OES celebrates 10 years of enhancing lives through education

For over ten years, OES has partnered with universities to deliver exceptional digital learning solutions for their students. As a result, OES offers student learning journeys that are engaging, relevant and underpinned by academic excellence. This includes engaging in the latest digital learning innovations, such as adaptive learning technologies, simulations and virtual reality.

Ten years ago, OES was established on the principle that high-quality tertiary education should be accessible and not limited by mode. Over time, OES has come to represent something even more powerful: scalable online education that supports partners and their students through a range of high-quality digital-learning solutions across the entire study lifecycle.

This year, we celebrate OES’s first decade as an education provider. Our success story spans not just our ten years of existence but also across collaborative partnerships with over 15 universities and professional bodies. Together we have supported students from around the world via high quality education and enhanced employment outcomes.

We are celebrating how technology and personalised student relationships, among other things, have created an ecosystem of highly engaged students. We have a strong vision for the role that online education has for the future and are excited to see how OES will support students from around the world in decades to come.

As it’s our tenth anniversary, I thought it timely to reflect on the top five ‘ingredients’ to our success in delivering exceptional online learning.

It all starts with organisational culture

Over the last ten years, OES has grown to a staff of over 1,300 globally. At the core of this growth has been a consistent philosophy of hiring ‘culture first’ and making people a true priority. This focus on people and culture has meant that we have a workplace made up of diverse people and skillsets who feel empowered to share their ideas. Collectively we feel empowered to ‘test and learn,’ which has been critical for our success and growth in the ever-changing tech landscape. Our environment celebrates diversity and thrives from open information exchange. We have also won numerous AON Hewitt ‘Employer of the Year’ awards showcasing our commitment to internal culture.

Create a student-centric experience

Every decision we make starts with the student and how we can genuinely support their individual goals. We then use technology and data-driven decision making to invest in services that make a positive impact on the learning experience, spanning the entire student lifecycle. This means administration processes and support services are responsive and personalised. Increasingly, students want the options for a self-service model supporting their education. They want the ability to do what they need to, right then and there—particularly when busy or juggling full-time work – they want to solve their problems instantly. An overall student satisfaction rating of 89%* for one of our core partner universities demonstrates that OES can deliver a high-quality, dynamic learning experience.

The importance of investing in technology

Without ongoing investment in technology, we would not have been able to achieve all that we have in the last decade and create the vision we have for our future. We have always integrated the latest digital learning innovations, including adaptive learning technologies, competency-based learning, simulations, virtual reality and best in breed learning management systems, into our programs to ensure students experience the highest quality learning. For example, using simulation technology, OES provided classroom experiences for pre-service teachers during the COVID-19 restrictions, when many teaching placements were postponed or cancelled. The use of simulations has also been beneficial for students in regional or remote locations. The technology has given remote students increased access to a classroom experience and an opportunity to build confidence and preparedness before stepping into a real-life teaching situation.

We are delivering quality learning at scale

OES brings the experience, infrastructure and workforce capability required to deliver customised education solutions at scale. We have built sophisticated and proven approaches to the entire student lifecycle, which means we can deliver quality programs that support student retention. A great example is how we use data-driven insights to identify ‘at risk students’ and take a proactive intervention to ensure that students aren’t forgotten and feel supported and empowered in their studies. One of the greatest benefits of operating in the online learning environment is the ability to be informed by data to develop systems that provide best-in-market online education services.

Global outlook

Our world is increasingly interconnected, and we have driven growth by looking outside Australia for insights and opportunities. As a result, we now operate in both Australia and the UK and have invested in some of the most inspiring international education providers such as Construct and Studiosity, that has enabled our business to have a presence in the US, South Africa and Asia.

The last ten years have been nothing short of enriching, as we have been able to impact lives through the power of online education. As we look to the future of education worldwide, there is so much more that we can continue to do to passionately enhance lives through education, and OES is ready for it.

*Compared to the national average of 78.4% according to the 2019 Quality Indicators for Learning and Teaching (QILT) data