10 Use Cases for Higher Education Using Headless Drupal

A higher education website serves a different purpose to individual website visitors, whether students, teachers or administrators. The website even has many subdomains too- for organizing all the digital content according to its users for better user experience and quality. Thus, to serve such dynamic requirements your higher education website requires a headless CMS Drupal.

How do you describe a higher education website? Is it a simple website selling some products or services to customers? Or is it a vast and growing platform catering to multiple users and managing heavy digital content? The answer lies in the given situation itself.

What is headless Drupal?

Headless Drupal, also known as decoupled Drupal, is a more flexible and convenient approach to building and maintaining websites. It separates the back-end system from the front-end presentation layer, giving more flexibility to developers as well as marketers to curate a 1:1 user experience.

The back-end systems store, manage and organize the content repository while the front-end systems are built with different technologies that best suit the needs of the website. The front-end systems then communicate with Drupal via API integrations.

This unique architecture is easy to use and helps marketers focus on creating and distributing personalized digital content without the need for developers’ intervention. On the other hand, developers are free to choose any technological framework for the front-end presentation. Altogether this helps organizations distribute digital content faster on multiple digital channels and focus on its presentation separately.

Source: Drupal

10 use cases for higher education using Drupal

Today, many educational websites are designed on Drupal CMS- Standford University, George Washington University, York University, Bond University and many more.

Here are several use cases for higher education institutions leveraging headless Drupal:

• University Portal System:

  Background: Universities need a portal where students can log in to view their courses, grades, schedules, and other academic details.

  How Headless Drupal Helps: Drupal manages academic data and student profiles. A dynamic front-end interface, built with something like NextJs or React, provides a user-friendly portal for students.

• Alumni Platform:

  Background: Institutions want to maintain connections with their alumni, sharing news, events, and fundraising campaigns.

  How Headless Drupal Helps: While Drupal stores alumni data, events, and news, a separate frontend application can offer a customized experience tailored to alumni.

• Online Learning & e-Courses:

  Background: The rise of online education requires platforms for e-learning, course materials, and video lectures.

  How Headless Drupal Helps: Drupal can manage course content, student progress, and assessments. A dedicated e-learning frontend interface then delivers this content in an interactive manner.

• Event and Seminar Booking:

  Background: Universities host numerous events, seminars, and workshops.

  How Headless Drupal Helps: Drupal manages event details, bookings, and reminders. A frontend application lets students and staff view, register, and get notifications about upcoming events.

• Research Publication Portal:

  Background: Academic institutions are hubs for research and need platforms to publish and showcase research papers.

  How Headless Drupal Helps: Drupal can handle research data, paper submissions, and peer reviews. A front-end portal allows researchers and the public to browse, submit, and review research work.

• Campus News & Magazine:

  Background: Many universities have digital magazines or news websites.

  How Headless Drupal Helps: Drupal manages articles, images, and multimedia. A front end tailored for news consumption ensures readers get an engaging experience.

• Library Catalog and Reservation System:

  Background: University libraries need digital catalogs where students can search, reserve, and renew books.

  How Headless Drupal Helps: While Drupal manages book inventories and student loan records, a dynamic front-end interface facilitates searches, reservations, and reminders.

• Campus Virtual Tour:

  Background: Virtual tours help prospective students, and their families explore the campus from anywhere.

  How Headless Drupal Helps: Drupal stores multimedia assets and tour data. A frontend application then renders this into a virtual tour experience.

• Sports and Athletics Portals:

  Background: Institutions often have dedicated portals for sports events, player profiles, and ticket bookings.

  How Headless Drupal Helps: Drupal manages athlete data, event schedules, and ticketing, while a front-end application delivers this information in a visually engaging format.

• Admissions and Application Portals:

  Background: Prospective students need platforms to apply, submit documents, and track their application status.

How Headless Drupal Helps

Drupal handles application data, requirements, and statuses. A front-end application offers an intuitive interface for students to apply and monitor their progress.

Each of these scenarios illustrates the flexibility a headless Drupal approach provides to Higher Education institutions. They can have a unified backend data management system while tailoring frontend experiences for diverse user needs and purposes.

Altudo can support Higher Education Institutes in a multitude of ways to implement headless Drupal, especially in the context of the 10 use cases mentioned. Here's a breakdown of how an agency might approach this:

• Discovery & Strategy:
  Workshops: Conduct strategy workshops with stakeholders to understand the specific requirements and priorities of the Higher Education Institute.
  User Personas: Create user personas to represent various user groups, ensuring that the system addresses their unique needs.
  
  
• Design & User Experience (UX):
  User Journey Mapping: Map out the journey for each user persona across the 10 use cases to create an intuitive experience.
  Prototyping: Develop wireframes and prototypes to provide a visual representation of the front-end interfaces for each use case.
  
  
• Development & Implementation:
  Custom Modules: Depending on specific needs, develop custom Drupal modules to extend functionality.
  API Development: Create robust APIs to ensure smooth communication between Drupal and frontend applications.
  Frontend Development: Develop interactive frontend applications using modern frameworks like NextJS, React, or Angular, based on the chosen tech stack.
  
  
• Integration:
  Third-party Integrations: Integrate with existing systems, such as Student Information Systems (SIS), Learning Management Systems (LMS), or CRM platforms, ensuring data consistency and real-time updates.
  Single Sign-On (SSO): Implement SSO to provide users a seamless experience across platforms.
  
  
• Security & Compliance:
  Data Protection: Ensure data is encrypted and safely stored, especially important for sensitive student information.
  Compliance: Ensure the solution is compliant with regulations pertinent to educational institutions, such as FERPA in the U.S.
  
  
• Training & Documentation:
  Staff Training: Conduct sessions to train university staff on using and managing the headless Drupal platform.
  Documentation: Provide comprehensive user and technical documentation for easy reference and troubleshooting.
  
  
• Performance & Scalability:
  Performance Testing: Regularly test the system for load and speed, ensuring optimal performance even during peak usage times.
  Scalability: Design the architecture so that it can handle future growth in user numbers or data volume.
  
  
• Support & Maintenance:
  Continuous Support: Offer ongoing technical support to resolve issues and ensure smooth operation.
  Updates & Upgrades: Regularly update the system, ensuring it uses the latest technologies and security patches.
  
  
• Analytics & Optimization:
  User Analytics: Integrate tools to gather analytics on user behavior, helping the institute understand and improve user experience.
  Search Engine Optimization (SEO): Ensure content is SEO-friendly to boost the online presence of the institution.
  
  
• Feedback Loop:
  Feedback Mechanisms: Implement mechanisms to collect feedback from users to continuously improve the platform.
  Iterative Improvements: Based on feedback and analytics, make regular enhancements to meet evolving needs.

Conclusion

Headless Drupal is a comprehensive CMS platform catering to complex website requirements, reducing developer dependency, giving more freedom to content teams, managing user access and the list goes on. The advent of technology has diversified the list of digital channels to communicate with your customers and decoupled Drupal allows you to distribute your content seamlessly to any channel and be prepared for any technology trend of the future. Thus, it wouldn’t be wrong to say that headless Drupal enables you to stay ahead of the evolving digital educational landscape and enhance digital experiences.

Altudo can provide higher education institutes with end-to-end support in their headless Drupal migration/upgrade journey. From strategy and design to development and ongoing support, Altudo brings expertise, best practices, and a structured approach to ensure successful implementation and operation. If your business demands moving to an advance CMS as headless Drupal, then it’s your time to connect with us at marketing@altudo.co. Chat with our excellence team and map your transition journey towards digital success.