The Noodle Stack

Since the early days of online higher ed, at least $15 billion has been invested in ed tech companies. Today, there is a robust ecosystem of high-quality tech and service solutions for every aspect of online program management. Firms that excel in one area, though, may not excel in others. That’s why you’ll need to work with multiple providers.  Doing so requires coordination and close oversight — exactly what Noodle provides through the Noodle Stack.

Noodle identifies best-in-class providers and tech solutions, integrates them seamlessly, and manages their services to an exceptionally high standard on your behalf. All the while, we reduce cost by leveraging the breadth of our network to find operational efficiencies and amortize costs across our scale.

Think of the Noodle Stack as a customized collection of software solutions and service providers, some of which you are already using, some of which Noodle has developed, and some of which Noodle obtains from third-party providers, all integrated to provide a seamless student and faculty experience.

Driving Down Cost

For most tech service providers in the online education ecosystem, their biggest costs are in sales and integration. When these providers work with us, they don’t have to sell or integrate. Additionally, as their best customer, we bring them volume. For those reasons, we expect outstanding service and most-favored-nation pricing, which we pass along to our clients. That’s how we keep your costs down while ensuring premium services.

Technology & Services Sewn Together

From the moment a student first sees an ad for one of your programs, until he or she makes a donation as a proud alumnus of your institution, the Noodle Stack is operating in the background. Simply put, the Noodle Stack is technology and services sewn together to create a superb experience before, during and after matriculation.

The Noodle Stack seamlessly integrates the work of industry-leading tech and service providers of marketing, recruiting, learning design, academics, student support, and other key services.

Widely Available, but Distinctly Integrated

While the Noodle Stack consists of technologies available to you out-of-the-box in the market, in many cases Noodle has worked directly with the providers to create custom integrations with other products in our stack, significantly improving the student experience and learning outcomes. So while all technologies are widely available, the Noodle Stack represents a unique application and use case. Should a university partner desire, The Noodle Stack can easily be adopted across other programs or the whole campus providing full coverage and ease of access.

Providers in The Noodle Stack

Noodle brings together the very best providers in the online education world. They fall into three categories.

First, there are University Systems — technology solutions already in place campus-wide. Noodle is happy to work with these systems as long as they facilitate a student experience that meets the quality standard we have agreed upon together.

Second,  there are Utilities — the services everyone has to have.  For example, you will need a video content management system. It’s a tool — and a very important one. You want to have the best one, and you don’t care if other institutions are using the same one.

Third, there are Specialists — providers that meet specific needs, who aren’t just best-in-class, but best-for-you. Our goal is to find the providers whose work reflects the strengths and reputation of your institution. When necessary we will guide the university through a selection process.

There are also a few essential components of the Noodle Stack that are delivered by Noodle directly.

Noodle Stack

The NoodleSite is a fully-optimized microsite that can be adapted to specific marketing needs. The NoodleSite allows us to launch a marketing campaign, designed to efficiently capture organic leads, within days, for much less than it would cost you to create a microsite from scratch.

Another essential Noodle-supported component of the Stack is the NoodleCore. The NoodleCore is a back-end technology used to integrate the disparate technologies of the Noodle Stack and track data coherently. Whether information is coming from an Inquiry Management System, a Customer Relationship Management suite, a Student Information System or a Learning Management System, the NoodleCore facilitates your access to real-time analytics and insights.

Finally, NoodlePlacement is a proprietary component of the NoodleStack for programs that require a practicum for graduation. Such programs present a unique set of challenges when delivered fully online. Unlike ground-based counterparts, online programs must find appropriate field placements not just near campus, but across the country. That’s why Noodle has developed a proprietary database to facilitate field placements nationwide. This database of options, and our depth of knowledge about each improves with each cohort of students we place.

Daily Oversight

Once we have configured the components of the Noodle Stack to meet your needs, we direct and supervise the work of our providers, while also measuring and analyzing their performance. We make sure they succeed, so you and your students succeed.

An Evolving Stack

Ed Tech providers compete fiercely, one-upping each other to improve their offerings. Noodle will make you the beneficiary of this competitive ecosystem. Still have questions about the Noodle Stack? Contact us.