Over the past few years education has gone through a major transition as online and hybrid learning became mainstream, and as students looked for more flexible learning options. Education New Zealand (ENZ) is New Zealand’s international student agency focused on export education and promoting New Zealand as a leading learning destination. However, since the world experienced the mass adoption of online learning, the role of export education transitioned to include international students who wanted to study with New Zealand institutes from offshore.
In early 2022, ENZ witnessed the increased global demand for micro-credentials and short courses from students looking to learn and engage online. They also recognised many international students were looking for unique learning experiences that played into the strengths of New Zealand - innovation, sustainability, creativity and culture. It was through these insights and emerging trends that MissionNewZealand.com was born.
academyEX was engaged by ENZ to license our learning management system and create a user interface designed for international students focused on short courses and micro-credentials offered by a wide range of New Zealand education institutes. The courses on offer were curated and selected based upon subject prioritisation and relevance to the four key focus areas of innovation, creativity, sustainability and culture.
To bring an authentic Aotearoa, New Zealand experience to the learning platform, academyEX engaged with local Māori leaders to create a virtual 360 degree Māori welcome.
academyEX utilised and licensed our learning management system to deliver a suite of curated courses from multiple providers. A simple sign up, search and start function was developed to minimise the process for learners between finding a course that they wanted to study and being able to start their learning. Simplicity, learner engagement and connection was at the heart of the site and promoting New Zealand to a large international audience was a core outcome.
As a result, the project achieved over 500,000 engaged global users within the first six months of launch, significantly amplifying awareness of New Zealand as a leading education destination while fostering a vibrant online community of students for ongoing engagement.