I remember long car rides on summer vacation with my parents where my mom was in the front seat with a large map on her lap helping my dad navigate through new cities and towns. We were the family that did lots of road trips. Each year, as part of our yearly expenses, they would buy a new set of atlas maps for the United States that they would study carefully and plan the best route for our next adventure. In my late college years, Mapquest came out. I thought that was the best thing. I could enter my starting and ending location and get a set of directions on my computer that I would print out and put in my front seat to help me find my way. Next was GPS systems that mounted on your dashboard. Wow - huge technical advancements to help navigate. Now with smartphones, we have it all! We not only can get directions on the fly, we can be warned about potential speed traps and rerouted for traffic jams, stalled vehicles, and construction problems. These technological advancements have been HUGE in helping us navigate our changing needs and demands and reach our destination safely in the most time efficient fashion.Many of our clients utilize Unicon to help them “find their way” and navigate their technical challenges and obstacles. All of our customers are at different starting points in their journey and need direction in outlining the best route to avoid technical traffic jams, stalled vehicles, and speed traps. Unicon’s education technology solutions like LEARN evaluations can help you chart your path forward and find the best route to success.
Unicon’s LEARN evaluation methodology walks our customers through a five-phase process to help them reach their destination.
- The evaluation process begins with the Listen Phase. In this phase, we focus on understanding the client’s starting point or the “here.” We look to understand their technical architecture and landscape. We ask about what processes and inputs are part of their systems and what third party solutions they have implemented. This phase provides the foundational understanding of the customer’s starting point.
- The second phase in the process is the Envision Phase. Now that we understand the starting point, what is the client’s vision? This vision can take a variety of different forms. Is their goal to reduce cost? Is the goal to improve the performance or experience in some way for their learners, teachers, or admins? Through a series of facilitated sessions, we look to elicit the client’s vision or the future destination they want to achieve.
- The Analysis Phase involves analyzing and planning the best route. Similar to the atlas maps my parents used on our long road trips, we now have the information on the customer’s starting point and ultimate destination and can analyze how best to get there.
- The Recommend Phase summarizes the details from the Analysis Phase into specific recommendations on how to move forward. This can include build/buy decisions, changes to technical approaches, or adjustments needed to people or processes.
- The Navigation Phase provides the road map for getting from point A to point B. This phase includes a list of how to prioritize and sequence the proposed work. Similar to a road trip, we provide intermittent stopping points along the way that allow the client to re-evaluate the proposed route periodically and make sure they stay on track.
Unicon has worked with customers to complete a LEARN evaluation from a variety of different perspectives. The evaluation can take a more holistic approach to walk in your learner’s digital shoes and help refine the learner’s digital experience. This type of approach encompasses all aspects of a learner’s journey as they navigate through your ecosystem. As an alternative, the evaluation can take a targeted approach and focus on a key aspect that you are struggling with, such as your integration strategy, data collection and visualization, content and assessment, or identity and access management.
Unicon’s 28 years of experience providing services that span the entire education landscape and services to top tier publishers, education technology companies, higher education institutions of all sizes, and the top K-12 school districts in the country puts us in a unique position to help you chart your best path forward. We provide services that focus on K-12, Higher Education, and the Workforce market. We believe in the power of technology to expand access to education, and in the power of education to create a better future for all. Let us help you map the best route to your desired destination.
