The importance of social engagement in the online class

“I can’t tell who is more frustrated, the teacher or the student”

How do you show friendliness in an online classroom? Now that we’re past the survival stage of virtual learning, we can think about what’s missing in how we teach and what we can do to achieve better quality communication.

I remember those moments, before the pandemic, when a student would walk into my classroom and I’d say, “hey, how’s it going today?” And that student could feel the impact of personal attention, that a teacher is actually “seeing” them. Those kinds of socially intuitive interactions are lost in the online teaching we are doing today.

What’s also missing are the little things that indicate friendliness, like someone getting closer to you when you’re saying something. In fact, students indicate that they miss the tactile aspects of face-to-face classes, like the feeling of having a physical classmate sitting close to them in class.

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Is Australia’s response to the international student crisis similar to China’s?

“It is concerning that the grievances from China’s international students and Australia’s are strikingly similar”

China is the world’s largest country of origin international students, writes Angela Lehmann, head of research at The Lygon Group. In 2018, more than 662,100 Chinese students left China to pursue overseas studies. And Australia is one of the three leading destinations for these young people.

However, what is less discussed is that China is also a major destination country for international students and is currently the third largest receiver of students in the world, with almost 500,000 students studying there in 2018.

Like Australia, China closed its borders to international students in March 2020. Both countries now have large groups of international students wanting to return. And these groups are becoming increasingly vocal as their situations worsen.

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The 2021 outlook for purpose-built student accommodation

“Players in the UK, Ireland and Australia have focused on expanding their reach and strengthening their property portfolio”

Prior to the pandemic disrupting businesses across the globe, student housing had been witnessing an impressive growth each year, writes University Living founder and CEO Saurabh Arora.

When universities and other educational institutions closed, it was expected that the accommodation sector would take some of the heat. Investment in this particular asset class has been driven mainly by market potential and in 2020, during the first few months alone, nearly $10 billion was spent on the sector as per data from Real Capital Analytics.

Roughly eight months into the pandemic, investments in the student housing industry dropped considerably, although operations were in full swing across select markets around the world. Because of this, there is still that confidence that can be observed across the international market, especially in the UK and Ireland.

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How can foundation courses be better presented and explained to international families?

“The onus is on agents to make sure they clearly understand what type of program will suit a student”

The number of students entering foundation programs in the UK tripled between 2012/13 and 2017/18 from 10,430 to 30,030, writes Pat Moores of UK Education Guide. They offer a great bridge between high school and university for many pupils.

However, as the range of the providers grows and the number of course options increase, clarifying where these courses sit within the UK education system would certainly help prospective students and their families.

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The future of online learning is on-demand

“There is a visible need for more relevant digital learning experiences”

The global education sector has experienced more disruption and rapid change over the course of 2020 than it has over the past few decades, writes Susannah Belcher, Chief Operations Officer at FutureLearn. As schools close, universities pivot harder to digital, and professionals need to adapt and reskill, the demand for online learning is set to pick up rather than slow down.

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Why language schools should offer flexible online schedules

“Not everyone has a rigid nine-to-five schedule anymore”

Language schools around the world, normally heavily or even fully reliant on inbound students from all four corners of the globe, have had their income cut at the source, writes  Max Hobbs, LTL Mandarin School’s marketing director. Last year proved to be a sink or swim moment for those institutes.

Whilst many schools have sadly had to shut up shop, there have been a few success stories.

We aren’t talking about the ones who were already teaching online pre-2020, we are talking about the ones who have had to completely re-invent themselves like never before.

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Covid-19: intl students’ views on institutional responses

“International students in Germany were most likely to be satisfied with the online learning experience”

While the constantly evolving Covid-19 situation makes it difficult to predict, several studies have shown that students are more likely to delay rather than cancel study abroad plans and it is predicted that demand for study abroad will surge as the pandemic subsides, writes Kyla Steenhart, director of i-graduate New Zealand.

It has also been suggested that there will be a shift in market share post-Covid due to countries’ handling of the crisis.

A recent article by i-graduate drawing on data from a global survey of over 24,000 students in eleven countries looked at governmental responses to Covid-19 alongside students’ satisfaction with their institution’s response by country.

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Boarding schools: the value of the arts in a Covid-19 world

“Creativity, critical reasoning and team building are all vital soft skills for the 21st century”

It certainly seems true that while academic skills and qualifications continue to be vital stepping stones to a top university and a fulfilling career, the Covid-19 pandemic has highlighted the value of the arts in not only helping to deal with the impact of the pandemic, but also in developing skills that are really suited to success in a post pandemic world. UK Education Guide director and co-founder Pat Moores explains.

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