Brief & Objective
Traditional education struggles to keep up with the pace of technological change – something further exacerbated by COVID-19. Samsung UK's 2020 ‘Compassion Nation’ research revealed only 1 in 10 young adults felt confident about their career prospects, and 68% felt traditional education hadn’t given them the right tools for future success. With a Global CSR commitment, aligned to the Global Goals, to empower future generations through education, Samsung UK wanted to support 18–25-year-olds with an experience that built back their confidence and delivered on the brand expression to ‘Do What You Can’t’.
Strategy
If school wasn’t preparing young people for the future, we had to give them the opposite: Not a School.
To do so, we committed to using technology to help students learn in a more human and relevant way.
Instead of teaching the expected ‘digital skills’ - like coding - we focused on “the four C’s”; timeless skills that pedagogical experts argue schools should be teaching – communication, critical-thinking, collaboration, and creativity.
Through applying these skills in developing solutions to the societal issues that GenZ told us worried them most for the future – from sustainability, inequality to digital wellbeing – we co-created an educational experience we knew they would want to participate in.
By using unexpected educators sharing learned experience – from Samsung UK, The British Red Cross and Hubbub to influencers Lady Leshurr, Liv Little and Jack Harries – we could also engage our audience with experts they wanted to hear from.
Combining this into a free, online experience meant we could reach and help as many young people as possible. All with the aim of making our audience feel more confident in themselves and own skills to build the future they want to see, in the face of change, whilst embracing the possibilities of innovation to do so.
Method
COVID-19 and lockdown meant Not a School needed to provide a wholly digital experience without losing the depth of face-to-face learning. In partnership with FutureLearn, we developed a platform first with both live and pre-recorded sessions from our unconventional educators.
The course topics were inspired by The Global Goals and refined in GenZ research groups, creating four courses ‘by GenZ, for GenZ’;
o Respecting Our Differences: How can difference of opinion bring us closer together online?
o Turning Climate Anxiety into Positive Action: How can technology unlock activism in everyone?
o Solving Inequality in Education: How can technology allow us all to be educators?
o Human Connection in a Digital World: How can we use technology to end isolation?
To ensure maximum participation, the experience was free to join and available in two accessible formats:
1. Four ‘self-led’ courses, with 100+ pieces of pre-recorded learning content, allowing anyone to participate at any time. The course encouraged learners to share their ideas and interact in the comments, for a truly social learning experience. Learners were also invited to submit their final solutions to the topics to Samsung. A certificate of achievement was provided to all, accredited by FutureLearn and Samsung, which could be shared to LinkedIn.
2. Four ‘immersive’ two-week courses for groups of 18–25-year-olds participating in live, daily video-conferences with experts, supplemented with pre-recorded content. A nationwide social media recruitment campaign invited GenZ to apply and 100 participants were selected, prioritising those who needed it the most and not currently in education or employment. Students were provided with free Samsung technology and ongoing facilitation and support from mentors and peers throughout the course, while they worked towards presenting their solutions to Samsung at the end of the experience for potential support opportunities to make them happen.
A nationwide GenZ targeted social media campaign, leveraging the course influencers, ran across YouTube, Facebook, Instagram and Snapchat, driving awareness of Not a School and encouraging course sign-up on FutureLearn.
Outcome
Samsung UK set out to upskill 18–25-year-olds in the 4C’s, aiming to empower them to feel more confident about themselves, their future and the opportunities of technology to solve problems.
Since launch on 7th September 2020, as a result of Not a School:
- In 2020, over 17,000 learners enrolled, with 927 days’ worth of e-learning was completed across the courses, in just 4 months.
- There has now been 20,251 Not a School enrolments on FutureLearn, over 50% above the 12,000 target (3,000 per course) and continues to grow while the course remains live into 2021.
- Learners are primarily UK based however the course has seen global scale with engagement from countries such as India, USA and Australia.
- There are over 2,500 course learner comments, and the 4 courses have an average rating of 4.5/5
- A pre & post-course survey with the 100 students from the live sessions revealed 96% felt confident submitting their ideas to Samsung to support, and their confidence in their skills increased by:
o Collaborating: +16.08%
o Ideation: +16.49%
o Solve problems: +16.72%
o Networking: +21.98%
o Prototyping: +32.96%
- Of the 100 live course students, 97% rated Not a School ‘excellent’ or ‘good’ and 94% would recommend to friends. 96% said they wanted to work for Samsung and 5 alumni were featured at Samsung’s 2021 Global CES event in January.
- The UK paid media campaign reached 12.7m+ GenZ at 97%, outperforming the 86% target, with 109m+ impressions & 17m+ video views.
- PR reached 1.9m+, 52% above benchmark, with 100% positive sentiment.
Creativity
Samsung Not a School launched during COVID-19 when young people’s exam results & jobs were in turmoil in the UK. It brought 18–25-year-olds together online during lockdown, to learn in a new way for a better future.
Instead of teaching the how-to ‘digital’ skills expected from a technology brand and seen in competitors, unconventional experts from a range of non-traditional backgrounds collaborated to share learned experience to inspire timeless ‘human’ skills like collaboration, creativity and critical thinking to solve social issues from climate change to inclusion online.
One student said of the experience; ‘“I personally did not expect online learning to be amazing. The way this was all planned out was very smart, forward thinking and enjoyable.’