There is a great deal of talk about the extent to which online education may transform the post-pandemic academy. But a preoccupation with the virtues or the perils of online education as the dominant pedagogical approach in tertiary education is in essence a concern with how higher education should be delivered. This obscures a more […] … learn more→
Blog Archives
The pandemic has shown us the imperative for global engagement in higher education
Students should be masters of postgraduate offerings
The standard model of university education is to recruit students to pre-existing degree programmes, offered by a faculty that has been established over many years or decades. Even when there is the flexibility to create new programmes, these may take a long time to be approved and implemented. Hence, universities’ capacity to create knowledge and […] … learn more→
Five ways online university learning can be better than face-to-face teaching
The University of Cambridge has announced that all lectures will be offered online for the academic year beginning in October 2020. Other UK universities are expected to adopt similar policies, adopting a format which blends online learning with more traditional teaching. The announcement has disappointed and worried students, who are concerned about the potentially poor quality of their educational […] … learn more→
Five suggestions for universal PhD ‘after-care’
One of the things that has become obvious during lockdown is how much more we might do for PhDers contemplating their futures. If ever there was a time to start something better and more supportive for researchers in our care, now is it. There’s obviously a need for much better advice and support for making […] … learn more→
Higher education’s pseudo-market needs better management
A year ago, the then UK prime minister Theresa May welcomed a report into higher and further education in England from an independent panel that I chaired. She had asked us to look at both parts of tertiary education together, the first review since Robbins in 1963 to do so. It was a good question […] … learn more→
6 ways a drop in international students could set back US higher education
Even before the COVID-19 pandemic, fewer and fewer international students were coming to study in the United States. While the number of international students who newly enrolled in U.S. colleges and universities during the 2015-2016 school year stood at more than 300,000, by the 2018-2019 school year, that number had fallen by about 10% to less than 270,000. […] … learn more→
Microcredentials need macro-investment
The depressed jobs market faced by this year’s graduates is likely to continue for some time and cast a long shadow. Research by the Resolution Foundation found that, in the UK, young people graduating immediately after the 2008 financial crisis suffered higher unemployment, lower pay and worse employment prospects for several years compared with graduates […] … learn more→
Coronavirus: When teaching during a disaster, students need to be partners
Many universities and colleges are planning to teach most of their courses online in the fall, even though there are still many unknowns. Post-secondary institutions first transitioned from face-to-face to online learning in March, when the threat of COVID-19 emerged. Institutions brought differing levels of experience and preparedness to this endeavour. Experts in educational technology weighed in on the best […] … learn more→
How universities came to rely on international students
It’s sad times for public universities as they fight for their survival. Most are reeling from a severe financial hit due to the loss of international students. Universities are estimated to lose around A$3-4.6 billion in revenue from international student fees in 2020 alone, and more in 2021. The government has locked universities out of JobKeeper – its COVID-19 […] … learn more→
International cooperation is the key to global recovery
International collaboration is as important now as ever before. We find ourselves in a global fight with a common enemy – one that affects not only all cities and countries but the international mobility of students and scholarly exchange. Yet, at a political level, multilateralism has been in short supply. While communities around the world […] … learn more→
