When Taiwan’s Ministry of Education issued strict guidelines on how schools, colleges and universities should act to contain the coronavirus, many assumed that our institution would be the first to close its doors. This prediction was a reasonable one. After all, National Taiwan University (NTU) has more than 2,000 faculty, 32,000 students and is located in the […] … learn more→

We all go through a personal crisis from time to time.  Arguably, one of the worst things about a crisis is finding out people you considered friends, aren’t your friends.  Don’t we all assume friends are supposed to be there for each other through the hard times? Bring each other ice cream? Watch bad romantic […] … learn more→

One of the best ways to get children excited about learning is to incorporate hands-on educational projects with their typical reading, writing, and arithmetic assignments. Classroom aquariums have long been a popular option for teaching scientific concepts. Let’s take a look at how you can use classroom aquariums as an educational tool for children of […] … learn more→

Yoga has conquered the world. The postures of the crane, the raven or the half-grasshopper are all images of an activity that has become a global phenomenon in a few decades. Sports activity, spiritual awakening, art of living, yoga has become a “world-activity”. How to transpose into the school universe one of the most widespread sports practices in […] … learn more→

With the new academic year beginning shortly, students, faculty and staff returning to higher education or arriving for the first time face uncertainty. There is anxiety about a fall term like no other. Those of us responsible for ensuring the futures of post-secondary students have endured months of existential fears about student and employee health and safety, the efficacy of online […] … learn more→

Many parents and students are engaged in a daily routine of speaking to people via a camera on a computer, tablet or phone during COVID-19 restrictions. This often means finding a quiet place in order to ask a question, provide an answer or share an opinion with a virtual audience. Initial concerns about using video […] … learn more→

Forceful suppression of political and scholarly views in universities has a long and shameful history. University of Cambridge Chancellor John Fisher was hanged, drawn and quartered for failing to support Henry VIII’s “great matter”. A few years later, John Hullier was burned at the stake on Cambridge’s Jesus Green for refusing to renounce Protestantism. We imagine our modern universities […] … learn more→

We’re all wondering what the future of higher education will look like. But I’ve glimpsed that future, and it’s bright. Higher education was already in crisis before Covid-19 arrived. Universities and colleges faced falling enrolments as students, questioning the value of expensive four-year degrees, turned increasingly to community colleges and online courses. Many schools scrambled […] … learn more→

This summer the school holidays have been a bit different. We have not left the centers at the end of June as on other occasions, but we left in mid-March to continue the course online for health security. In these months, students, families and teachers, on many occasions, we have had a very fast learning curve in digital […] … learn more→

The uneasy coexistence of academic freedom and more restrictive codes of conduct for scholars using social media has long caused confusion and consternation on US campuses. But this seemingly unresolvable conflict seems particularly relevant at the present moment, especially when it comes to scholars making comments in the powder-keg context of the Black Lives Matter […] … learn more→