MOOCs and other online courses have appeared for almost 15 years as almost “miraculous” technical responses to the proliferation of education in Africa, the number of registrants no longer being a limiting factor when it suffices to ‘a good connection for training. University infrastructures, such as the student / teacher ratio, can thus be – at least partially – decoupled from the dynamics […] … learn more→
Author Archives: Kevin
Distance learning: encouraging experiences in Africa during the Covid crisis
Climate change: why farmers are among our best guides for making sense of topsy-turvy weather
May 2020 was the driest on record in England and the second driest in Wales. Rainfall was about 17% of the average for May, and it was also the sunniest calendar month on record, with 266 hours of sunshine, surpassing the previous record of 265 hours in June 1957. This dry spell followed one of […] … learn more→
The pandemic must not be allowed to erode universities’ student focus
Since coronavirus forced the switch to remote learning, I have seen many universities share infographics and statistics about their online teaching. These self-congratulatory messages highlight how vast numbers of courses, video lectures and online sessions have been delivered by a large number of faculty and attended by a much larger number of students. However, I […] … learn more→
Why educate young people about tobacco marketing
33% of 15 year olds have already smoked cigarettes. If the consumption levels of French adolescents have been falling in recent years, they remain above the average of other European countries. This trend is part of a context marked by a high consumption of adults which, even if it has also been decreasing since 2016, remains particularly significant in France: 30% […] … learn more→
Cheaper courses won’t help graduates get jobs – they need good careers advice and links with employers
The Australian government’s higher education funding changes aim to ensure graduates are “job-ready”. Students will be charged more for courses the government deems have poorer employment outcomes, to incentivise them into cheaper courses with supposedly better job prospects. But these changes seem ignorant of the research surrounding future jobs, and the unpredictable nature of the […] … learn more→
Solidarity with contingent faculty entails more than signing statements
At the end of April, several prominent scholars began boycotting universities that were failing to support contingent faculty during the coronavirus pandemic. Early signatories of Covid-19: A Statement of Academic Solidarity included Judith Butler, Donna Haraway, Naomi Klein and Chandra Talpade Mohanty. Within days, thousands of additional staff members of all ranks joined the cause. A few […] … learn more→
What do we know about the perpetrators of sexual violence between students?
Sexual violence is frequent in the university environment and affects around 30% of the student population. The victims of these sexual assaults, rapes or harassments are mainly women and the perpetrators of men. In 9 out of 10 cases, the victims know their attacker who may be the boyfriend, a romantic partner or another student. Most often, it is a matter […] … learn more→
The promotion of academic fraud through search engines
In recent years, as we have previously written, we are witnessing the emergence of platforms for the sale of academic works “Made in Spain”. Most of these websites, which in an aseptic and politically correct tone can be classified as “academic services” and with another more daring but adjusted to the reality of “facilitators of academic fraud”, are […] … learn more→
Covid-19 is no longer a short-term crisis for higher education
As Lenin put it, there are decades when nothing happens and then weeks when decades happen. And we aren’t out of the woods yet. In fact, we are still heading inwards. For universities and students, hopes of a return to normal campus life in the autumn term are long gone, and hopes for a return […] … learn more→
Education, the great forgotten of this pandemic
Few families have not suffered the problems experienced by students and teachers to carry out the course, affected by the COVID-19 pandemic and the consequent period of confinement. And now we look out with uncertainty and concern at the start of the new academic year that is coming. Reading the book The utility of the useless. Manifesto , […] … learn more→
