Manchester University - permanent move to ‘blended learning’??

[BramStoker]

The article below implies that lectures will no longer be face to face unless there is an interactive element

www.theguardian.com/education/2021/jul/05/manchester-university-sparks-backlash-with-plan-to-keep-lectures-online

Very worrying for current students at Manchester and those hoping to go there in September (my DD)

There is no official statement on the University website or social media

This is pants, even for some science students. DD did a science subject at UoM, she had one day of labs a week and all the rest of her face to face teaching was lectures - her subject didn’t have any seminars as such. So if the lectures were all online, she would’ve only had the one day on campus - which she would’ve hated and would’ve made it very difficult to make friends on her course, given that she was partnered with the same person for labs the whole year (so you’d be stuffed if you didn’t like them)!

When I went to uni a few years ago now, all the lectures were recorded and put online anyway so most of people didn't even turn up. You could call it laziness, but it was honestly more effective to watch an online lecture and be able to rewind, pause to google something, watch at faster/slower speeds etc. Obviously we still had regular in-person seminars and interactive tutorials, which I imagine Manchester uni will also be doing (hence why it's 'blended'). Ultimately, I think the best reason to have lectures online is the massive benefit it has to students with disabilities, both physical disabilities and things such as dyslexia.

Maybe I'm just miserable, but I do dislike the argument that lectures must be in-person so students don't miss out on socialising and the "experience"... university is a place for learning and contributing to research, not for socialising. A student's desire to socialise at a lecture does not trump a disabled students desire to learn effectively.

Also, as mentioned, when I was at uni attendance at lectures was very low anyway due to the recordings (which I understood to be the norm across the whole uni, not just my course), we still had a very active social life with people on our course due to the seminars, tutorials, and most importantly the events and parties

This is pants, even for some science students. DD did a science subject at UoM, she had one day of labs a week and all the rest of her face to face teaching was lectures - her subject didn’t have any seminars as such. So if the lectures were all online, she would’ve only had the one day on campus - which she would’ve hated and would’ve made it very difficult to make friends on her course, given that she was partnered with the same person for labs the whole year (so you’d be stuffed if you didn’t like them)!

Given that it is unlikely that universities will simply put lectures online and make no other changes, it is equally unlikely to be pants.

@freelions

Your DC won’t get access to the timetable until their first week of uni probably - that’s what happened for my humanities DS at Manchester. In his first year he typically had a lecture and a seminar for each module, and I believe this format was the same for students doing a range of humanities subjects (he was English and lived with a girl studying MFL and one studying History). So say he was doing 4 modules, he’d have 4 lectures and 4 seminars a week. So basically if he was starting his studies now, he’d just have the 4 one-hour seminars a week to attend on campus.

@minatrina

I don't disagree that the option to watch lectures online is very useful for some students, including those with disabilities.

My concern is about abolishing live lectures all together and making them only available online.

I disagree that the social aspect of being a student should be completly disregarded. It is a HUGE part of most people's experience as an undergraduate and a major factor in whether studying for a degree is a positive experience for the student of not

Yes you do sounds a bit miserable tbh

@Etulosba

Are you familiar with UoM, particularly what’s been going on there the last few years? Massive student dissatisfaction, staff redundancies, frequent strikes… Whilst I don’t doubt the university will make other changes to accommodate this decision, I unfortunately doubt it’ll improve the overall experience …

DS is and the end of his first year. I agree that university is not all about socialising and 'the experience' . It is mainly an educational experience but it is also about self development. DS has met no one at university as yet as he was shielding and then all contact went on line. He loves his subject but has had very limited other development eg societies, sport, generally growing into an adult and finding himself. There hasn't been a choice this year but it will be a great shame if these opportunities remain greatly restricted next year as well.

No idea why dyslexic students are always wheeled out to justify online lectures. My dyslexic DS finds online lectures far harder to follow that RL ones. I understand that lectures aren’t the best way of communicating content to students but online lectures are not much better and in some ways, worse.

There hasn't been a choice this year but it will be a great shame if these opportunities remain greatly restricted next year as well.

A move to online lectures is unlikely to affect extra-curricular sporting activities.

*than

My dyslexic DS finds online lectures far harder to follow that RL ones.

Why?

Genuinely interested.

Also worth considering is after the grade debacle last year, a lot of universities have ended up admitting more first years this year than they ever intended to, or have space for. My institution was up a thousand. There’a a fair chance something similar will happen this year.

Universities only have so much physical space for lectures, especially in large cohort subjects, so this will also be a driver for blended learning

I hope universities are upfront about the amount of learning that will be online for each course. If you have a very lecture led, essay writing type subject, you could end up barely seeing anyone else on your course. Whilst this might suit some students, it wouldn’t suit everyone. When my older kids were students they went to the live lectures and would use online versions for revision. It’s a totally different experience in a lecture room with your fellow students than in your room. Gives you a routine and encourages you to mix as well.

@freelions No I'm sorry, I'm not at Manchester. They will still be doing the timetabling now and over the summer, so I don't think they could give you anything definite yet.

The usual thing would be to have a lecture + seminar format, so there would still be an in-person element, and it's actually easier to meet other students through the seminars.

Your daughter could email the History department and ask for more information, hopefully they would respond -- we are trying to respond to all the students emailing us.

I hope it all works out for her! I know it's really difficult to make decisions in these circumstances.

@Etulosba

My dyslexic DS finds online lectures far harder to follow that RL ones.

Why?

Genuinely interested.

I have ADHD and also find online training almost impossible to concentrate on and get anything out of. I can't wait to go back to F2F (but am concerned that online is going to become the norm). I imagine it can be similar for other neurodiverse people with executive function issues.

Interestingly, we have been very open that a certain amount of online learning will continue this coming year but apparently our application numbers are actually higher than last year.

I don't think that means students are happy about it necessarily, but at least it is not putting them off.

We'll see what happens with Manchester. They already had such bad press over how they treated their students in lockdown.

Manchester has been providing the opportunity to watch lectures online for at least 10 years. Some of the cohorts are massive and they don’t have lecture theatres big enough to fit all the students in.

My dyslexic DS finds online lectures far harder to follow that RL ones.

I am surprised. My dyslexic DD finds on-line lectures a life saver.

She is rubbish at copying from a board, or taking notes. Her processing speeds are just too slow. One of the successful strategies her school used was to encourage the girl with the neatest handwriting to photocopy her notes and give them to DD, with a clear message that this was supporting, not cheating. DD learns by listening not reading, so attending the lecture, and being able to concentrate rather than attempt to take notes, is great, and then she watches the lecture again, pausing where necessary, to ensure she has taken it all in.

DD is also easily distracted by noise, and again being able to set her working environment, rather than be in a busy crowned lecture room, is good.

Slightly off-topic, but after a career in business where information communication was part of my job I returned to education as a mature student a couple of years ago and was astonished to find that the 'dry, stand at the front and talk' style of lecture that I suffered at university 30+ years ago was still the norm in universities!
In today's digital environment there are much better ways to teach a subject than through lecturing in front of a white board. If using recorded material means that better quality material could be produced and reused over several terms (or years?) then I think this would be an improvement!

@Etulosba

My dyslexic DS finds online lectures far harder to follow that RL ones.

Why?

Genuinely interested.

So does my dyslexic dd! Absolutely hates online learning.

See. So many mumsnetters think online lectures are great. I wonder if by its very nature mumsnet attracts the more anti-social type of person.

In today's digital environment there are much better ways to teach a subject than through lecturing in front of a white board.

A white board is progress. Blackboards are still in common use where I work. Despite the move to more blended teaching, I don’t see them disappearing any time soon. Mathematicians love them.

@Bryonyshcmyony

See. So many mumsnetters think online lectures are great. I wonder if by its very nature mumsnet attracts the more anti-social type of person.

There is nothing social about sitting in a room passively and silently while someone delivers a lecture at you. Quite the opposite.

The interactive formats of university teaching are seminars, tutorials, labs, etc., which the university in question has said it intends to deliver in person.

So what (some) people are unbothered about is an aspect of the course which is highly limited in its development of skills and interaction (and is mainly simply used to impart information) being moved online, where it can be played and replayed at the student's convenience, while the high-value, interactive, skills-developing teaching is delivered face to face.

I think they should have the choice. Unless undergraduates really don't mind that is. I have no idea if they do or don't. Dd does but she thrives on being around actual people and lecturers etc maybe lots don't care

@SarahMused

I hope universities are upfront about the amount of learning that will be online for each course. If you have a very lecture led, essay writing type subject, you could end up barely seeing anyone else on your course. Whilst this might suit some students, it wouldn’t suit everyone. When my older kids were students they went to the live lectures and would use online versions for revision. It’s a totally different experience in a lecture room with your fellow students than in your room. Gives you a routine and encourages you to mix as well.

I fully agree. Despite the impression that all Uni students are party animals, a huge proportion are actually quiet/introverted, etc. They're the ones who've been most badly affected by the last year. The party animals continued to party anyway (legal or not). The quiet ones not only didn't get to meet anyone on their courses, they didn't get to attend clubs & societies either (which is where the introverts usually gather!) because a lot of Unis made a sweeping decision to ban them as policy (even when they could have gone ahead with social distancing etc., Unis wouldn't let them book rooms etc). Likewise with the gyms/sports etc - massively curtailed even when the restrictions allowed them to happen. Lack of lectures were only part of the bigger problems, many of which weren't helped at all by poor Uni management decisions.