133
Appendix 2. Survey on digital learning offers on the Alumniportal Deutschland………... 134
Appendix 3. Persona Template……….. 153
Appendix 4. Agenda of co-design workshop on digital learning……... 154
Appendix 5. Template of sailboat exercise conducted during the co- design workshop………... 155
Appendix 6. Age distribution of survey participants……… 156
Appendix 7. Preferred digital learning formats and materials of survey participants……… 157
Appendix 8. Participants’ internet access and quality of internet connection……….. 158
Appendix 9. Themes that emerged in open responses of the member survey connected to perspectives of mobile learning………. 159
Appendix 10. Journey Map for browsing the Alumniportal Deutschland’s website for digital learning offers………. 160
Appendix 11. Journey Map for finding and participating in a web seminar on the Alumniportal Deutschland……… 163
Appendix 12. List of internal and external stakeholders………. 164
Appendix 13. Stakeholder Map……….. 165 Appendix 14. Table with benchmarking findings for International Exchange Alumni platform by US Foreign Ministry………. 166 Appendix 15. Table with benchmarking findings for School of Continuing and Lifelong Learning, National University of Singapore
(NUS)……….. 168
Appendix 16. Table with benchmarking findings for Lifelong Learning
Section of Wharton University……… 170 Appendix 17. Table with benchmarking findings for Coursera……….. 172 Appendix 18. Table with benchmarking findings for LinkedIn
Learning………. 175
Appendix 19. Table with benchmarking findings for Peer 2 Peer University
(P2PU)……… 177
Appendix 20. Personas……… 179 Appendix 21. Trend map on digital lifelong learning………... 182 Appendix 22. Themes that emerged in the user interviews during the
co-design workshop………. 183
Appendix 23. Results of sailboat exercise developed during the co-
design workshop………... 184
Appendix 24 Themes that emerged in the sailboat exercise during the co-design workshop………... 185 Appendix 25. Miro frames developed by participants in the 2x3 exercise during the co-design workshop……….. 187 Appendix 26. Ideas and solutions developed in the 2x3 exercise during the co-design workshop……….. 190
ABBREVIATIONS AND TERMS
DAAD Deutscher Akademischer Austauschdienst (German Academic Exchange Service)
DT Design Thinking
HEI Higher Education Institutions HMW statement ‘How might we…?’ statement
LEM Learner Experience Mapping
LLL lifelong learning
LMS learning management system
NUS National University of Singapore
P2PU Peer 2 Peer University
ROE Return On Engagement
ROI Return On Investment
ROR Return On Relationships
SD Service Design
UX User Experience design
1 INTRODUCTION
Throughout the last decades, alumni work of educational institutions and other organizations has developed rapidly. For these organizations alumni can be of enormous value and an important asset, as they can make them visible in society and support their long-term success by showing their goodwill and support. (dos Santos Teixeira and Maccari, 2014) Also, alumni are a permanent and constantly growing stakeholder group for organizations around the globe (Gallo, 2013; Iskhakova, Hoffmann and Hilbert, 2017). Some authors even see them as one of the primary stakeholder groups for many institutions (Barnard and Rensleigh, 2008; Snijders, Wijnia, Rikers and Loyens, 2019).
As more and more organizations draw their attention to alumni as an important stakeholder group and as alumni’s mobility has increased, competition in the alumni market, also internationally, has increased as well (Godfrey and Godfrey, 1999). Especially the brightest minds and most sought-after alumni are usually alumni to several institutions in different regions or countries (Godfrey and Godfrey, 1999). Besides being ‘alumni and graduates in common’ to several institutions, alumni often have numerous other connections and affiliations (e.g. cultural, professional or volunteer-based) as well as networking opportunities. With numerous social and professional networks available there is a lot of competition for alumni’s time (Trends in Alumni Relations, 2018). This increases the challenge for organizations when it comes to fostering sustainable connections with their alumni (Gallo, 2013). Thus, a growing number of universities, schools and other organizations is nowadays following a more strategic and entrepreneurial approach to alumni work (Gallo, 2013; Strout, 2006). These organizations have introduced strategies and programs to exploit the potential of their alumni resources by creating an engaged and supportive alumni network and maintaining good communication and relationships with their alumni over their lifetime (Gallo, 2013). Alumni can benefit from the opportunities and offers organizations provide them, for example by gaining access to new contacts, resources, insights and networks (Barnard and Rensleigh, 2008; dos Santos Teixeira and Maccari, 2014). One way to seek alumni’s attention is to offer them opportunities for continuing education and
lifelong learning (Barnard and Rensleigh, 2008). Prior studies suggest that offering opportunities for further learning as well as for professional and personal development potentially enhances alumni engagement and strengthens their bonds with their host organizations (Rawski, 2011: 14; Young, 2012). This is the area of alumni work this thesis focuses on.
1.1 Thesis topic and background
Facilitated by the development of technology, nowadays numerous institutions not only offer websites for keeping their alumni informed, but have also established interactive alumni portals. These portals are designed as social networks and can enable alumni to build and maintain social and business relationships, interact with each other, share ideas and discuss their personal or professional lives (Chia, Jonesa and Grandhama, 2012; Barnard, Rensleigh and Niemann, 2006).
In 2008, the Alumniportal Deutschland was introduced as Germany’s national platform for alumni work. Access to the portal is not limited to former affiliation with a certain organization but focusing on the connection to Germany as a host country. The platform is free of charge and addresses individuals from around the globe that have studied, worked, conducted research, or did a training program or language course in Germany or at a German institution abroad. The platform allows alumni to network with each other as well as with German companies, universities and organizations. (About us, n.d.)
Like other digital alumni portals, the Alumniportal Deutschland has a public area (website) as well as a restricted area (community)1 (dos Santos Teixeira and Maccari, 2014). The portal also offers a digital learning section with opportunities for learning and practising German language as well as
1 The Alumniportal Deutschland consists of a website with editorial offers like news on Germany, and articles on culture, society, education, science and research, and other related topics in German and English language. The community is the social networking component of the portal. It offers common social networking features like user profiles, a feed, direct messages, and groups. Furthermore, the community offers a mentoring matching option, an event calendar, an international job and career market, as well as current calls and fellowship information.
educational offers on other topics, e.g. web seminars, audiobooks and eBooks2. While these offers already attract the attention of many users of the portal3, the author, who works for the Alumniportal Deutschland, had the impression that there is still a lot of potential to advance this section of the portal. Hence, the decision was made to analyse the digital learning offers of the Alumniportal Deutschland in a Service Design process with the goal of redesigning the service to increase user engagement as well as user satisfaction.
Not much literature exists on the nature and effects of (digital) alumni work on a national level, specifically in the form of national alumni portals. Barnard and Rensleigh (2008) as well as dos Santos Teixeira and Maccari (2014) were the first to touch upon this issue. Up to now, most literature has looked at the traditional approach of isolated alumni work of single institutions. As early research on alumni strategies and relations was mainly done in the United States, it mostly centred around the question of how organizations can foster alumni loyalty and giving in monetary terms (Newman and Petrosko, 2011;
Snijders et al., 2019). After alumni loyalty and alumni giving have also become strategic themes for universities and other educational institutions in Europe and other parts of the world in the last decades, research has then also looked into non-monetary, voluntary alumni involvement4 (Iskhakova et al., 2017;
Weerts, Cabrera and Sanford, 2010). In the last decade, research, like the work by Barnard and Rensleigh (2008), has also started looking more and more at digital offers for alumni, e.g. in the form of digital alumni communities and portals.
While a considerable amount of literature has been published on issues around lifelong learning (LLL) and eLearning, the boost for digital learning in the face of the Covid-19 pandemic5 will certainly generate a number of new studies on
2 In the past, the Alumniportal also offered further educational opportunities, like tutored and self-study eLearning courses, collaborative ‘hands on’ projects as well as on-site ‘Alumni Labs‘.
3 According to former member surveys, a substantial share of users already uses or wishes to use the Alumniportal Deutschland for purposes of further learning (Results of the Alumniportal Deutschland Survey, 2018). Other educational institutions have discovered the same: their alumni would like more lifelong learning engagement and more opportunities around learning to stay connected with institutions (Young, 2012).
4 Godfrey and Godfrey (1999) describe the different purposes of alumni strategies in the US and Europa as ‘fund-raising versus friend-raising‘.
5 The realization of the thesis project took place in the midst of the global Covid-19 pandemic during which people around the globe were staying at home socially isolating. As many events
digital LLL and its effects (Dasgupta, 2020). What remains less clear is the nature of digital learning opportunities specifically for alumni as well as their effects on alumni satisfaction, loyalty and engagement. Hence, the author has connected digital alumni learning to the more general field of digital lifelong learning, which has been explored more deeply by former research.
1.2 Strategic purpose
The strategic purpose of the thesis project is to analyse the digital learning offers of the Alumniportal Deutschland in a Service Design process with the goal of designing a new streamlined learning service which adds value to the core users and is effective from the provider’s perspective. This purpose can be divided into two primary aims for this study: 1) to analyse the digital learning offers for alumni on the Alumniportal Deutschland; 2) to develop ideas and solutions on how to improve those offers to increase user engagement and satisfaction. The outcome of this process should be conceptual and practical recommendations on how to advance the offers for digital alumni learning on the Alumniportal Deutschland.
The strategic purpose of the thesis is connected to the strategic objective of the Alumniportal Deutschland6. By offering opportunities for further learning, the portal aims at enabling alumni to develop their competences and shape communities of well-trained alumni that possess the knowledge and skills that German organization, universities, potential employers are looking for (Das neue Alumniportal, 2019)7. Furthermore, offering learning opportunities to alumni should keep them connected to the portal and therewith strengthen their bonds with Germany. Last but not least, offering opportunities for alumni learning is supposed to foster exchange and networking among alumni and to make them become more actively engaged (Rawski, 2011), because like every
were cancelled and educational institutions closed, the situation opened a window of opportunity for digital networking and alumni work as well as for e-learning and digital collaboration (Bjursell, 2020; Villaumbrosia, 2020). As Lau, Yang and Dasgupta (2020) put it „At the beginning of 2020, the coronavirus made online education go viral and has led to an e- learning experiment of unprecedented scale and scope”.
6 The portal’s objective is “creating sustainable relationships with its members by (1) strengthening the bonds between alumni and Germany; (2) fostering exchange and networking;
and (3) developing competences and promoting careers” (Das neue Alumniportal, 2019).
7 Internal source, not publicly available
social network, the Alumniportal Deutschland is dependent on the activities of its members and their engagement. To be effective in reaching these goals, the learning offers have to meet the expectations, needs, and demands of the users and they need to be relevant and viable among key users and other stakeholders (Key Concepts of Service Management in ITIL 4, 2019). Hence, developing digital learning offers for alumni is not only a strategic endeavour, but should also be a strongly user-centred process.
The strategic purpose of the thesis project can be defined as what Rittel and Weber (1973) call a ‘wicked’ problem or ‘problem of practice’. Rittel and Weber describe ‘wicked’ problems as ill-defined and complex, often characterized by many interdependent and incomplete factors that can be in flux. These factors can for example be various stakeholders with conflicting interests and priorities that are involved in the problem and its solution. In effect, there is no ultimate solution for these problems, but they rely on elusive judgment and might have to be re-solved again and again over time (Rittel and Weber, 1973)8. As to the term of ‘problem of practice’, there is no single, common scholarly definition (City, Elmore, Fiarman and Teitel, 2018). Following Henriksen, Richardson and Mehta (2017: 142), a problem of practice is here viewed as a „complex and sizeable, yet still actionable, problem which exists within a professional’s sphere of work”. “Such problems of practice are intricate, purposeful, user-centred, and contextual in nature. Therefore, they rarely have a single right or wrong solution.” (Henriksen et al., 2017: 142). Rather, there are manifold solutions on a scale from good or effective, to bad or ineffective (City et al., 2018).
As the objective of the thesis is solving a problem of practice that evolves around the users of a service, the author has identified the Service Design (SD) process as an appropriate approach to solving the problem at hand. SD offers a process that aims at optimizing a service experience by applying Design Thinking (DT) to make it more functional, economic, sustainable, ecological, and/ or aesthetic (What is Service Design?, n.d.). SD sees the user in the centre of the development and design of a service. At the same time it
8 Examples for wicked problems are applied problems, like product innovations, management problems, organizational or social issues as well as issues connected to community development or education – in contrast to mathematical problems or questions in the natural sciences (Wong, 2020).
considers the perspective and purpose of the organization that provides the service (What is Service Design?, n.d.). The Service Design process and its methods will be explained in more detail in chapter 2.1 of the thesis.
1.3 Significance
The aim of the thesis project is to improve a service offered by a national alumni portal and to make it more appealing for users by applying academic knowledge, constructive research and design thinking within the scope of a Service Design process. Therewith, the thesis topic is relevant for the Alumniportal Deutschland, which serves as commissioner for the thesis, as well its users. As the author of the thesis works for the Alumniportal Deutschland team, the thesis project is also relevant for her own professional practice.
Previous member surveys as well as a web monitoring have shown that the topic of digital learning is relevant to the users of the Alumniportal Deutschland.
For example, a 2016 member survey with 2,604 participants showed that “to study or improve German” (1,195 – top 2 answer); “to exchange knowledge and ideas” (1,114 – top 3 answer) and “to acquire information on scholarships and opportunities for further education” (1,085 – top 4 answer) were among the main purposes for members to access the Alumniportal Deutschland. When asked if alumni are interested in learning offers by the alumni portal, the response was quite clear: 1,027 participants (39.4 %) stated that they are very interested, 971 participants (37.3 %) stated that they are somewhat interested and clearly fewer participants stated that they are not interested (157 – 6 %) or that they don’t have an opinion on the question (167 – 6.4 %)9. (Results of the Alumniportal Deutschland Survey 201610, 2016)
9 The survey also asked for learning content that users are interested in. The responses showed that a large proportion of participants is interested in topics like German language learning (1,168 voted for strongly interested in this topic – top 1 answer), academic studies, further education and scholarships (911 voted for strongly interested in this topic – top 4 answer), science and research (940 voted for strongly interested in this topic – top 2 answer), career tips and application training (827 voted for strongly interested in this topic – top 3 answer), as well as career and management topics (650 voted for strongly interested in this topic). (Results of the Alumniportal Deutschland Survey 2016, 2016)
10 Internal source, not publicly available
In 2018 another member survey was conducted in which 3,127 members of the Alumniportal Deutschland and subscribers of the portal’s newsletter participated. When asked about the purpose for using the portal, 37% of participants answered that they use it for studying and receiving educational offers, 48% answered that they use it for exchanging ideas and participating in an international community and 51% stated that they use it for practising German (Results of the Alumniportal Deutschland Survey, 2018). These findings show that the digital learning section of the Alumniportal Deutschland is relevant to its users and that offers for practising and learning German language are especially demanded. This is supported by a web-monitoring of the portal’s website, which was conducted by an external service provider in June 2020.
The monitoring, which covered the period January 2017 to May 2020, showed that for the German version of the portal’s website the section “Digital Learning”
is by far the most important one in terms of site visits as well as exposure time11 (Alumniportal Deutschland Web-Monitoring Januar 2017 bis Mai 2020, 2020).
The originality of this thesis project is that it is the first to explore digital alumni learning as part of the overall strategy of a national alumni portal in a Service Design process. The findings of the thesis could also be relevant for other institutions that plan to introduce or improve offers for digital lifelong learning for their alumni or a diverse user group and want to include users in the design of these offers.
1.4 Structure of thesis
The structure of the thesis is influenced by the SD process, which the author has chosen to approach the strategic task at hand. The introductory chapter covers the thesis topic and background and elaborates the strategic purpose of the thesis. Furthermore, it points out the significance of the thesis project and explains the structure of the thesis. The thesis is based on an extensive literature review which aims at gaining an in-depth understanding of the thesis topic. The main findings of the literature review and the key concepts are presented in chapter 2. The literature review covers aspects like the SD
11 In the given time frame, the monitoring counted 3.244.757 page views with an average view time of 2:04 minutes (Alumniportal Deutschland Web-Monitoring Januar 2017 bis Mai 2020, 2020).
process, alumni strategies and relations, virtual alumni communities and alumni portals, connecting alumni learning to lifelong learning, as well as a theoretical framework for mobile lifelong learning. Chapter 3 carries on with explaining the methods that were applied throughout the thesis. The methods include an online member survey as a classic research method as well as several SD methods. The chapter also elaborates the processes of data analysis and interpretation as well as the underlying research theory and research questions.
Lastly, the chapter also touches upon issues of reliability, validity and ethics of the conducted research and SD methods. The findings of the member survey and the SD methods are presented in chapter 4. Chapter 5 consolidates these findings into conceptual and practical recommendations regarding the future development of the digital learning offers on the Alumniportal Deutschland. In the last chapter, the conclusion covers the evaluation of the thesis results as well as a discussion of their limitations. This chapter also gives an outlook on opportunities for further research and development.
2 LITERATURE REVIEW AND KEY CONCEPTS
This chapter presents the main findings of the literature review and illustrates relevant topics related to the thesis project. By offering insights into key concepts and academic reflections on the subject, the literature review is part of the thesis research and serves as a basis for the execution of the thesis project.
The bibliographical review offers an overview on works that have already been carried out, on how they address the problem, on prevailing opinions on the matter, as well as on theoretical frameworks connected to the topic. (Feak and Swales, 2009) In the first step, the literature review discusses the SD process as the approach used in this thesis. Further topics elaborated in the bibliographical review are alumni strategies and virtual alumni communities, as well as digital lifelong learning for alumni.
2.1 Service Design process
The author has chosen to follow the Service Design process to fulfil the service innovation task12 of the thesis. SD applies Design Thinking13 to the innovation and design of services (Wetter-Edman, 2011). The aim of SD is to achieve a service that is useful, desirable, and easy to use from the customer’s perspective and that is effective, distinguishable, and profitable from the service organization’s perspective (Edvardsson, Gustafsson, Kristensson, and Witell, 2010; Michel, Brown and Gallan, 2008; Möller, Rajala and Westerlund, 2008).
Many authors assess DT and SD to be especially suitable for creating meaningful solutions for wicked problems of practice, as they focus on practical, realizable, and user-oriented solutions (Bayazit, 2004; Brown, 2009; Leverenz, 2014; Melles, 2010; Soule, 2013; Verganti, 2009).
12 “A service innovation is a new service experience or service solution that consist of one or several of the following dimensions: new service concept, new customer interaction, new value system, new business partners, new revenue model, new organizational or technological service delivery process.” (Den Hertog, Van der Aa and De Jong, 2010: 494)
13 Richard Buchanan (1922) was the first to connect design thinking to wicked problems: In his view, the iterative design thinking process can be useful in tackling ill-defined problems by reframing the problem in human-centrist ways, creating numerous ideas in brainstorming sessions, and adopting a hands-on approach in prototyping and testing. Later, other authors have also acknowledged the potential of DT and SD for creating meaningful solutions for wicked, real-world problems, as they focus on practical, realizable user-oriented solutions (Bayazit, 2004; Brown, 2009; Leverenz, 2014; Melles, 2010; Soule, 2013; Verganti, 2009).
Service Design offers an informed approach for service innovations, as it allows much time for in-depth observation and analysis, before eventually translating the gained insights into new service solutions (Bayazit, 2004; Brown, 2009). SD combines analytic with creative processes (Martin, 2009; Razzouk and Shute, 2012) and allows for experiments to achieve innovations that are balanced between technical, business, and human dimensions (Holloway, 2009; Wetter- Edman, 2011). Other features of SD include agility and flexibility (Edvardsson et al., 2010; Kerguenne, Schaefer and Taherivand, 2017; Moggridge, 2007), as well as visualization of ideas and rapid concept prototyping (Lockwood, 2010).
Also, SD fosters stakeholder involvement and is interdisciplinary by nature: It allows integrating diverse views in the process of analysing, synthesizing, and generating of new ideas, bridging the gaps in experience and knowledge of individual team members (Beckman and Barry, 2007; Leverenz, 2014;
Stickdorn and Schneider, 2010).
Stickdorn and Schneider (2010) identify five core principles of SD, which help to understand the characteristics of the approach: (1) user orientation; (2) co- creation: (3) sequencing; (4) evidencing; and (5) holism. User orientation means developing customized solutions that serve users’ needs. It also refers to the inclusion of different stakeholders in the service development process (Edvardsson et al., 2010; Moggridge, 2007; Stickdorn and Schneider, 2010).
Co-creation means the cooperative design of services. It empowers users to participate and collaborate with designers (Wetter-Edman, 2011). They are included in the value creation process by providing resources like their knowledge and skills (Edvardsson et al., 2010; Moggridge, 2007). Sanders and Stappers (2008: 5) frame this as “designing with users.” By sequencing complex services are partitioned into smaller separate processes to make them more tangible (Stickdorn and Schneider, 2010). Typical outcomes of the SD process are prototypes, which illustrate abstract service situations concretely and make them tangible (Melles, 2010; Stickdorn and Schneider, 2010). Prototypes allow testing different solutions fast and can facilitate communication between people with different backgrounds (Eppler and Burkhard, 2004). Holistic approach refers to the fact that SD takes the entire service experience into account, including different channels and experiences as well as digital and human interactions, which are put into context (Stickdorn and Schneider, 2010).
Nowadays, SD and its methods are more and more frequently utilized for planning digital services and interfaces, as they make it possible to describe immaterial service concepts in concrete terms and test them before application (Goodwin, 2009). For the authors, the user- and stakeholder-integration principle seems especially reminiscent of the activities of a social network like the Alumniportal Deutschland, for which participation and integration of the community and users are part of the day-to-day practices. Hence, following the SD process and including users in the process seems promising for developing digital learning offers that truly serve their needs.
SD offers a comprehensive tool set and methods to create or improve the value generated by an organization's services. Interdisciplinary methods aim at encouraging and engaging current and future users in co-designing the service (Sanders and Stappers, 2008). The decision on which methods exactly are applied in the course of a SD process is situational, highly context driven and depending on the resources available (Saco and Goncalves, 2010). Various models of the SD process exist. All these models comprise stages of comprehensive data acquisition, collaborative idea generating, creating different prototypes as well as fast testing, analysing and redefining the outcomes. This thesis follows the SD framework proposed by Ojasalo, Koskelo, and Nousiainen (2015). This SD framework combines classic elements of SD with futures thinking and illustrative foresight methods, creating a comprehensive approach for service innovation that takes possible futures into account. The SD process proposed by Ojasalo et al. (2015) is segmented into four phases: (1) Map and Understand; (2) Forecast and Ideate; (3) Model and Evaluate; (4) Conceptualize and Influence. The process, however, is rarely a linear process, „instead it may be highly iterative, the phases might overlap, and the innovation process may be heavily integrated in actual service practice” (Ojasalo et al., 2015: 203).
Stickdorn et al. (2018b) also stress, that the SD process usually is not a linear problem-solving process, but a circular one, meaning that the above-mentioned stages may be repeated rapidly for several times. The picture below illustrates the service innovation process grounded on SD as suggested by Ojasalo et al.
(2015). It serves as a road map for the thesis project at hand. In the following, the nature of each of the four phases as well as the specific methods that have been applied in the process of this thesis project will be elaborated briefly.
PICTURE 1. Service innovation process grounded on foresight and service design (Ojasalo et al., 2015: 202).
2.1.1 Phase 1: Map and Understand
The first phase in the SD process aims at analysing and mapping a service and its ecosystem, including the current situation as well as possible future changes in the service environment. This phase also puts strong focus on understanding and anticipating users’ needs, attitudes and behaviour. (Bell, 2009) To ensure that the service solution will meet users’ needs, SD aims at gaining a holistic, emphatic, and in-depth understanding of their actions, situations, needs and wishes from different viewpoints (Slaughter, 2009; Stickdorn et al., 2018b). This first phase of SD can be seen as the ‘research phase’ of the process. It usually takes the longest time and should be done carefully as it is the backbone of the whole development process and the basis for the subsequent phases of the SD process (Ojasalo et al., 2015).
In this first phase, SD usually uses a range of mostly qualitative research methods, that allow to achieve an emphatic and deep understanding of users’
and other stakeholders’ understanding, experiences and perspectives (Stickdorn et al., 2018b). In the case of the thesis, a literature review and content analysis as well as a member survey among users of the Alumniportal Deutschland were conducted. Furthermore, the author analysed the existing service as well as the service environment by using journey maps, a
stakeholder analysis, and a benchmarking process. The applied methods are explained in more detail in chapter 3 of the thesis.
2.1.2 Phase 2: Forecast and Ideate
Based on the acquired data and findings from the research phase, the SD process continues with a second phase, which focuses on ideation and forecasting alternative futures. The goal for this phase is to achieve non-biased collaboration and co-designing, preferably in heterogeneous teams (Brown, 2009; Lockwood, 2010). Here, emphasis is put on creativity and social relations but also rapid development and visualization (Ojasalo et al., 2015). In the case of the thesis project, a co-design workshop with team members and users was organized to jointly identify room for improvement regarding the existing service and to produce ideas and alternative futures for the digital learning offers on the Alumniportal Deutschland. The co-design workshop aimed at translating research findings into usable solutions based on brainstorming and collaboratively generating ideas with different interest groups (Ojasalo et al., 2015; Polaine, Lovlie and Reason, 2013; Ramos, Mansfield and Priday, 2012).
Furthermore, personas were created based on the data generated by the member survey and a trend mapping was conducted to collect and visualize trends in the field of digital lifelong learning.
2.1.3 Phase 3: Model and Evaluate
In the third phase, the SD process focuses on modelling and evaluating new service solutions. Narrative and visual means are utilized, as they can help to propose, communicate and test potential new service solutions. Typical outcomes of this phase are scenarios, prototypes and models that enable evaluating and testing the value for users and providers quickly and in an early stage (Meroni and Sangiorgi, 2011; Ojasalo et al., 2015; Polaine et al., 2013). If necessary, the development process can then be redirected, before large amounts of resources are used for actual implementation at too early a stage (Dyer et al., 2011; Ojasalo et al., 2015). By including different stakeholders, like employees, users, and experts, in the process of creating and testing the models, it should be possible to find out fairly quickly if they are leading to a
functioning and desirable service or if they should be retouched (Ojasalo et al., 2015). In the case of the thesis, the SD process ends with conceptual and practical recommendations on how to develop the digital learning offers on the Alumniportal Deutschland in the future. These recommendations are presented in chapter 5 of the thesis.
2.1.4 Phase 4: Conceptualize and Influence
The last stage of the SD process focuses on further conceptualizing, communicating and introducing the new service. While the precedent phases emphasize creative thinking, this phase also integrates concurrent business analysis, for instance by utilizing business model canvas or role scripts. This phase brings a more strategic and entrepreneurial perspective to the SD process by quickly outlining business models and visualizing their key components (Lockwood, 2010; Osterwalder and Pigneur, 2010). This phase also covers the implementation and ongoing evaluation of the new service solution (Lawrence et al., 2018), which may lead to a circular process of iteratively testing and refining it in several loops. Due to the limited scope of this thesis, this SD phase is not covered.
2.2 Alumni strategies and relations
This chapter sums up important research findings on alumni strategies and looks at why and how organizations make opportunities for further education and career development to alumni part of their overall alumni strategies. While prior research has mostly focused on alumni strategies and activities of single educational institutions, this thesis deals with a national online portal for Germany alumni with various geographical and organizational backgrounds.
However, the author feels assured that general considerations regarding alumni strategies and relations of single institutions can also be applied to an interorganizational and national approach of alumni work.
There is a consensus in literature, that good alumni relationships can bring manifold benefits to both sides – the institutions as well as the alumni (Barnard and Rensleigh, 2008; Brant and Regan, 2002; Gallo, 2013; Iskhakova et al.,
2017; Morey, 2020; Snijders et al., 2019). Following the ideas of social exchange theory and relationship management, good alumni strategies aim at creating sustainable relationships and a win-win situation for alumni, the institution, as well as other stakeholders (Galbreath, 2002; Zeithaml, Berry and Parasuraman 2009). Research suggests that the conceptualization and measurement of relationship quality as defined in consumer services are also applicable to a higher educational and alumni context (Hennig-Thurau et al., 2001; Snijders et al., 2019). However, it is often difficult to measure the concrete impact of alumni work and connections (Brant and Regan, 2002;
Iskhakova et al., 2017; Morey, 2020).
Organizations can benefit from nurturing relations with their alumni by alumni’s monetary and non-monetary contributions to their networks (Barnard and Rensleigh, 2008; Cannon, 2015b). For example, alumni can act as ambassadors to their former educational organization or offer their support to current and future students, to the institution and within the alumni network.
(Cannon, 2015b) Other examples of alumni support are based on their expertise and skills, for instance giving guest lectures (Ebert, Axelsson, and Harbor, 2015; Snijders et al., 2019; Weerts et al., 2010). Benefits for alumni can also take various forms. By engaging in a community alumni gain access to new contacts, resources, insights and networks, which can be beneficial to their personal, professional, and academic careers (dos Santos Teixeira and Maccari, 2014; Barnard and Rensleigh, 2008). Also, it can have a marketing and promotion effect for alumni, when organizations portray their work and projects, and celebrate their successes. Furthermore, alumni can benefit from specific programs, like offers for further education, training and career development. (Barnard and Rensleigh, 2008; dos Santos Teixeira and Maccari, 2014) A table summing up different forms of support and benefits by organizations to alumni and vice versa can be found in appendix 1.
When measuring the success of their offers and alumni activities most organizations don’t draw on classical business key figures like return on investment (ROI), but rather on the service management metrics return on engagement (ROE) or return on relationship (ROR). ROE and ROR are qualitative metrics: While ROE measures the overall brand strength gained from
a particular action, strategy or content (Different Types of Marketing ROI:
Return on Engagement, n.d.), ROR measures the value that is generated by a person or brand due to nurturing a relationship (Rubin, 2011). “ROR is the value (both perceived and real) that will accrue over time through loyalty, recommendations and sharing.” (Rubin, 2011) For Paxton (2020), user engagement is crucial for all social networks and high user engagement is a measure of success as it is a sign that members find added value on the platform. However, according to several authors, it will require additional effort in the future to assess and quantify the points of contact of organizations with their alumni as well as the impact of third-party activities when it comes to reliably evaluating the effects of alumni strategies and programs (Iskhakova et al., 2017; Brant and Regan, 2002).
During the literature research it became clear that there is no one-size-fits-all solution for alumni work and strategies, as the environments and ecosystems that alumni work takes place in are constantly changing and evolving (Trends in Alumni Relations, 2018). Furthermore, in the course of the alumni life cycle
“alumni needs, interests and approaches to their alma mater's relevance to their lives are changing” (Trends in Alumni Relations, 2018). As existing alumni grow up and proceed in their career paths, the relationships that once fuelled their participation in the past largely dissipate over time and it is not easy to keep them alive. This can make alumni engagement a challenge even for the best- connected institutions. (Morey, 2020) Furthermore, new groups of alumni and audiences with specific values, behaviours, and preferences constantly emerge (Deloitte Global Millennial Survey 2019, 2019). In effect, alumni strategies that once worked well may not do so today and hence need to constantly be evaluated, revised, and adapted14 (Cannon, 2015b).
2.3 Virtual alumni communities and alumni portals
Besides increased competition in the alumni market, it has also been technological advances and the fast evolving digital world that brought along
14 For example, young people belonging to generation Z (those born after 1995) are currently evolving as the youngest generation of alumni and should be considered by institutions respectively (Cannon 2015b; Deloitte Global Millennial Survey 2019, 2019). Even younger groups, like the Alpha generation, are already emerging as future alumni and should be monitored by institutions (Bencsik, Juhász and Horváth-Csikós, 2016).
massive changes in relationship building and services offered to alumni (Trends in Alumni Relations, 2018). For example, the maturing of digital social and professional networks has led to alumni independently engaging with each other through social media, with or without the involvement of the respective organization. This makes it harder for organizations to track alumni’s activities and stay in touch with them. (Trends in Alumni Relations, 2018). Also, nowadays, customers and users got used to receiving information on demand as well as to personalized experiences that are tailored to their needs (Trends in Alumni Relations, 2018). One can assume that alumni expect the same ease of interaction and personalization from alumni offers as they enjoy in their other relationships. Hence, like other industries, alumni organizations have to adjust to a fast-moving digital environment and rapidly changing appetites. (Trends in Alumni Relations, 2018). In effect, there is a visible trend of alumni organizations focusing more strongly on the individualization of their offers and putting strong emphasis on relational aspects.
Many organizations have started to address the challenge of maintaining connections with their alumni throughout the alumni life cycle by establishing virtual and interactive alumni communities and portals. Besides virtual alumni communities and portals by single institutions, also more and more national alumni initiatives and portals have emerged15. Digital alumni portals can help consolidating the relationship between alumni and institutions (or countries), despite geographical distances and time zones (Barnard and Rensleigh, 2008;
Grunig, 2000; Morey, 2020). These digital platforms also enable organizations to develop and curate content and organize communication more strategically.
(Trends in Alumni Relations, 2018) Former studies have carved out characteristics and features of alumni portals that can create unique value propositions to alumni and increase portals’ efficiency for alumni relationship management: (1) providing exclusive, useful information and knowledge, benefits, services or products (Barnard and Rensleigh, 2008); (2) offering an
15 The US Foreign Ministry operates an International Exchange Alumni platform (About Exchange Alumni, n.d.) and the British Council presents a yearly Alumni Award in honour of outstanding achievements by international alumni of UK universities since 2014 (Alumni Awards, n.d.). In 2009 the Netherlands have established the Holland Alumni Network (About us, n.d.) and France followed with its web portal France Alumni in 2014 (Home, n.d.). Denmark and Australia followed in 2016 with the Danida Alumni Network (About Danida Alumni, n.d.) and the Australian platform Global Alumni (Introduction, n.d.).
open and direct channel of communication to ensure continuous dissemination of relevant information (Barnard and Rensleigh, 2008); (3) allowing for interactive and valuable communication between an organization and its alumni as well as among alumni16 (Barnard and Rensleigh, 2008; Grunig, 2000); (4) engaging alumni according to their backgrounds, skills, interests, and current life situation (Barnard and Rensleigh, 2008); and (5) enabling social and business networking across geographic, cultural, and intellectual borders and by this increasing connectivity between the organization and alumni as well as among alumni (Barnard and Rensleigh, 2008).
For Gummerson (2004), online portals can serve as a cost- and time-effective medium that create optimal ROE or ROR. If users of digital alumni portals form an online community of practice, this can help to achieve lifelong connections and sustainable alumni engagement (Brown, 2001). To exploit their full potential and create measurable outcomes and return on engagement, at the core of these digital alumni networks and portals needs to be a secure database that helps to gather and analyse relevant data (Barnard et al., 2006; Trends in Alumni Relations, 2018). Based on collected data17 on authenticated visitors, e.g. by means of registration, user profiles and log-in function, virtual alumni portals can also enable user segmentation (Barnard et al., 2006). Therewith, online portals yield the potential for data-driven, measurable, and results- oriented relationship building by enabling personalized and customized information activities, e.g. according to age, affinities, life phases and generational lifestyle habits of different alumni segments (Barnard et al., 2006;
Trends in Alumni Relations, 2018).
Offers for further learning and training can be a means to foster networking and exchange on a virtual alumni portal. If alumni gather online to share knowledge, information, as well as personal and professional experiences, this can expand affinity relationships among alumni in multiple areas (Trends in Alumni
16 Compared to static websites, alumni portals offer a number of more interactive channels, like group conversations, feeds, forums, blogs, messengers, live chats, video calls and widgets (Barnard and Rensleigh, 2008). These features make them a more flexible medium to provide relevant information for diverse groups of people and to foster interactive communication and networking (Chia, Jonesa and Grandhama, 2012).
17 By utilizing data mining, business intelligence and analytics, portals can ‘know’ their users and adapt themselves according to user needs (Chia et al., 2012; Daigle and Cuocco, 2002;
Trends in Alumni Relations, 2018).
Relations, 2018). Also, by offering educational offers to alumni, providers can help to develop alumni's employability and career capability and therewith offer a unique value proposition in comparison with the many other social media to which alumni are possibly already linked (Barnard and Rensleigh, 2008;
Cannon 2015a; Chia et al. 2012). Here again data mining and web technologies can enable providers to access and nurture alumni affinity groups according to their needs for online education (Barnard and Rensleigh, 2008).
2.4 Connecting digital alumni learning to lifelong learning
Clearly, for most alumni academic ambitions don’t end with their first degree or graduation from a postgraduate course. For most people today, learning is a continual, lifelong process, lasting for a lifetime (Siemens, 2004: 2). Even after starting a career, alumni often aim for further education, advanced training and possibilities for lifelong learning, as training and upgrading of skills have become more important in a rapidly evolving economy: “Education and career are not two consecutive life phases – instead, periods of advanced training and practical experience alternate and build on each other.” (German Academic Exchange Service, 2013: 45). Member surveys throughout the past years have shown that also a large proportion of the users of the Alumniportal Deutschland are interested in further learning opportunities as well as career-related topics (Results of the Alumniportal Deutschland Survey 201618; Results of the Alumniportal Deutschland Survey 2018). As the author has not found a study that has investigated digital learning offers for alumni systematically, she mainly reviewed literature on digital lifelong learning.
According to Knapper and Cropley (2000), lifelong learning is deliberate learning that occurs throughout each person’s life. For Nordin, Embi and Yunus
“all forms of education that one receives after one has completed one’s formal education can be classified as part of the process of lifelong learning” (Nordin et al., 2010: 131). This learning can take place within the scope of formal, non- formal, and informal education as well as general life experiences (Nordin et al., 2010; Yamat, Ismail and Alias, 2007). For Siemens (2004: 2), especially informal learning is gaining importance and becoming a significant aspect of
18 Internal source, not publicly available
people’s learning experience and can occur in a variety of ways, for instance
“through communities of practice, personal networks, and through completion of work-related tasks.” For Yamat et al. (2007), LLL aims at continuously improving knowledge, skills and competences “with a personal, civic, social, or employment-related perspective”19. Accordingly, LLL offers for alumni can touch different topics from professional development to personal enrichment and take various forms, like personal interest courses, programs with a direct career impact, as well as virtual classrooms and web seminars, if possible with distinguished trainers or experts (Young, 2012).
By providing learning offers organizations aim to become the anchor for lifelong learning for their alumni (Barnard et al., 2006). For the Alumniportal Deutschland the main aim for offering digital learning opportunities is creating sustainable relationships with alumni and increasing user engagement and interaction on the platform (Barnard and Rensleigh, 2008; Young, 2012). The offers can attract more members to join the portal and encourage existing members to log in more frequently. Furthermore, learning offers can stir members to add data to their profiles and maintain the currency and completeness of their data – a concern and challenge for all online portals – for instance if this is a prerequisite to register for a course or join an event on the platform (Barnard and Rensleigh, 2008; Cannon, 2015a; McLaughlin and McLaughlin, 2016).
Today, more and more offers for LLL and also for alumni learning are delivered online. Digital learning offers seem to be especially suitable to support LLL, because of their accessibility and flexibility (Nordin et al., 2010). A number of relative studies have pointed out, that digital LLL it is quite efficient in meeting real market demands and that it is reshaping the way knowledge is distributed even to the most remote geographical areas (Zhang, Zhao, Zhou and Nunamaker, 2004). For the Alumniportal Deutschland, digital learning offers therefore seem to be an effective way to address a diverse group of alumni that is located all around the globe.
19 The learning offers on the alumni portal can be considered a form of non-formal LLL. The learning is partially self-directed: the individual can decide what to learn and has partial control over the ‘how’ of the learning process (Mocker and Spear, 1982).
The question remains how digital learning offers for alumni should look like to contribute to alumni's supportive behaviour and to foster alumni engagement and meaningful connections between alumni and the platform (Cannon, 2015a;
Sun and Yang, 2018). For many the quality of the offers is crucial: to be of value to alumni, digital learning offers have to provide the same quality of learning that alumni remember from former studies or training (Cannon, 2015a; Sun and Yang, 2018; Young, 2012). Small-scale studies, like the one of Rawski (2011:
32), suggest that good quality comprises being relevant to users as well as being timely and current. Furthermore, digital learning services should implicate as few barriers as possible for participation: alumni should be able to access them freely and flexibly (Sun and Yang, 2018; Young, 2012). Regarding topics and learning content, the study conducted by Rawski suggests, that the alumni groups investigated by her have the strongest demand for online learning offerings connected to career development. However, she also acknowledges that different alumni groups might favour different areas and topics (Rawski, 2011: 33-34). By conducting a member survey as well as a co-design workshop the thesis author wants to find out which aspects are relevant for the users of the Alumniportal Deutschland when it comes to digital lifelong learning.
2.5 Theoretical framework for mobile lifelong learning
To conclude the literature review, this chapter introduces a conceptual framework for mobile20 lifelong learning suggested by authors Nordin, Embi and Yusuf (2010). The framework is based on elements of lifelong learning and theories of learning and takes various factors into account. The author believes that it gives valuable hints on theoretical aspects to consider when developing digital learning offers for alumni.
20 Mobile learning is a specific form of digital learning and focuses on the integration of mobile computing devices for teaching and learning (Grant, 2019). Utilizing smartphones has made learners more independent of time, location and the changes in learning environments: Given a sufficient internet connection, learning opportunities that are offered by mobile technologies, principally enable learners to learn anytime, anywhere, and according to their needs (Nordin et al., 2010).
PICTURE 2. Framework for mobile learning design requirements for lifelong learning (Nordin et al., 2010: 136).
The picture above depicts the framework for mobile learning design requirements for lifelong learning as suggested by Nordin, Embi and Yusuf (2010). The framework comprises the four perspectives: (1) generic mobile environment issues (2) mobile learning contexts (3) learning experiences and (4) learning objectives which will be introduced briefly in the following.
Furthermore, the authors have included elements of the three learning theories behaviourism, cognitivism and constructivism, in their framework21 (Nordin et al., 2010: 135).
Generic mobile environment issues
The generic mobile environment comprises aspects like the user dimension, mobility, the mobile interface design, media types, and support services.
Usually, there are two user types involved in the learning scenario, on which data should be collected: Core users or ‘the learners’ and secondary users, e.g.
the content provider, instructors or experts (Nordin et al., 2010; Parsons, Ryu and Cranshaw, 2007). Authors Liu, Salomaa, Huang and Ma (2008) emphasize
21 A constructivist approach means that learners can construct new knowledge with the information that they get from their mobile learning activities (Nordin et al., 2010: 135). At the same time, mobile applications can also be used for `drill and practice exercises`, which are characteristic for a behaviourist approach as they allow giving almost immediate feedback, which can have a motivating effect. Last but not least, the learning environment on a digital platform, allows learners to reflect and exchange on what they have learned. The cognition of questions, problems and difficulties as well as the exchange about them with others integrated into a cognitive theory of learning in a mobile LLL context (Nordin et al., 2010: 135).
that the understanding of the core users and their needs as well as understanding the factors that influence their learning is crucial to the design of mobile learning activities. To gain such an understanding of users, demographic data as well as data on the mobility and gadgets of users should be collected and analysed. For example, content providers should analyse which role mobility plays for the learners’ profiles and how learners use their devices, as this information can give important hints for the design of the mobile learning environment, like the appropriate interface, suitable media types and support services (Nordin et al., 2010). Mobile devices, for example, have specific characteristics like small screens, which require a different user interface design than notebooks (Nordin et al., 2010: 133-135; Preece, Rogers and Price, 2007).
Mobile learning contexts
The mobile learning context is another important perspective to consider. It refers to the scenario in which the learning takes place and which facilities (e.g.
service providers) are used (Liu et al., 2008: 186; Nordin et al., 2010: 136).
These aspects influence the types of learning activities that are constructed (Nordin et al., 2010: 134). The spatial-temporal dimension puts significance on planning schedules and digital events accordingly, which is especially relevant for providers like the Alumniportal Deutschland, with users distributed around the globe in different time zones (Parsons et al., 2007). For Nordin et al. (2010), a distinctive feature of mobile learning is the encouragement of collaborative activities. Collaborative learning which encourages communication and networking can have positive impacts on the learning as well as on learners’
social and teamwork skills (Nordin et al., 2010; Rawski, 2011). Collaboration can happen between students, students and teachers, or students and other sources. Furthermore, support services are important, as they provide assistance to users. Support services can for example be installed in the form of interactive group discussions, forums or blogs (Nordin et al., 2010: 137).
Learning objectives and learning experiences
Learning objectives and learning experiences are closely interconnected. For Michael Grant (2019), learning content and activities in a non-formal setting should be foremost based on the learning objectives, interests, and needs of the users. However, in practice learning offers will to some extent also reflect
the interests and themes of the providing organization. Nordin et al. (2010: 136) stress that all content should be attached to goals and objectives to provide sense of direction and enable feedback.
The learning experience is also closely connected to learning content. For Kollias (2007: 12), all content becomes learning content as soon as a learner interacts with it in a learning activity “with the purpose to think about, understand and create meaning out of them, to develop new knowledge and skills, to practice on them, to use them as a reference points for further developing his/her competencies.” Within the wider pedagogic framework of constructivist and socio-cultural theories of learning, learners are not passive recipients of knowledge and skills that are developed through exposure to certain teaching contents, but they have an active role in the co-creation of learning content (Kollias, 2007). Especially in a digital or mobile learning environment, where learning is not bound to any location or special hours, learners should be able to access learning content from any geolocation and at any time (West and Vosloo, 2013). Hence, providers should aim for open licensing of content and an open structure, as these allow learners to access materials flexibly and share them with their peers (West and Vosloo, 2013). This is also stressed by author Stephen Downes (2008), who sees learning as practising, sharing and reflecting in the form of open and commons based peer learning22. Generally, online communities and mobile learning formats often offer a lot of room for collaborative learning: they can encourage forms of peer- to-peer learning, like tutoring models, study groups, peer-assessment schemes, collaborative project work or mentoring and community activities (Downes, 2008).
The learning experience can be positively influenced by a good usability and an appealing design (Preece et al., 2007). Usability can be increased by reducing barriers for participation in digital learning offers, e.g. by creating a seamless registration process. Design also has a profound impact on the user experience, as many users are looking for a pleasing and engaging experience. Hence, providers should also consider aspects like enjoyment, user satisfaction,
22 Boud (1988) defines 'peer learning' as reciprocal learning activities which are mutually beneficial and involve sharing of experiences, knowledge and ideas between participants.
motivation, and challenge or competition when designing their learning offers.
(Preece et al., 2007; Prensky, 2001). Richard Caladine (2008) suggests enhancing learning experiences by offering rich multimedia content as well as opportunities for interactivity, collaboration and teamwork. This can for example be achieved by enabling face to face conversations, real-time communication and the fusion of learning activities with social networks. By designing a curriculum that reflects the use of dialog among learners as well as group interaction and participation, providers can also positively influence learners’
motivation, engagement and achievement over time (Kilis, 2013; Strengths and Weaknesses of Online Learning, n.d.).
Digital and mobile learning also bring along challenges. These challenges can be related to technological aspects, like an insufficient internet connection, limited access to devices and digital tools, or general limitations of mobile devices. Other challenges can be related to the digital skills of users as well as to their ability to manage self-directed e-learning, as mobile LLL always requires self-motivation and self-regulation by the learner (Nordin et al., 2010; Verheyen, 2020). For providers, it is sometimes challenging to tailor their learning offers to learners’ interests and needs. As mobile LLL mostly takes place in an informal and open environment, there is often only little information available on the learner profiles, including information on their former education as well as their skill and competence levels (Werquin, 2010: 8). In this context, providers can utilize data mining as well as methods of market and user research to collect and analyse necessary data on their core users (Kilis, 2013).
3 METHODS
A combination of research and Service Design methods was used to approach the strategic task of the thesis (Owen, 2007: 22; Stickdorn et al., 2018a: chap.
3). This approach is also supported by Charles Owen (2007: 22), who suggests that a combination of scientific methods and Design Thinking or Service Design methods is more effective for solving a problem of practice than either alone.
Stickdorn et al. (2018a: chap. 3) even go a step further, as they see “research data as one of the core tools of service design.”
As a research method, an online survey was conducted, to explore users’ digital learning behaviour as well as their opinions and an attitude regarding the digital learning offers on the Alumniportal Deutschland. Surveys are a commonly used research tool that allows the researcher to collect a large amount of data from or about people, like their knowledge, attitudes, and behaviour, to explore a phenomenon (Fink, 2003). The SD methods applied in the course of the thesis project comprise journey maps, a stakeholder analysis, and benchmarking.
These methods aim at analysing the existing learning offers on the Alumniportal as well as the ecosystem of these services. Furthermore, the author created personas and conducted a trend mapping to further segment and understand the users of the service and to include a futures thinking perspective in the service innovation process. Lastly, a co-design workshop with users and team members of the Alumniportal Deutschland was realized to gain more in-depth insights into users perceptions of the existing services and to jointly generate ideas and alternative futures for the digital learning offers on the Alumniportal Deutschland. This chapter further elaborates the underlying research theory, the guiding research questions, as well as the methods applied in the course of the thesis project. The chapter ends with a consideration of aspects of reliability, validity and ethics.
3.1 Research Theory
The objective of the thesis project is to improve an existing service. The conducted research serves as the basis for the improvement plans. This
