Online education

In a world accustomed to beautiful, frictionless digital experiences, most online education looks like websites from the 1990s, says Louise McElvogue 

Will institutions be willing to invest in the spaces, technology and workload support required to effectively teach these methods? asks Amanda White

Profound change is in the offing for higher education, but history suggests non-Western students’ voices will not be heard, says Farish A. Noor

We do our students a disservice by not educating ourselves on disruptive technologies such as VR and machine learning, says Christine Janssen 

Students’ gravitation towards communal living may be exactly the insight we need to solve the stubborn problems of remote learning, says Carlo Ratti

All faculty endure mounting stress over online instruction, but BAME academics face an even more precarious situation, say Henrika McCoy and Madeline Y. Lee

In a good asynchronous class, students are still learning, just not in a way that produces a post-performance high for educators, says Zachary Michael Jack

Successful learning design can happen only when academics and learning designers work in partnership, says Amy Sampson

Selling ‘the uni experience’ has helped put bums on seats and cash in coffers, but now it’s providing grist for refund-seeking students, says Madeleine Davies

A video by a professor for only their class is akin to the single-copy, handwritten book disseminated to just one room of people, says David Kellermann

The pandemic brought out the best in teaching staff in many universities. Yet countervailing forces are stamping out their creativity, warns Andy Farnell

We know that employing learners as active co-creators of their learning builds opportunities for knowledge absorption, say Guy Daly and Andrew Turner

Badly designed sessions are big on waste: waste of talent, waste of concentration, waste of ability and waste of time, says Christian Gilliam

Many of us with learning disabilities struggle to process hour-long lecture recordings but pedagogical flexibility and online support offer new ways ahead, says Gemma Ahearne

Many students have not had their expectations met, but it’s unhelpful to assume this is a systemic online teaching and learning issue, says Linda Kaye

Survey for regulator finds teaching staff more likely to lack access to right technology and support compared with students, and are less confident in their skills

We know from bitter experience that poor or misguided online practice can have serious safeguarding consequences, say Emma Bond and Andy Phippen

Digital divide is ‘greatest challenge’ facing country’s education system in Covid era, researchers say

Estimate of emissions generated by staff and students during lockdown virtually the same as campus commuting 

‘Warming up’ the screen needs to become a priority for educators, especially for video-based tutorials and seminars, says Lucinda McKnight

India could be HE ‘giant’ if social issues were addressed, expert says

Long-standing divides between schooling, employment and industry will be disrupted, predicts Singapore MP

Arizona State University president says digital learning shift must ‘stay attached’ to core knowledge-generating activities

Respondents to THE survey reject idea of tuition fee refunds for students

Concordia University case prompts caution over possible exploitation of recordings

Accelerating trend adds to nightmare scenario for admissions staff and forces universities to lift their game on student experience

Academics debate how best to test students’ learning at a distance and reduce cheating: remote invigilation or exercises that ask students to apply their knowledge

Amid mass online instruction, universities need to up their game around digital safeguarding and student welfare, say Andy Phippen and Emma Bond

New minister’s old work on online education could be revived to encourage tertiary sector integration, experts say

China and India embrace creation of online courses to support universities that lack the capacity to create their own digital programmes

Institutions respond with both electronic crackdowns and pedagogical soul-searching

Creators suggest long-term value, but critics see failure to understand campus communities

Rules requiring students to show their faces during online lessons are misguided, says Mark Heaton

Helping launch UCL’s online-only MBA this year provided James Berry with keen insights into the ways universities can invest in the future

Opposition, however, may be less about format and more about resource shortages

While reservations remain, the pandemic has smoothed acceptance of virtual delivery

‘Technocratic’ solutions alone cannot solve a societal problem, expert says

Pandemic to have lasting impact, but vice-chancellors warn of challenges ahead

Institutions get creative and find ingenious ways to adapt equipment and technological tools to replicate the experience of in-person courses

Universities should create more strategic partnerships with the commercial world to boost their public perception, argues Rupert Younger  

THE survey finds that prospective mobile students are still reluctant to study online with an overseas university

THE forum told that global collaboration between academics on online pedagogy is key

Digitising classes was the first part – the next challenge is to make materials engaging and personalised, experts say

New guidance suggests UK universities could introduce Chatham House rule for seminars to protect recruits from countries with repressive governments

Liverpool becomes latest UK university to halt in-person tuition due to Covid-19

Government should ‘pump in’ more resources for online infrastructure to address inequality, expert says

Institutions and teachers find workarounds to reach students enrolled in Western courses, but domestic internet rules still constrain efforts

Psychologist says scholars are still in ‘emergency’ mode and universities should recognise that the year ahead ‘may not be brilliant’ in terms of teaching quality

Experts point to a variety of reasons for continuing digitally even as Covid cases fall 

Experts stress quick, consistent and centralised approaches, plus extra support for students and IT systems, during webinar

‘HyFlex’ learning and cutting-edge virtual reality techniques set to help students and staff bridge physical and language barriers

Latest NUS survey finds satisfaction with digital learning provision has decreased since beginning of lockdown

Office for Students says survey shows some students in England are being left behind by ‘digital poverty’

As universities renew their pedagogical efforts, there is no case to lower tuition fees, summit hears

Pledge draws respect given Google’s size, but triggers doubts about its eventual extent

Advocates for virtual labs finding chance to show cost and equity benefits of online experimentation

After students gather to party, campus moves to online one week into semester

Big Ten collaboration, while limited, reflects growing pressure to cut costs

Absorbing troubled online institution, university pledges $225 million investment

Frustrated with their university’s plan for the autumn, which is slated to include full dorms, a group of professors has broken rank and sent an open letter to students