Technology and new media

Half of continental institutions are developing online learning programmes, survey says

Joseph Aoun says campuses in North America and Europe are heeding his call for curriculum change

A new teaching year has just begun in the northern hemisphere. Eight academics reflect on their experience of lecturing, and offer their tips on opening students’ eyes – and keeping them open

Pepper the robot appears before House of Commons Education Committee

$350 million gift from investor Stephen Schwarzman aims to deeply integrate computer science knowledge with expertise in ethics and other realms of social science

Human beings may struggle to maintain their place in tomorrow’s highly mechanised universities, claims sociologist

The digital tide will not wash away campus-based learning, believe most respondents to THE’s University Leaders Survey. David Matthews reports on what they see ahead for study options, scholarly conferences, scientific progress and more

Nobel laureate warns of greater inequality and ‘new era of fascism’ if AI impact on work not ‘managed’

Lecturer claims that myriad online systems in academia reinforce patriarchal dominance

Since 2011, dozens of institutions have sworn not to undertake military-related research, but the country is now calling on academics to strengthen its defences

Saint Louis University is latest institution to embrace Amazon-powered technology

Analysis concludes universities are ‘moving towards a nearly exclusive monopoly’ over research articles

Billed as a remedy for career uncertainty, micro-credentials may play into bosses’ hands, critics warn

New tool will learn how academics grade papers and replicate their approach

RMIT uses blockchain to authenticate qualifications from its latest course – about blockchain

The entanglement of the university and tech worlds faces increased scrutiny following the Cambridge Analytica scandal. Could joint positions in industry and academia offer a workable and ethically defensible way forward? David Matthews reports

Stampede to study AI has led to warnings that the number of lecturers cannot keep up with demand

Increasing use of technology on campus will erode division between online and offline education, according to Jeff Maggioncalda

Information Commissioner’s Office expresses concern about academics using data gathered for research purposes for commercial gain

Peter Doherty warns scientists about being ‘used’ by journalists with a predetermined story to tell

Thirty providers already signed up to initiative, with another 30 interested in following suit

Introduction of lecture capture also leads to significant drop in attainment, King’s College London study finds

Experts in technology and education must work hand in hand if genuinely innovative teaching is to be delivered in the digital environment, says Simone Buitendijk

Santa Ono’s social media activity raises questions about when a tweet is an official university statement

National strategies also debate merits of basic versus applied research in rapidly expanding field

Academics complain of losing work on reference management tool

Arizona State to be first university adopter of new technology, launching fully online biology degrees

If his late-night photos of the senior common room Christmas party made it into wider circulation, John Brinnamoor would be a dead man

Embracing immersive content would aid public engagement and bring research and teaching closer together, argue Vincent Tong, Sam Smidt and Matilda Katan 

Struggle to engage effectively highlighted by study comparing Twitter use with other disciplines

University teachers are wrestling with the challenge of facilitating a new mode of online peer-to-peer learning, says Peter Kahn

The UK's first-ever Twitter-only teaching and learning conference shows academic symposia with international reach can be organised on a shoestring, say Natalie Lafferty and Pat Lockley

Emerging online threats and tough new penalties for data breaches are forcing universities to take cyber security more seriously than ever, says Kamal Bechkoum

Researchers who actively push their papers on social media gain more citations, study finds

Clarivate promises to ‘scale up’ Kopernio, which automatically detects researchers’ subscriptions and directs them to open access alternatives if necessary

As peak marking season approaches, Julianne Law gives a frank assessment of where her university’s new paperless marking system has gone right and what could be improved

Psychologist Michal Kosinski’s work shows how digital footprints can predict a person’s sexual orientation, political views and more. Is it a danger or a warning about threats to privacy? John Morgan reports from California

There must be greater permeability between universities and tech giants if we want to protect data from corporate interests and use it for the public good

Copyright policy would bar staff at University of Nottingham from objecting to edited versions of their own lectures, which could be used during a strike

US-based ARTiFACTS system is claimed to be first ‘fully functional’ blockchain-based system for recording research process

Minister says universities ‘will no longer be able to hide if their teaching quality is not up to the world-class standard that we expect’

Having well-resourced and world-leading university research is crucial if the UK is to succeed as a knowledge economy, says Michael Drew

New software to identify ghostwritten essays welcomed, but experts say it is not a panacea

Successful trials of a robot tutor should encourage universities to ask which roles can never be replaced by artificial intelligence, argues Robert MacIntosh

Alliances between institutions to become increasingly important, says Sheffield vice-chancellor

Imperial College London president predicts that higher education institutions will follow global corporations in screening applicants using AI-based algorithms

Universities must dramatically increase their levels of technical training to close the skills gap and deliver social justice, says Robert Halfon

The broad trends in AI may be unstoppable, but we must find better ways of directing and regulating them, argues Toronto’s Mark Kingwell

Candace Thille's move may reflect shift in focus of online learning initiatives

John Gilbey on a welcome guide to the thorny legal and ethical issues of a new technological era 

Joel Mullan shares some of the ways that digital technologies could address the challenges posed by accelerated degree courses

Technology behind Bitcoin is not just hype, say advocates, but could prevent data tampering and improve reproducibility

As part of a US initiative, undergraduates are given assignments to create articles, helping to develop critical appraisal skills

Martin Hamilton on four edtech trends to look out for over the next 12 months

Jack Chappell launched distributed denial of service attack against Janet service

It may be five years since Moocs went mainstream, but Diana Laurillard and Eileen Kennedy believe they still have the potential to reach the hard-to-reach

Open University vice-chancellor claims that courses curated by technology giants might be more attractive than Russell Group’s offerings

Critics warn new 'Manuscript Writer' program may be too good to be true, since automated content could run the risk of plagiarism

Jisc has revealed its top social media superstars of the year, writes Chris Parr

ScholarlyHub will help academics keep control of their work and data, creators argue