Thanks for taking a few minutes to check-in with Abroad101. Now in our 10th year, Abroad101 continues to be the only website focused on capturing the impact of international education through student-generated reviews. For those of you who use our system, this is a reminder to send invites to your recent returnees. For those of you considering new ways to raise awareness of study abroad participation, Abroad101 is here to help.
What Are Study Abroad Reviews?
- Reviews are Published Program Evaluations
- Reviews are Testimonials
- Reviews are Points of Pride
- Reviews are Social Media
- Reviews are Popular
When students publish their program evaluations they become reviews, and when they are on Abroad101, they also become Social Media. As Social Media, these first-hand accounts of experiences abroad becomes a great point-of-pride for students. They become powerful reference material for future students and parents. As social media, reviews have many uses, enabling:
- Universities to promote study abroad to their own students
- Students to research programs and view first-hand accounts from their peers
- Parents to set their expectations
- Advisors to keep informed of outcomes and student satisfaction
- University Administrators to gather data.
Students are encouraged to share their finished review with their friends, family and other students. Students are also prompted to include their review in their Linkedin profiles and to reference the review in cover letters and grad school applications. The ability to include photos and writing samples can boost the pride a student takes in their review. Each day, Abroad101 reviews are fed into Twitter, Facebook and other social media outlets by our editor, school advisors and students. Sharing further spreads their impact.
Make Public Your Program Evaluations
We encourage you to take the leap and become fully transparent by turning your private study abroad program evaluation process into a public review process. When every student is required to complete a review in order to received credit, you get more candor, usable data and testimonials of the impact of study abroad. We can’t help but think this transparent process positively impacts participation at these institutions and with Abroad101, you can do this for free. What brings so many reviews online, is the full-feature software that Abroad101 provides to universities.
Take a look at a few of our Best Practice Leaders:
- Brandeis University
- Middlebury College
- Trinity University
- Wellesley College
Institutions like these trust Abroad101 as their program evaluation partner. Abroad101 is a time-tested, integral part of the study aboard experience at our partner schools. The Abroad101 team provides training and support for any issues that may arise in the process and we’d welcome being a more integral part of the education abroad experience at your institution.
Make a Review a Re-entry Exercise
Even if your school has an existing evaluation system in place for returning study abroad students, we hope you’ll still consider the student’s point of view and incorporate a study abroad review as part of a student-focused re-entry exercise. The rationale goes as follows: if a student can coherently state what happened to them in writing, they will be much more prepared to discuss their experiences with friends, family and in future encounters as the student moves toward their next steps in life. Showing they can express their emotions, in a published format is a big step forward and a reason to complete a review. With a great sample of their writing and an expression of their new world view., you will help your students better prepare for their future by making a review part of the study abroad process.
Why Abroad101?
The Abroad101 review is 38 questions in length and is designed to walk students through a reflection of who they were before they left, who they are now and what they hope for their future. As part of this process, they will rate 9 different aspects of their program and provide some insight and tips for future students. Taking 20-30 minutes to complete, the review can help students put their feelings into words and start the process of communicating their experiences in concise and coherent ways. They can add photos and turn their review into a point of pride, a capstone to their education abroad experience.
It’s for Faculty-led and Exchange Programs Too:
Abroad101 is happy to list your faculty-led programs in our system. For your exchange partners, we have a catch-all “Direct Enrollment & Exchange” listing for every university abroad. You are welcome to use Abroad101 for each of these types of programs in addition to the students on third-party programs and foreign schools.
Let us show you how.
We’re happy to provide you with a tour of the Abroad101 software, its features, advantages and benefits. Please contact us for a 20-30 introductory walk through of the site and the system that manages is. As we’ve been saying for 10 years – Its fast, free, easy!
Abroad101 remains free program evaluation software due to the support of our advertisers. Many study abroad providers and foreign universities and schools pay for advertising in our directories of programs and that keeps us in business. We thank them, and you for the opportunity to help enhance the field of international education.
Best wishes,
Mark Shay,
CEO / Abroad101
http://www.StudyAbroad101.com
