BALEAP TEL SIG Blog

To be Synchronous or Asynchronous? That is the question.          Over the last months, a lot of pre-sessional programmes are organized and designed in the UK, and in other universities all over the world. Here, in China we have already experienced this new normality of online teaching, so I would like to share a few thoughts with you. Before, I start, please allow me to share this with you; online teaching is here to stay. Some of the things we did during this period seem far too convenient and we are reluctant to go back. For example, organizing and conducting personal tutorials. But today we are going to talk about something else; should we have live sessions or record classes for our students. My answer is: BOTH. WHY? Because students need both. My experience so far has shown that students become excited with live sessions at the beginning and then their motivation goes down. Also, it’s always useful having a video posted in Moodle for future reference. To be honest w

The University of Nottingham 29th March, 2020 Essay mills and ghostwriting (or ‘contract writing’ as they might prefer) have been a concern of mine for some time. Being able to tell a writer what you want them to research and write in exchange for money, even choosing the grade quality of the final paper, is to me the dark web of Higher Education: a place where the vulnerabilities of students are exploited for financial gain and which could lead to harmful longer-term consequences for those who succumb. I remember almost ten years ago privately tutoring a postgraduate student who on one occasion showed me a sample of his written work, work that he'd 'written' outside of our lessons. It demonstrated a grasp of English way beyond anything I'd seen him produce whilst I was physically sat with him. Vividly, I recall seeing the phrase 'the monotony and drudgery of...' Naturally, alarm bells started to ring and I suspected the integrity of his work may hav