TL;DR

We’re rolling out coaching services to Verified Track learners in MicroBachelors Program courses to help them persist and return for more programs in the future. This platform feature will collect consent from learners, as-well-as their phone number which is required for coaching from our partner, InsideTrack.

What is it?

To encourage learners to enroll/consent to coaching services, we’ve added two (2) experiences that allow them to consent and change their consent at a later time.

Criteria to be eligible for coaching services:

1. Enrolled in the Verified Track,

2. in any course in a MicroBachelors Program,

3. and active in the course within the last 90 days.

Pre-course Workflow

When a learner meets this criteria, upon the next time that they attempt to access a MicroBachelors course they will be presented with a new page that describes coaching and asks them to enter their phone number and consent to coaching (or decline). Once they make their choice known, they will see a confirmation message and then they can continue to their course. The learner WILL NOT see this pre-course workflow again.

Open

This pre-course workflow can also be triggered from a Course Dashboard side column widget/advertisement that is displayed when a MicroBachelors learner has not yet consented to coaching.

Open

Account Settings

A learner that meets the criteria above will also see a coaching consent toggle in their Account Settings under the Profile Information section as-well-as a field to enter or remove their phone number.

Note that learners can enter any phone number, but only U.S. phone numbers will allow learners to consent to coaching.

Key talking points for customers

Why is coaching an included feature of MicroBachelors Programs?

We recognize that learners with some-or-no college experience may have questions and/or concerns that would typically be addressed by on-campus service providers like academic advisors and career center staff. We want MicroBachelors learners to feel well supported to help them persist and continue on their educational journey.

Who will notice the change, and where?

Only Verified Learners in a MicroBachelors course will notice the Pre-course Workflow, Dashboard Widget, and the Phone Number + Coaching consent toggle in account settings.

Why isn’t coaching available to Audit learners?

Coaching services are an extra cost that would be unsustainable at the scale of our audit learner enrollment levels.

Why are only U.S. phone numbers accepted for coaching?

Our coaching provider currently only has the ability to message U.S. phone numbers. As we learn more about the success of coaching services we may seek for non-U.S. options.

Who is providing the coaching service?

InsideTrack, which is a well respected non-profit higher education coaching organization. InsideTrack has a track record of working with dozens of institutions of higher education over the past decade. InsideTrack has a dedicated coach for edX learners that can work with them via 1:1 text messaging and phone conversations.

We’ve white-labeled the interaction with InsideTrack which means that communications from InsideTrack will appear to come from edX and learners may never realize that the coaching service is being provided by a third-party.

What topics can a coach help learners with?

Our coaching partner can help learners better understand the MicroBachelors Program structure and can provide advice and resources on the following topics.

Career-oriented

• Write an effective resume

• Write an effective cover letter

• Strategize a job search

• Identify career interests

• Grow your network

• Create a professional brand

• Get an informational interview

• Practice your interview skills

• Create an effective LinkedIn profile

• Create a networking pitch

Success-oriented

• Get more done in less time

• Manage your school finances

• Get test ready

• Create a coursework calendar

• Test out new study strategies

• Strategize a job search

InsideTrack coaches are also able to identify learners who are in crisis situations and refer them to appropriate resources.

Results

We’ll consider this feature done when we’ve monitored 10 eligible learners' consent to coaching without errors. 

More broadly, we’ll measure effectiveness of coaching through learner persistence, bundle upgrade, and general satisfaction with the coaching experience. 

We hope to see greater than 60% of MicroBachelors learners consent to coaching and will consider additional interventions if we cannot reach that benchmark.

Link(s) to additional details

A post from InsideTrack that demo’s their SMS-based coaching approach.

Credits / A Group Effort!

Software & UX Development

@crice (Deactivated) @Matt Tuchfarber (Deactivated) @Justin Hynes @TJ Tracy (Deactivated) @Olivia Ruiz-Knott (Deactivated) @Albert (AJ) St. Aubin (Deactivated) @Gabriel Weinberg @Kevin McGrath (Deactivated)

InsideTrack Partnership Management

@Danielle Vizena (Deactivated) @Nina Huntemann (Deactivated)

InsideTrack Partnership Negotiation

@Jennifer McGowan @Katy Willemin (Deactivated)