Studenti.it

70% of school leavers do not see artificial intelligence as a threat, but as an opportunity for the future

Here are the results of the Studenti.it survey conducted before the upcoming 2024 State Examinations

What are the expectations and how are boys and girls preparing for the upcoming State Examinations? What most influenced them when choosing the path they will take after the exams? What is their opinion on such a topical issue as Artificial Intelligence?

Studenti.it, a Mondadori Group brand and a reference point for Gen Z at school, asked its community in view of the upcoming State Examinations that will be held on 19 June: over 1,600 young people responded within 48 hours.

ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE IS NOT A THREAT BUT AN OPPORTUNITY

According to the survey conducted by Studenti.it, the majority of high school seniors (70 per cent) see Artificial Intelligence as an opportunity for their future, given the speed at which the world of work is changing, while only 30 per cent view this new reality with fear.
The recent development of AI has also directly affected the post-diploma choices of 36% of respondents, who said they took this into account when considering their future path after high school. In contrast, 64% stated that it did not influence their choice because they still knew too little about it.

With regard to their future after school, the majority of those who had already decided (45%) opted for university (35%). There were still many undecided (55%) whose concerns will disappear in the coming months, reaffirming the importance of orientation programmes throughout their school career.

THE USE OF SUPPORTS, NOT ONLY TECHNOLOGICAL, FOR STUDY

Studenti.it asked its users what was the tool they used most to prepare for the 2024 State Examinations and how much they used digital tools in their study hours. The PC, chosen by 40 per cent of the final year students, was considered the most convenient device for accessing various learning resources – including notes, e-books and videos – and also the most suitable for long study sessions (over four hours a day for 53 per cent of the final year students).
In total, 3 out of 4 students stated that they use digital media for study (in addition to PCs, tablets 9%, smartphones 8% and AI 7%).
In addition, 27% of young people take dietary supplements to improve their memory and concentration while studying.

HOW TO RELAX AFTER STUDYING

After many hours of study, how do students on the cusp of their exams relax? The Studenti.it survey shows that playing sports (25%) and listening to music (15%) are the most frequently used strategies.

Studenti is the Mondadori Group brand leader in Italy for the digital market in the education category, with 4.3 million users (source Audiweb). It is a reference point for Gen-Z at school, thanks to a dynamic and constantly evolving editorial offer, characterised by innovative languages and content and a team of young creators. This is a formula that has allowed Studenti to reach over 1.5 million followers on social media (Social Insights), on TikTok – where it is followed by 927 thousand users – Facebook, Telegram and on YouTube (StudentiTV) where students access guides and tutorials to prepare for exams.

Studenti.it: predictions on graduate examination 2023. Graduate students bet on Manzoni, Calvino and D’Annunzio

Nearly 8 out of 10 students think one topic could be artificial intelligence

The argumentative essay is the most popular

With the exam, feelings about the most awaited test also return. The most common ones are anxiety and panic, but also growth and achievement.

With the 2023 graduate exam, 470,000 students will return to the traditional pre-pandemic exam, with the first and second national written exams and an oral interview. On the other hand, there’s an ad-hoc exam for students from the flooded areas of Emilia-Romagna and Marche.

 

WHO WILL BE THE AUTHORS FOR THE ITALIAN TOPIC?

Studenti.it – a leader for Gen-Z at school – asked this in a survey of 5,600 girls and boys who responded by making predictions based on the 2023 anniversaries, including the 150 years since the death of Alessandro Manzoni, the 100 years since the birth of Italo Calvino and the 160 years since the birth of Gabriele D’Annunzio.

The anniversaries for these three authors and their importance in the literary landscape put them on top of being the “most likely” topic for the first test for 33% of respondents. 27% expect it to be on Manzoni, 18% on Calvino, while 17% predict D’Annunzio. For the remaining 5% a track will come out on another literary great author, like Italo Svevo (100 years after the publication of Zeno’s Conscience), but there are also chances for Primo Levi, Giuseppe Ungaretti and Luigi Pirandello.

 

AN ESSAY ABOUT ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE AND CHAT GPT?

Among the students’ other predictions there is a possible track on artificial intelligence. 76% of respondents consider it very likely against 24% who believe it may be unlikely, because it’s too obvious.

 

TYPE OF TRACK: THE ARGUMENTATIVE ESSAY IS THE HIGHLY-RATED

Among the different types of tracks that students will find in the first test, the one that is currently receiving the highest rating (39%) is type B: the artistic, literary, historical, philosophical, scientific, technological, economic or social argumentative essay. However, 36% of the graduates are opting for the type C, an essay on a current topic, while analysing the text of poems or prose – type A – has been chosen by 25% of the graduates.

THE EXAM IN A WORD

The graduate exam is… Studenti.it also asked the 5,600 students in the survey to describe their feelings about the exam in one word. The most cited ones were: anxiety, stressful, panic, hell, liberating, impossible, complicated…but, fortunately, they also cited…growth, goal, important, exciting, beautiful

Studenti.it
Studenti is the Mondadori Group brand leader in Italy for the digital market in the education category, with 4 million users (source Audiweb). It is a leader for Gen-Z at school, thanks to a dynamic and constantly evolving editorial offer, characterised by innovative languages and content and a team of young creators: a formula that has allowed Studenti to reach over 1.3 million followers on social media (Source Shareablee and social insights), on TikTok – where it is followed by 640 thousand users – Facebook, Telegram and on YouTube (StudentiTV) where students access guides and tutorials to prepare for exams.

“Good luck to the graduating seniors” – Studenti and Webboh together for graduation 2023

The new initiative of the Mondadori Media brand, the GenZ target leader, with new branded content formats and the most popular creators

For graduation 2023, Studenti, the digital point of reference of the Educational segment, and Webboh, the first community dedicated to Generation Z, offer their partners a one-of-a-kind opportunity to speak to the 470 thousand graduating seniors taking their exams throughout Italy.

Throughout May and June, the two brands’ editorial plan includes a vast range of contents on both Studenti, via its cross-topic expert creators, and Webboh, to speak of the upcoming graduation of GenZ’s most popular idols: a unique offer aimed at reaching the vast range of graduating seniors on their favourite channels, especially on Tik Tok and Instagram, and at supporting them educationally and psychologically in an entertaining way.

Both Studenti and Webboh take advantage of this opportunity to renew their graphic contents and logos: via a restyling of the website and a “special graduation section” for Studenti.it and optimized navigation on Webboh.it, so as to ensure more interactiveness between the website and social communities.

For the brands interested in communicating with the target audience at this specific stage of their life, Studenti and Webboh – together with Brand On Solutions, the Mediamond branch focused on special initiatives – planned original and engaging branded contents for all customers interested:

  • the Graduation diary: a series of selfie video contents on Instagram through which GenZ’s most popular young creators will detail their study period by speaking of the most intense moments and emotions preceding their exams;
  • POV, I’m graduating: a social video format in partnership with Giulia Bellu (@giulia_bellu – Power Talent Agency creator) and Eva Andrini (@evasfoodaddiction – Zenzero Talent Agency creator) aimed at giving advice on how to overcome anxiety and what to eat while studying in an ironic and gentle tone;
  • Vox – The Voice of Graduating Seniors: a social video format with Webboh’s Tiktokers aimed at meeting and interviewing graduating seniors at the school gates during their exam dates and to allow youngsters to share their experiences and emotions.
  • After graduation: a great online survey on it concerning students’ choices after the exams and a collection of special web and social orientation contents dedicated to life after graduation: from post-graduation tips to guidance on how to study abroad and other ideas on starting a career.

Studenti and Webboh are GenZ target leaders with respectively 4 and 3 million unique monthly users (Audiweb source) and with over 3,5 million overall followers on their social networks (source: Sensemakers on Comscore Shareablee): an audience that ensures high quality KPIs and above-average engagement rates to its communication partners.

  • Studenti‘s graduation special completes its traditional web offer – conceptual maps, premium contents, summaries, – a vast range of original contents from its edu-creators through the #learnwithtiktok hashtag. The brand, which counts over 1,2 million followers, records continuous growth on Tik Tok, which now accounts for about half of total followers.
  • Webboh follows the graduation steps of the most popular creators through a gentle and entertaining approach. The post “What were the creators’ final marks?” was among the ten most read articles of 2022 on it. With over 15 million monthly interactions and 2,3 million followers, Webboh is in the top 10 of Prima Comunicazione’s and Sensemakers’ “Top Most Social Media” ranking.

Studenti.it and Intesa Sanpaolo together for financial education

Online now YounGOALS, a project aimed at students that brings together the digital brand leader in the education segment with Italy’s leading banking group

Studenti.it, the Mondadori Group brand that is a point of reference in the education segment, is launching, in collaboration with Intesa Sanpaolo, Italy’s leading banking group for households and businesses and one of Europe’s biggest banks, YounGOALS, a financial education programme aimed at young people, who are invited to test their knowledge in the field of business and economics.

This initiative will enable Intesa Sanpaolo to use its skills to bring young boys and girls closer to concepts such as saving and investment and make them more aware of the importance of their present and future financial decisions while taking advantage of the collaboration of Studenti.it to get in touch with Gen Zers and understand better their needs and interests.

The project – which has been developed with the support of Mediamond, the advertising sales company owned by Mediaset e and the Mondadori Group – is organised in different stages and demonstrates the strengths and ability of Studenti.it to interact with an increasingly broad community. In fact, for many years the brand has reached an audience of young people with innovative language and content, which now numbers over 3.7 million unique users per month (Source: Audiweb, average January-July 2021) and almost 1 million fans on social meda (Source: Shareablee + TikTok and Pinterest Insight, October 2021), of which 400,000 on TikTok alone.

This success is due to a unique and continuously updated editorial offer, elaborated with the contribution of a team of young creators working to engage students in a variety of learning experiences with lessons, audio and video clips, study guides, advice, notes and much more.

A THEMATIC ROADMAP IN A NUMBER OF STAGES – The project developed in partnership with Intesa Sanpaolo has the specific objective of helping young people to reinforce their knowledge about finance and the economy, making it easier to understand apparently complex issues and concepts.

“Learning how to manage savings is something that can be taught and learned from a very young age. And it can expand our opportunities, make us more independent and contribute to our future serenity,” explained Andrea Lecce, director of Sales & Marketing for Private clients and Retail Companies at Intesa Sanpaolo. “This is why financial education, provided in a concrete but fun way, as in the collaboration with Studenti.it, has always been a central focus of Intesa Sanpaolo. In recent years, a million young people, of which around 300,000 under 18s, have chosen to open an account with us, completely free of charges, so that they can become familiar with basic financial services. Around 30% of mortgages are for young people, with favourable condition to help them realise the dream of owning a home. And we are committed to offering them the best financial solutions, supporting them in their studies and, in the future, the most innovative tools to face the challenges of the world of work.”

“The financial education programme developed together with Intesa Sanpaolo allows us to further consolidate the role of Studenti.it in the training of young people,” said Pamela Carati, Brand Manager Entertainment & Science at Mondadori Media. “In fact, this collaboration is a demonstration of how much our brand has been able, in recent years, to become a point of reference across the entire period of the life of younger generations. Every day we strive to provide answers to their needs with innovative educational content, in dynamic language and formats and increasingly on social media. These are the strong points that enable us to identify and intercept the needs of Gen Z and maintain an open dialogue and fruitful exchange with all of them. A winning formula that, also thanks to the efforts of young creators, is rewarding us across all platforms, in particular on TikTok, where the brand has obtained truly extraordinary results and where we have shown, with all of the content marked as #imparacontiktok, that the platform is both light but also substantial, and has led to some 400,000 followers in just one year,” concluded Carati.

The campaign got started with an online survey that involved over 56,000 users between the ages of 16 and 25, and made it possible to identify the issues of most interest and put together the second stage of the initiative: a range of content on 6 different macro-themes, available with weekly updates on all of the channels where the Studenti.it offer is available: web articles, podcasts, videos on YouTube and contributions on TikTok, Instagram and Facebook, as well as a final quiz. Space for methods for the proper management of savings, tools for effective planning of expenditure, ways to make online purchases and those to protect against scams, as well as forms of insurance and the most common types of loans for foreign studies and training, and the search for the first sources of income, the sharing economy and sustainability.

A PROFILE OF YOUNG ITALIANS   But how much do young Italians really know about finance and economics? From the survey conducted by Studenti.it, in collaboration with Intesa Sanpaolo, in the first phase of the entire campaign it emerged that young people start to talk about money and savings in the family and, in fact, this is the primary source of information for 36% of the young people who took part in the survey.

For 26% the first ideas about finance come from school, while another 26% gets their information from digital platforms. Among the economic and financial topics they would like to know more about, almost 2/3 of the participants put savings plans top of the list in order to one day be able to make important purchases or pay for their studies (32%). As regards channels to find work and benefit from a source of income, 48% of the interviewees, are in no doubt: going to university and obtaining a qualification is a way of standing out on the market.

3 in 4 students have already started to save, but only 31% of them methodically plan their monthly spending. To manage their resources, 24% of the sample make use of pre-paid cards, 22% mainly use a bank current account and another 12% a post office current account. Finally, most of the participants believe that travelling far away from their families is the first real test of their ability to manage a budget: so it is not a coincidence that for 46% their main objective is to plan their spending in the best way so as not to run out of money, while for 21% the priority is to insure against theft, accidents or other unexpected events.

These results clearly show the need for a targeted and innovative educational process to which this project provides a response in a learning context that is increasingly social and digital.

All of the details of the YounGOALS project- which are continuously updated – are available here.

Studenti.it confirms its position as a point of reference for high school diploma exams

From conceptual maps to podcasts, thousands of items of content available online

Record on TikTok, with 7 million views and 3 million likes in the week of the exams

Teaching materials, summaries, conceptual maps, guides and background details prepared by teachers, as well as podcasts with audio snippets for speed up revision, a YouTube channel and dedicated groups on Facebook and Telegram: also this year Studenti.it confirms its role as a point of reference for schoolkids involved in the high school diploma exams, making available all of the necessary resources to face and overcome the challenge.

The Mondadori Group brand – used by the community also as a platform for sharing opinions, doubts and expectations, starting from surveys and questionnaires – has continued to offer support for students outside of school with a wide range of materials on its web site and on social media, confirming its position as a leader in the educational segment with 5 million unique users per month (Source: Comscore, April 2021).

THE MOST CLICKED CONTENT – Exhausted after a year and a half of distance learning and by the final rush of checks and tests, final year high school students have once again found in digital content an indispensable source of support for revision ahead of the exams. This is confirmed by a survey conducted on the eve of the exams by Studenti.it on a sample of 40,000 pupils: 50% of them declared that they found the summaries extremely useful, followed by conceptual maps (25%), background (14%) and videos (9%). However, it is podcasts that won the record number of clicks, for which, in the month of May alone, more than 165,000 downloads were recorded, with a total of over 1.2 million downloads on the brand’s channel.

THE SOCIAL MEDIA COMMUNITY – Among the many difficulties encountered at the end of the year, the biggest one concerned the preparation for the exam: it is by chance that, according to a recent survey by Studenti.it, 80% of students did not feel adequately prepared or were afraid of gaps due to distance learning. The exams, however, went better than expected, as can be seen from the comments collected on the brand’s social media channels, which have become an authentic meeting and exchange point for all the students: “My exam went well. I was excited, I had studied a lot and it seemed like a walk in the park,” writes Veronica. “Guys, I’’s over! An unforgettable feeling, good luck to the next lot!”, echoes Desiree.

From literary summaries to mathematical explanations, from English cards to scientific curiosities, and from practical tips to jog the memory and concentration to suggestions for dealing with performance anxiety, the final year exams are confirmed as increasingly social and digital.

RECORD ON TIKTOK Present on all major social networks with a fanbase of 910,000 users (Source: Shareablee and TikTok, June 2021), in the weeks of the exams Studenti.it enjoyed unprecedented success on TikTok. In fact, for the first time, with the launch of the hashtags #imparacontiktok, #imparacontiktokitalia and #maturità2021, even the popular social network attracted a significant number of students struggling with the state exams.

Thanks to the quality and immediacy of the educational video snippets, as well as the openness and spontaneity of the young creators, the Studenti.it channel received a wave of subscriptions, with more than 310,000 followers and more than 3 million likes; a total of 7 million views.

The commitment of the Studenti.it team will not stop even during the summer months: the brand’s TikTok creators will continue to keep students company, with lots of new content designed to support them both in their choice of university and in view of getting back to school.

 

 

Giallozafferano bets on TikTok

A new exclusive collaboration with three emerging creators: Cooker Girl, Theavokiddo and michi.fadda

GialloZafferano, Italy’s best-loved food media brand, is betting big time on TikTok to enhance the title with a new language, original content and to further strengthen its relationship with Generation Z.

First launched on the short-video platform in June, the GialloZafferano profile already has more than 200,000 followers, and growing rapidly, with over 17 million video views with the hashtag #giallozafferano and an average of more than 200,000 views and 20,000 likes for each video posted.

On TikTok the Mondadori Group brand offers  original and exclusive content with its unmistakeable mix of recipes for everyone, and the simple ideas and advice that makes the web site a point of reference in the kitchen for 18 million unique users  every month (Source: Audiweb, average Jan-Jun 2020) and 12 million fans on social media, from Facebook to Instagram, Youtube to Pinterest, and now also on TikTok. GialloZafferano produces different and ad hoc content for each platform with the aim of being always close to Italians in the kitchen, thanks to always new proposals and responding, 7-days-a-week, on the web site and on social media, to tens of thousands of comments and requests from users.

“Once again, we are evolving, with new content and approaches, in order to remain in constant contact with people. We follow changes in habits on new media through the constant development of new and original formats, also to interact with a new audience, and expanding our presence on social media,” declared Andrea general manager of Mondadori Media. “For some time now we have seen social media not just as a way of disseminating our content, but as a new paradigm, in which GialloZafferano is the instrument for the creation of a community built around the passion of Italians for food and cooking, a and where it is not the brand that is the protagonist, but people, who are increasingly engaged and central.”

To reinforce even more its position on TikTok, from today, GialloZafferano will also take advantage of the exclusive collaboration of three innovative food creators: Cooker Girl (Aurora Cavallo), Theavokiddo (Aisha Ben Thabet) and michi.fadda (Michela Fadda), very young food enthusiasts who have been able to discover interesting and fascinating ways to emerge and engage users on TikTok.

Aurora Cavallo, or Cooker Girl, is 19, has 250,000 followers and 5.4 million likes on TikTok. She was born in a small village at the foot of Monviso and is a student at the University of Gastronomic Sciences of Pollenzo. She likes to define her cooking as “traditionally new”. Often reinventing tradition, combining different culinary cultures and techniques to make every dish her own, Aurora learned to cook on the web web, watching thousands of video recipes on YouTube and reading numberless articles on blogs, in books and magazines. And it is perhaps this “amateur” background that has had the biggest influence on her way of communicating; spontaneous, simple and direct, rich in values, but hiding close study and limitless passion.

Aisha Ben Thabet, or Theavokiddo, is just 16 years old, has over 450,000 followers and 18 million likes on TikTok, and lives in Milan where she studies and a languages-based high school. She began cooking when he was six years old, along with her sister, and in 2016, for fun, she took part in Masterchef Junior where she came third. During lockdown she took up cooking again and, in a few weeks, her TikTok profile became one of the most popular in Italy. She shoots video recipes that are tasty and within the reach of all schoolkids, in a spontaneous way and an immediate editing style with brilliant effects. The kitchen has become her safe space as, though the ingredients, the preparation and sharing of her recipes, she manages to express her feelings.

Michela Fadda, or michi.fadda, is 20, has over 350,000 followers and 12 million likes on TikTok, and has Sardinian origins and studies Educational Sciences at the di Milano Bicocca University. Even as a little girl she cooked with her mother and grandmother, a passion that she has continued to pursue over the years.  With just her smartphone and her creativity, with her videos Michela tries to transmit the peace and serenity that she herself finds when she’s cooking. With a single light, Michela manages to capture the details of every recipe, enhancing the ingredients and highlighting the preparation of each dish in the editing and an always pertinent choice of music, while also trying to remind us that beauty lies in small and simple things.

For the Mondadori Group, the novelties on TikTok don’t stop here: for some months, other brands have begun to try out new things on this platform, from Grazia, that launched its profile during the recent fashion week, with a continuous increase in the number of followers, to a DMBeautySmartworld and Studenti.it.
A continuous evolution that will soon also involve also other Group brands, with new projects and exclusive collaborations. These editorial developments generate new opportunities for interaction and Mediamond is already working, alongside Mondadori, on the development and fine tuning of new proposals for branded content for 2021, aimed at all interested commercial partners.

 

Back to school: 57% of kids prefer classroom lesson to remote learning according to a Studenti.it survey

Lessons? Better in the classroom. 57% of students want to go back to the classroom: this is what emerges from a survey conducted by Studenti.it involving some 18,150 1st and 2nd level high school students and aimed at finding out what they think, how they are experiencing the current situation if and how their habit will change. In fact, for those interviewed they miss contact with both classmates and teachers and there is a great desire for a return to normality.66% even think that online classes and damaging because of connectivity issues and inadequate tools that have hindered effective interaction between students and teachers.

The end of the 2019-2020 school year was anomalous: only 30% of those interviewed told Studenti.it that there were students who had failed the year or had to do re-sits. There does not appear to have been big gaps and a need for recoups, given that just 38% of students organised revision lessons. In the 2018-2019 school year, on the other hand, all schools organised revision courses, having faced 21% of students required to re-sit in September and 6.8% who failed the year.

Regarding single study chairs on wheels, for most kids (86%) in the Studenti.it survey, they are likely to be used inappropriately by students and therefore create additional problems. For the remaining 14%, meanwhile, they are seen as a good solution that can guarantee adequate distancing.

The majority of kids, finally, don’t want to change their habits to get to school. According to the Studenti.it survey, 23% would find an alternative method of getting around compared to the  pre-Covid period, while 77% would continue to use the same means of transport to get to school: of these 40% would use public transport, 32% would move by car, 18% would go to school on foot, 4% by motorcycle, and 6% by bicycle of scooter.

Studenti.it has continued to be constantly on the side of students during all phases of the school year in lockdown, increasing its offer with thousands of items of free content, from video lessons with study tips, to live social media events with experts and YouTubers and the “Te lo spiega Studenti” podcasts, a new way of exploiting notes online. In the first six months of the year, the  Mondadori Group brand recorded a 30% increase in traffic on its site compared with the previous year (Source: Google Analytics, average March-April-May), reaching, in April, a month of total lockdown, 5 million unique users, +34% compared with April 2019 (Source: Total Audience April 2020), and YouTube views that were up by 50% compared with the same period of the previous year.

Studenti.it already set for back to school

Lots of issues to face for the return to school on 14 september

83.7% of students interviews by the site say they are concerned

What will it be like going back to classes? 83.7% of the students who responded to a Studenti.it, survey say that they are concerned. In fact, of these, 41% think that everything will be more complicated in September while the remaining 42.7% are uncertain what will happen.

The biggest concern is about the health aspect: 45% wonder whether it will be safe to return to school, while a small percentage (8%) is worried that they will not be able to catch up with the syllabus. For  30% of those interviewd by Studenti.it lessons should have started up again before 14 September, in order to recoup what has been lost during the health emergency.

On the side of Italian students for more than 20 years, Studenti.it is preparing to go back to school and accompany kids as they make their return also by responding to their most frequent questions: How will we re-start? How will entrance tests be managed? How will we get to school and how will our habits have to change? Up-to-date editorial coverage will be available on the site, with a back to school specialeverything new in the school calendar, as well as advice and suggestions for the choosing a university, with dedicated formats such as the new orientation podcasts and the Facebook group for the medical school entrance test. There will, of course, also be weekly surveys to have a picture of what students are feeling and their expectations for lessons, plus a new schedule of live social media events “Tg Scuola“.

During the health emergency, with lesson suspended across the whole of Italy, digital became essential for students, teachers and parents. In response, Studenti.it increased and expanded its offer with an enormous quantity of free content and constantly available didactic resources, such as video lessons with study tips, a series of  podcasts “Studenti Explains”, a new way of exploiting online notes that reached  100,000 listeners per month and live social events with experts and YouTubers.

All of which has led – for the Mondadori Brand – to a  30% increase in the site’s traffic compared with last year (Source: Google Analytics, average March-April-May), arriving, in the month of April, a month of total lockdown, to 5 million unique users, +34% compared with April 2019 (Source: Total Audience April 2020), and an increase of 50% in views on the YouTube channel compared with the same period of last year.

Maturità 2020: for 59% of those interviewed by Studenti.it this year the state exam will be easier. But 27% of users have changed their post-diploma plans

Online the new exam anthem by Lorenzo Baglioni and a best of luck special to all candidates from YouTuber Eleonora Gaggero

For 500,000 Italian students, tomorrow sees the start of the much anticipated Maturità – the final year high school diploma exams – that will also be the first experiment of being back in the classroom after months of distance learning. But it will be a first for the state exam and very different from the past, in that it will be held according to the new rules dictated by the health emergency and, above all, will involve only the oral exam.

Studenti.it, a digital point of reference in Italy for the world of education, asked over 10,000 users of the site what they thought about the upcoming exams: for 59% of the interviewees the exam will be easier, while 41% think it will be more difficult. So, an exam that is seen as a relief for Italian students, followed, however, by a more complex autumn. In fact, some 27% of students, say that they have changed their plans for September because of the Covid-19 emergency: 7% have given up the idea of studying away from home, a further 7% will no longer take up study options abroad, while 13% have changed their minds about which type of course to follow.

Data from the survey show that those finishing high school in 2020 expect an exam based on what they have actually studied: and 18% are convinced that the multi-disciplinary path previously defined with teachers will help them to face the most difficult test, the oral exam.

STUDY MATERIALS AND LIVE SOCIAL EVENTS WITH EXPERTS

Helping Italian students prepare for and pass this important milestone for more than 20 years, Studenti.it, the Mondadori Group brand, with over 4.3 million monthly users on Audiweb and a Facebook page with around 500,000 fans, supports students with updates and news, replies to their most frequently asked questions, video lessons and new podcasts on the syllabus of the last year of high school which, in one month, has totalled 100,000 downloads.

Studenti.it has also developed the format TG Maturità, a schedule of live Facebook events in which teachers and experts alternate providing advice on how to prepare and face the exam.

 TWO SPECIAL MATHS TEACHERS

Lorenzo Baglioni, the artist with a degree in mathematics, and Elia Bombardelli, a maths teacher, very popular on YouTube, have produced a highly entertaining double-interview for the social media profiles of Studenti.it (https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=2853418641450164) talking to candidates about the exam and on the subject of mathematics, together with useful advice and suggestions. Plus,  Lorenzo Baglioni has added a lighter touch with a new version of the song  Maturandi, this musical project, a co-production with Studenti.it, last year became the anthem of the  Maturità (with more than di 1 million listens on the web and on social media), out in this new form with a special dedication to all those who will take the  exam in 2020, in the middle of considerable adversity.

Finally, this afternoon, on the social medial channels of Studenti.it (Facebook and Youtube), an exceptional student will send her special best of luck wishes, live to all candidates: Eleonora Gaggero, class of 2001, YouTuber, actress and writer, who herself will be facing the maxi oral exam of the  Maturità 2020.

 

Also this year the maturità is with Studenti.it

Available online podcasts for graduating students with audio tips to revise literature and history and prepare for the exam

Italian high school students will this year face quite different final year exams starting from 17 June. The health emergency means there will be extraordinary rules for the much-anticipated exams: the traditional written tests will not take place and all students will face an oral exam in a new format, in front of a commission on internal members, while respecting the social distancing rules foreseen by the MIUR.

And once again, supporting Italian students as they prepare the maturità will be Studenti.it, the Mondadori Group brand, leader in Italy in the digital area in the world of Education with over 4.3 million users per month according to Audiweb and a Facebook page with around 500,000 fans, and which, for more than 20 years, has been helping high school students to get through this important exam.

In recent months Studenti.it has continued to support students who have been kept away from school. With a wide offer of content on its web site and on social media, this has allowed students to have material available for distance learning and to continue their preparation for the final year exam, known in Italy as the maturità. Fundamental teaching resources in this time of virtual lessons, as is confirmed by an online survey made by the brand on a sample of some 3 thousand young people at the end of March. According to both the interviewees and teachers, all of the material available online and on the most common audio and video platforms and useful tools to facilitate distance learning.

Podcasts: new tools for students
The offer of resources and material on Studenti.it has been expanded with a new, practical and easy to use teaching tool: Te Lo Spiega Studenti.it, (Let Studenti.it explain) the brand’s exclusive podcasts for final year students. Every week, four tips focusing on the syllabus of Italian and History, to help students form all streams to revise ahead of the oral exam or an assignment with the main points of a topic or mini biographies of leading figures who have left their mark on history. In just five minutes you can revise an author like Cesare Pavese, a work like Il fu Mattia Pascal or a literary movement, such as the Decadent Movement. But you can also learn what was discovered by Marie Curie, who Charles Darwin was or what happened on 9 November 1989, when the Berlin Wall came down. To these can be added those dedicated to the guides for preparing the maturità, where, for example, students can listen again to how to analyse a text or the techniques for improving your memory of what you are studying.
The technology partner of Studenti.it in the creation of this new content is Spreaker, Italy’s leading platform for the creation, distribution and monetisation of podcasts, conceived for beginner and professional podcasters, and for publishers and companies who want to include podcasts as a tool in their communication strategy.
The Te Lo Spiega Studenti.it podcasts have already been reached 100,000 downloads per month 100 across all of the most popular platforms used by kids and are among the content recommended by Spotify and Google. A result that confirms that listening to audio series is now a fast-growing trend, even among the younger generations: in fact, according to Spreaker the average monthly listener figures for podcasts in Italy  has grown by 50% between December 2019 and March 2020, and podcasts linked to “Education” are always the most popular.

Growing numbers
With its material in support of the world of school, from background materials produced by teachers to conceptual maps, summaries of dissertations and exam guides to podcasts, Studenti.it was able to respond immediately to the need for distance learning in recent months and provide support for students facing the final exam.  The figures for April demonstrate this success and once again confirm the brand’s success, with an increase in traffic of 50% compared with the same period last year. In this period of virtual lessons it has been the teachers themselves that have suggested to their students the resources of Studenti.it and the boom in traffic shows that users recognise the reliability and authoritativeness of the available content.
Studenti.it has also again confirmed its position as leader in search engines for the most important keywords related to the maturità including, maturità 2020, maturità oral exam, paths to maturità and dissertations.

The community on social media
But the Studenti.it team is also supporting final year students on social media, providing information and news about the new form of the exam and helping them to measure up and find solutions to problems related to organisation and teaching. The Facebook page has reached almost 500,000 fans with a group dedicated to the Maturità 2020, to which has been added a new group on Telegram.
To support students in the weeks immediately before the exam and in June during the exam period, the team has developed a format called TG Maturità. This is a programme of live Facebook events to give examinees updates and news about the exams and replies to their most frequent questions. There will also be contributions from a number of guests who will help the candidates with last-minute doubts so that they can calmly face their exam preparation.

The success of the YouTube channel
There has also been a great success for the Youtube channel which has doubled the number of views, thanks to the development of new formats, which join the more traditional video notes. From StudentTalk to StudentTea and tutorials for the oral exam: a series of videos offering useful suggestions and advice for students beyond the didactic content. And then, of course, there is also the participation of authentic stars of digital education, such as Elia Bombardelli with her lessons in mathematics.

After the exams
Studenti.it accompanies students also after the exams, supporting them as they decide on their next steps, with content and targeted tests to orientate their choices and the creation of ad hoc Facebook groups such as Orientamento Università and Test medicina a numero chiuso, which to date have 27,000 and 40,000 members respectively. This is where students can exchange ideas on the best choices for their future, as well as a place to find information about universities, entry tests and receive the latest news on other issues of interest.