Applying to uni via video

Better than qualifications? The Chronicle of Higher Education has an interesting story on the use of videos in university applications. Whilst some institutions have been encouraging students to submit videos as supporting information, it seems at least one has now gone further and is offering students the opportunity to provide them as the primary selection …

Dialogue through technology

Dorm Room Diplomacy   Intrigued to learn about the activities of an organisation called Dorm Room Diplomacy which gets groups of students together from around the world, via videoconferencing, to engage in dialogue aimed at promoting greater international understanding: Founded by students at the University of Pennsylvania in 2009, Dorm Room Diplomacy fosters intercultural dialogue …

Singalonga Higher Ed

Lyrical challenges at the University of Utah   Inside Higher Ed has a diverting piece on the changes being made to the University of Utah's 'fight song' to address some of the lyrical challenges of the original: The line “our coeds are the fairest” will be replaced with “our students are the finest” and the …

Graduation Fails

It's that time of year again I've previously commented on graduation matters here but omitted to mention one particular challenge of the season: pronouncing graduands' names. Our Deans work very hard on this and it really is not a task I envy them. But now there is a possible solution. The Chronicle of Higher Education …

Surviving an avalanche

The avalanche came. And went? It's just about a year since the publication of the IPPR report  'An avalanche is coming: Higher education and the revolution ahead'. It really was a stirring waning to the future: 'Our belief is that deep, radical and urgent transformation is required in higher education as much as it is …

That Higher Ed joke isn’t funny any more

Satire in Higher Education. I've written before about books covering higher education in general and the commented on the end of the campus novel as well as its  possible reinvention. More recently, there has been a series of books intended to capture the humorous and darker side of British higher education life: A comic portrayal of modern …

Chancellor successfully installed

One of those big University events. Yesterday the University of Nottingham installed (a technical term) its seventh Chancellor, Sir Andrew Witty. Full details of the appointment and the background to Sir Andrew can be found on this page about the installation and the video of the event can be found here. Note that the video starts with …

An interesting approach to teaching physics

But is it effective? Inside Higher Ed reports on a Columbia University professor who adopted a rather unconventional approach for a physics class: A Columbia University professor who incorporated (himself) stripping, ninjas and images of 9/11 in a lecture on quantum mechanics has attracted widespread attention. While he's not talking and Columbia officials aren't saying …

Beyond the Brian Cox effect

Extravagant claims about one person's influence on Physics recruitment. The Telegraph comments on the 'Brian Cox effect' and suggests that it has resulted in a surge in demand for physics: Manchester has always been a popular choice for physics but the university admitted that a recent rise in applications had been partially driven by the …

Some Vice-Chancellors will do anything for money…

...provided it's for a good cause A bit late in the day but I did want to register how impressive this fundraising effort is from the Vice-Chancellor of De Montfort University. The video, which is intended to raise money for LOROS and PROSTaid, features over 1,000 students from DMU too and can be seen here: …

The Imperfect University: Massive Open Online Confusion?

The Future of HE? Or Massive Open Online Confusion? For the latest Imperfect University piece a few thoughts on a topic which is attracting considerable comment at the moment: the growth of the Massive Open Online Course or MOOC. There has been a huge amount of hype around the new models of online provision or …

The Shape of Things to Come – Going Global 2012

The shape of things to come: global trends and emerging opportunities to 2022 I was privileged to chair this session at the British Council's Going Global event on 15 March: Over the next five to ten years, which will be the countries with fastest growing higher education systems? Which countries will have environments rich in …

Nottingham Advantage

Impact Campaign: Nottingham Advantage Another update on the Impact Campaign which has launched this week at the University of Nottingham. This theme, Nottingham Advantage, is one which I think is particularly important. On this site you can see a nice video, fronted by Vicky Mann who heads up the Nottingham Advantage Award, all about how …

A “hyperwired” freshers’ week?

Freshers! Come and try a new kind of learning laboratory The Chronicle of Higher Education has a fascinating freshers' week piece on a very different kind of learning lab, within the setting of a student dorm: Students moving into a newly renovated dormitory at the University of Kentucky signed up for a hyperwired college experience: …

Fun ways to tackle plagiarism

Tackling Plagiarism A really entertaining approach to this challenging issue from the University of Bergen