Leveraging Push Notifications To Impact Student Behavior
Every vocational education program knows: Retention is critical.
In fact, according to a recent survey, it is the number one priority for schools in 2024. But now, schools are working with a new generation of students: Gen Z. This generation grew up with technology and desperately avoids phone calls despite having their phones on them 24/7.
Gen Z has a different style of communication than the Millenials before them, and schools must adapt in order to achieve retention goals.
We adapt our communication preferences constantly to achieve our goals. Singer Miley Cyrus famously said that anytime she works with Dolly Parton, she has to send the country legend a fax because Dolly doesn’t have a phone. If Miley didn’t use a fax machine, she wouldn’t be able to collaborate with Dolly.
In this same spirit, schools must adapt to student preferences if we want to impact their behavior positively. With 79% of Gen Z having their phones on them at all times, push notifications have become a powerful tool for reaching and engaging with them. In this guide, we will explore the effectiveness of push notifications for Gen Z students and provide step-by-step instructions on how to leverage them in your organization to boost student retention.
Let’s dive in and learn how to effectively use push notifications to connect with our students and drive positive behavior.
Why push notifications?
In the age of digital nativism, Gen Z students have not just adapted to the ubiquity of smartphones and social media; they have been shaped by it. This generation, more than any before, lives in a world where their digital interactions are as significant, if not more so, than their physical ones. It’s no surprise, then, that 96% of Gen Z are active on social media platforms, navigating an ecosystem that thrives on constant connectivity and instant gratification.
The documentary “The Social Dilemma” takes a deep dive into how social media platforms have honed their push notification systems to keep us engaged and wanting more. Over time, push notifications have become not just informative but irresistible, exploiting our brain’s reward system by triggering a release of dopamine.
While the intentions behind the push notification systems of social media companies might be questionable, the underlying mechanics offer a valuable lesson for educational institutions. By adopting push notifications, schools can engage with Gen Z students on their terms, utilizing a medium that is both familiar and appealing to them. By tapping into the same reward feedback loop, educational institutions can harness the power of push notifications not for distraction, but for driving student engagement and retention.
Step 1: Find the right tool
Implementing push notifications does require a level of upfront investment if you don’t already have the right tools. While many schools use a CRM to communicate with students via text, email, or phone call, these solutions do not support push notifications since a student did not download the app on their mobile device. The core reason push notifications are effective is that students have already opted in and know to expect communications just from downloading the app.
Typically learning management systems will provide push notifications for things like completed assignments, new assignments, and new grades. Push notifications via the LMS are great for distance learning programs, however, they are limited to activities that are completed within the LMS and do not account for activities that happen in person.
Some student information systems will also provide a student application with some level of push notifications, so check with your SIS provider to learn more. At CourseKey, we’re partial to our own student application, which combines data from both the SIS and LMS to issue push notifications because push notifications are only as effective as the data they act on. That’s why you need to…
Step 2: Shore up your data
Another thing that makes push notifications so effective is that they’re instantaneous, acting on real-time data.
Consider your fitness tracker. When you hit 10,000 steps, it might ping you with a congratulatory message, encouraging you for the action you completed at that moment. If there are data delays, the notifications won’t be as effective as possible.
For example, say you decide to turn on push notifications in the LMS that alert students every time their instructor posts a grade. If instructors wait until one month before class is over to input grades, what happens if a student receives a handful of notifications about bad grades? Do they have time to course correct before class is over?
In order to positively influence student behavior and keep students on track, push notifications must be actionable (more on that later), which means ensuring that your data is fast and timely.
Step 3: Decide on the notification content
Deciding on the content of your notifications is a critical step in leveraging push notifications to impact student behavior positively. There are primarily two types of notifications to consider: motivational nudges and intervention nudges.
Motivational nudges are designed to foster and celebrate positive student behaviors. For example, a congratulatory message celebrating five days in a row of perfect attendance. This type of recognition rewards the student and encourages them to continue this positive behavior, tapping into the psychological rewards system that can help foster long-lasting good habits. These notifications are not about requiring action from the student but about acknowledging their efforts and achievements.
Oftentimes, schools end up spending 90% of their team effort on the 10% of students who need help the most. Motivational nudges allow busy teams to ensure that every student gets the recognition they deserve.
On the other hand, intervention nudges attempt to address and correct undesired behaviors, such as missing classes or declining grades. These notifications are crucial because they make students aware of issues in real time, allowing them to take immediate action. For example, if a student receives a notification about a drop in their grade, it signals that it’s time for them to seek help or put in more effort.
Including staff in the notification system can also amplify the impact of these strategies. Notifying educators about positive behaviors and areas where students may need support encourages a collaborative environment where educators can contribute to fostering positive behaviors and intervening when necessary.
Step 4: Make your interventions actionable
Making interventions actionable is crucial for positively influencing student behavior. According to the Fogg Behavioral Model, for behavior change to occur, there must be a blend of motivation, ability, and a prompt. In the context of educational settings, especially when leveraging push notifications, this translates into designing interventions that are not only timely but also actionable and easy for students to follow through on.
For interventions to be actionable, they must provide clear, concise steps that students can take to correct or continue a desired behavior. When a student receives a notification about missing classes, for instance, the message should include not just a statement of the fact, but also immediate steps they can take to address this. This could be a link to schedule a meeting with an academic advisor, a reminder of upcoming class times, or resources for catching up on missed work.
Early intervention is key. The earlier a student is made aware of a potential issue, the easier it is for them to correct course. For example, making up four hours of missed class time is significantly easier than making up forty hours of missed class time. Getting an overall course grade up is easier after one failed assignment than five failed assignments.
To ensure interventions are actionable, educational institutions must have systems in place that allow for the swift identification of both positive behaviors that need reinforcement and negative behaviors that require correction. This involves having robust data systems that provide real-time or near-real-time feedback on student performance and engagement. By making interventions timely, specific, and linked to easy-to-follow actions, schools can significantly increase the likelihood of students engaging in positive behaviors that lead to their success.
Step 5: Measure success
There are a few key ways to measure push notification success.
The most effective measure as to whether or not push notifications are supporting student retention is through retention rates directly. Track and analyze attrition weekly and monthly drop rates alongside the retention rate at the end of the month. This quantitative data provides a clear, overarching view of the trends and patterns in student retention, enabling a direct comparison between pre- and post-implementation periods.
In addition to hard metrics, incorporating anecdotal evidence from weekly retention meetings offers valuable insights into the nuanced effects of push notifications on student engagement. These discussions can highlight specific instances where notifications have made a tangible difference in student behavior.
Engagement with notifications is another critical measure. Analyzing open rates, response rates, and subsequent actions—such as logging onto a platform like Canvas to complete an assignment—helps determine the effectiveness of each notification.
Finally, student feedback and surveys offer a qualitative dimension to measuring success. By comparing satisfaction rates and engagement levels before and after implementing push notifications, educational institutions can assess the overall impact on the student experience. This feedback also uncovers potential areas for improvement, whether related to instructor performance or course content, further informing strategies to enhance student retention and success.
Leveraging Push Notfications with CourseKey
By tailoring messages to meet students where they are — on their smartphones — educational institutions can foster a supportive and responsive learning environment. The ability to send the right message through the right channel at the right moment is not just about keeping students informed; it’s about inspiring action, whether acknowledging achievements or intervening before challenges become obstacles.
CourseKey leverages data from the student app, the LMS, and the SIS to motivate, guide, and support students through their educational journey. In fact, 93% of students who use CourseKey opt in to push notifications through the platform.
Request a demo to learn more about how CourseKey helps trade and vocational schools engage students with push notifications.
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