Higher education blog

It can be hard to imagine what it’s really like for our students starting university in the time of Covid-19. After all, it’s never been done before. What should be an exhilarating, exciting and energising experience may feel anything but.  

I’ve been fortunate to have the chance to work with a wide range of institutions amid the shift to online learning, most recently by supporting academics who have had some experience of online teaching as a result of the pandemic.

Universities were thrust into an emergency online response at the start of lockdown, and some students were underwhelmed with the amount of tutor face time.

To use the cliched term, these are unprecedented times, and students may be wondering if a new term at university will be a lonely online prospect. Undergraduates who were looking forward to their university experience as much a social rite of passage as a route to a career may be feeling shortchanged.  

And with students’ expectations of their university experience firmly in the spotlight, taking a closer look at the issues around academic writing can lead to a better understanding of practical ways to deliver on those expectations.