"It comes as no surprise that students are further ahead of the technology curve than most HE institutions. As you'd expect, use of consumer technology in terms of smartphones, tablets, laptops, and numerous apps that make our daily lives easier and have educated school leavers to their benefits. Universities and colleges are waking up to digitisation in varying degrees across the board, but they are only just beginning to realise the benefits of existing and future smart campus environments," points out Collabco's Sales and Marketing Director, Andrew Taylor.

Smart campus environments like myday focus on enriching the student experience, and platforms offer universities the opportunity to personalise academic experiences. But what is the next step for the digital campus beyond students looking up a timetable, borrowing a book from the library, or finding a room change in their schedule?

Andrew Taylor offers insight into Collabco's developments.
Education technology is frequently evolving, often perceived as complicated, yet exciting. Collabco is continuing to push the boundaries of utilising new technologies within the myday platform, making it accessible and as easy to use as it should be.
Helping to improve the student experience and increasing retention rates is our number-one priority and is being experienced frequently by our customers in a number of ways.
Never before has technology been so accessible. myday embraces the ‘phygital’ world - the blending of physical and digital environments - to give remote distance learners the feeling of inclusion or traditional students an enhanced experience whilst on campus.
Creating your online campus and ensuring both your staff and students receive a personalised experience is much easier to achieve than you think. Once you have a digital campus, you can then compliment this by introducing more immersive elements such as chat bots or artificial intelligence.
Bots within a digital campus will allow a student to access the information they need, when they need it, and in a way in which they're used to. Submitting questions though their phone such as 'When is my next lecture?' and 'How do I submit my essay?' for example, are simple steps to meeting students’ needs. Taking these integrations further with services such as Alexa or Siri bring very exciting possibilities.
Applying artificial intelligence to a digital campus provides the ability to further shape the users’ experience based on their (and other students') behaviours. For example, automatically promoting bus timetables at certain times of the day or offering insights and push notifications at relevant points of their student life, such as support services on the lead up to exams, etc, all improve the outcomes of that student or staff member.

Taylor adds, "Mobile has advanced from a novelty to an essential element of the university and can positively impact organisational, widespread change, transforming the way an institution operates. Collabco is proud to be offering such an advanced smart campus solution through the myday portal and mobile app."

Collabco will be at OEB 2018 in Berlin, 05-07 December, as one of many companies representing edtech and technology solutions.