NAFSA: Association of International Educators is the world’s largest nonprofit association dedicated to international education and exchange. NAFSA’s 10,000 members from more than 3,500 institutions in over 150 countries are a global community of administrators, advisors, instructors, students, advocates, and volunteers committed to the growth of international education.

Challenge

Each year, NAFSA delivers an average of 16 live webinars to provide its members with timely and relevant information on successfully managing study abroad and student exchange programs.

NAFSA needed an easily accessible learning management system (LMS) to manage and host webinars and offer on-demand recordings to their worldwide membership base. The LMS needed to seamlessly handle registration, accommodate a membership database, and integrate with both an association management system (AMS) and eCommerce platform. Additionally, they wanted to drive member engagement, increase revenue, and better predict and control eLearning costs.

Solution

Blue Sky eLearn implemented Path LMS™ to help NAFSA manage live webinars and on-demand recordings. Integrating Path LMS with NAFSA's iMIS database enabled single sign-on for a seamless user experience, with all payment and registration information on one platform.

Now, NAFSA can easily control costs while offering more choices to members and delivering content based on audience type. They now have the ability to bundle several on-demand events with similar themes to provide even more value and increase revenue.

Path LMS allows NAFSA to integrate chats, polling, and native discussions to enhance social learning during virtual events. In addition, the Blue Sky eLearn virtual event team works with NAFSA to produce pre-recorded or "mock live" webinars, ensuring a smoother experience for volunteer presenters and more Q&A sessions.

Goals

• Predict and control eLearning  costs
• Provide an easy-to-access eLearning experience for a worldwide membership base
• Integrate an AMS, eCommerce engine, webinar registration, and membership database into one, comprehensive LMS
• Drive member engagement and increase revenue

Solution

• Implement Path LMS to help NAFSA manage virtual events and webinars and host a library of on-demand content
• Integrate Path LMS with NAFSA's iMIS database for a seamless user experience
• Produce pre-recorded sessions of webinars for a better presenter experience and more substantive answers during Q&A

Results

• Path LMS reduced costs and allowed for predictable budgeting of expenses
• Reduced costs enabled NAFSA to offer a wider variety of content
• Comprehensive technical support from Blue Sky eLearn ensured a superior presenter and attendee experience
• Bundling on-demand virtual learning content provided additional revenue