Online learning

The rise of online learning has revolutionised university teaching. Whether students study in-person, remotely or take a hybrid approach, much higher education is now delivered via digital platforms, supported by a proliferation in educational technology (ed-tech). Find out how lecturers can adapt their teaching methods for digital delivery, build online learning communities and use the latest technology to support immersive learning, gamification and AI-adaptive learning.

Participants of a COIL project smiling to camera

Tips for a successful COIL experience

Guidance through four collaboration phases to ensure collaborative online international learning projects offer meaningful, technology-supported exchanges between institutions

Anisa Vahed

Xi’an Jiaotong-Liverpool University

A visualisation of analysing data sets

Use GenAI as your personal learner engagement analytics expert

Harness the student data in your virtual learning environment with a few choice prompts for GenAI

Stephen Buckingham

Queen Mary University of London

A illustration of a laptop offering online learning

Design online learning materials to suit everyone

Create interactive webpages and get to know how your students learn in order to improve e-learning materials. Follow this advice to get started

Nguyen Thi Tu Linh, Nguyen Quoc Minh (Harry) Quan, Nah Yong En

Singapore Institute of Technology

An illustration of an AI with glasses, reading a book

Librarians, it’s time to lead the way

When GenAI first landed, many universities scrambled to understand it and how students might be using it. One library team took it upon themselves to adopt a holistic approach

Chris Porter

Birmingham Newman University

Students work together over a laptop

Tips for embedding flipped learning at an institutional level

The benefits of flipped learning are clear, but what about scaling it up across an entire university structure? Here are some strategies – and lessons learned

Julia Chen, Wong Chi-ming, Laura Zhou

The Hong Kong Polytechnic University

A student takes notes during a group Zoom call

How students really feel about collaborative tasks in online learning

Online learning often includes paired or group work, but research has found this can often provoke anxiety in students. Here’s how to listen to what they want and build the skill of collaboration

Poppy Gibson, Sagun Shrestha, Helena Staszkiewicz

The Open University

An unseen person at a laptop typing

Virtual fellowships as ‘material solidarity’ against scholasticide, part 2

UK academics are exploring how virtual fellowships can offer practical, sustainable support to Palestinian scholars. Drawing on their pilot scheme, the authors share key lessons on turning statements of solidarity into action

Basma Hajir , Magdy S. Aqel, William W. McInerney

The University of Bristol, Islamic University of Gaza

Woman doing online education

Can transferable skills be taught in distance learning?

As workplaces are increasingly AI-integrated and hybrid, can teaching transferable skills – including body language – in a virtual learning environment, in some cases, offer a more authentic education experience?

Emilie Rutledge, Jonquil Lowe

The Open University

Pedagogical innovation concept

Beyond learning design: supporting pedagogical innovation in response to AI

To avoid an unwinnable game of catch-up with technology, universities must rethink pedagogical improvement that goes beyond scaling online learning

Charlotte von Essen

Stockholm School of Economics

Black male student in academic meeting

Can you see me? Can you hear me?

With in-person, online and hybrid supervision of master’s dissertations now common, which works best? Here, Alun Epps offers reflections and advice for new supervisors

Alun Epps

University of Reading

A screen with multiple participants on a video call

Virtual fellowships as ‘material solidarity’ against scholasticide, part 1

Gaza virtual research fellows and UK-based scholars share reflections, alongside a practical overview of the design, development and early implementation of a virtual fellowship

Ahmed Kamal Junina, Basma Hajir , Munawwar Najim, William W. McInerney

The University of Bristol, Al-Aqsa University, Islamic University of Gaza

A student on her laptop

How to boost student motivation and engagement in virtual classrooms

Practical strategies – from clear communication and visual resources to community building and inclusive pedagogy – to help educators foster participation and motivation in digital learning

Adela Vega Guerra, Angeles Carolina Aguirre-Acosta

Tecnológico de Monterrey

A student working on her laptop

Miro and GenAI as drivers of online student engagement

A set of practical strategies for transforming passive online student participation into visible, measurable and purposeful engagement through the use of Miro, enhanced by GenAI

Jaime Eduardo Moncada Garibay

CETYS Universidad

Students working on a COIL project in class

Five tips for running a successful COIL project

Discover ways to encourage collaboration, nurture curiosity and equip students with the skills they need to succeed in collaborative online learning projects

Gareth J. Williams, Glenn A. Williams

Nottingham Trent University

Brightly-coloured speech bubbles and avatars

Discussion forums: the key to AI-proof assessment?

Providing a supportive learning culture for students will make them less likely to cheat – and discussion forums, with a few tweaks, may be the way to do it

Edward Palmer

University of Adelaide

Bite-sized canapes are presented on a slate

Bite-sized learning: when less can be more

Could snappy, focused micromodules appeal more to the social media generation than traditional lectures? Perhaps – but only if they’re carefully implemented. Here’s how to do it

Aditi Jhaveri

Hong Kong University of Science and Technology

An illustration of a woman with a laptop sitting on a giant chip

Are students outsourcing the wrong tasks to AI?

Students are using AI to tackle tasks that could be crucial to intellectual development. How can educators judge which tasks to offload and which ones are important for learning?

Alex Grzankowski

Birkbeck, University of London

A student at her laptop

Questions to ask when designing collaborative online learning experiences

Practical steps for designing meaningful online learning experiences with external collaborators that help students develop essential competencies

Bárbara Regina Granados Guzmán , Luis Gerardo Rojas Solorio

Tecnológico de Monterrey

An illustration of a robot operating a clapperboard

Use AI to refine educational video content

In the digital era, educational videos have become a key element of online and blended classes. Amy Chong outlines how generative AI can be a game changer for creating engaging, adaptable video content

Amy Chong

Hong Kong University of Science and Technology

Young person using social media

Using social media to connect cohorts

A digital poster competition that encouraged comments on social media can spark conversations between under- and postgraduate students. Here’s how it works

Sam Perry , Robert Clarke, Lucy Mannie

University of Southampton

A library book being removed from a shelf

Higher education library roles explained

Libraries are changing with the times – and so is the librarian’s role. Here’s how librarians are specialising in the digital era

Chris Chan

Hong Kong Baptist University

An illustration of hands putting together a jigsaw puzzle

A step-by-step guide to developing a high-impact online course

Want to design an online course that your students engage with, that supports diverse learning styles and is seamless to navigate for both educator and student? Here’s how to structure the process

Michael Okrent , Susan Weese

Colorado State University Global

Three images - one thumbs up, one down and one in the middle

How to encourage peer review in online courses

A framework and practical strategies to train students to provide constructive peer feedback that improves learning outcomes

Jie Zhang, Steven Bateman, Qing Ye

Xi’an Jiaotong-Liverpool University

A futuristic digital classroom in the metaverse where students, represented as diverse avatars, engage in an interactive lesson. A teacher, using holographic AI tools, guides them through immersive learning experiences. Floating virtual screens display storytelling prompts, character designs, and business concepts. The background features a blend of virtual reality elements

Use AI and the metaverse to keep your students engaged online

AI and virtual reality technology enables diverse learning experiences for online students. Discover how by applying universal design for learning principles

Angeles Carolina Aguirre-Acosta , Gloria Anahí Molina Barrón , Rebeca Elizabeth Alvarado Ramírez

Tecnológico de Monterrey

A robot holds up an AI chip to plug the gap between a businessman and his target

Six ways to integrate AI for business school accreditation

Streamline the process of accreditation, create multi-modal communications and effectively manage data by harnessing the power of generative AI

Yassine Benrqya, Lakshmi Goel, Isabelle Fagnot

Al Akhawayn University, Kedge Business School

Robot and human hand

When to use an AI professor (and why you might not need one)

Selective embrace of artificial intelligence is key to its success in supporting student learning. Here, Leonard Ng Wei Tat shares lessons from building an effective AI teaching assistant

Leonard Ng Wei Tat

Nanyang Technological University

A robot hand reaches out to a butterfly

How a liberal arts college can embrace AI tools

Lingnan University president Joe Qin offers advice on using generative AI, building up the science side of liberal arts education and how to encourage staff to share their ideas

Joe Qin

Lingnan University

Two toy robots network

Five key stages when embedding AI networking tools

The Ask an Alum AI tool is helping current students connect with alumni, develop networks and benefit from career advice. Here’s how to embed a digital networking tool

Wallis Spence

The London School of Economics and Political Science

A webinar with multiple participants

Tips for creating and delivering effective educational webinars

Strategies that incorporate interactive elements and rules setting to help teachers design engaging webinars

Lauren Flannery

The University of East Anglia

A robot holds a paint-splattered easel

Harness the power of AI to preserve endangered art forms

Researchers breathed new life into Cantonese porcelain painting techniques using AI, equipping a new generation with traditional skills. Here’s how they did it

Henry Duh

The Hong Kong Polytechnic University

Students walking through campus building

Rethinking online learning to tackle global injustices

A critical look at how online learning can be used to decolonise global development curricula

Sam Spiegel

The University of Edinburgh

Detective concept, escape rooms

Escape the class! Tips for creating virtual educational escape rooms

With games, tasks and a story, a virtual escape room can make ‘dry’ subjects more engaging for students working outside their majors, writes Cecilia Teng. Here, she gives educators steps for creating their own

Cecilia Teng

National University of Singapore

A female student working on her laptop

How can we use microlearning to enhance university teaching?

What are the benefits of microlearning and how can institutions ensure their courses suit the needs of digital natives?

Robert A. Phillips

The University of Manchester

A student at her laptop with earphones on

Key strategies for successfully marketing an online course

Highlighting multimedia aspects, networking opportunities and the value of your course’s credential value are some of the ways institutions should be marketing their online education offering

Valeria Adriazola

Dalhousie University

Middle Eastern male millennial online student

How to demonstrate the value of online education to paying students

Scalability and flexibility are just two benefits that online learning offers students in the MENA region. Here’s how to let potential students know why they should enrol

Mohamed Abuelseoud Abdelzaher

Al-Mustaqbal University

An explorer observes a flag flying atop a mountain made of books

Lessons from evolutionary biology to prepare students in an uncertain world

Universities are charged with developing the next generation for a future we can’t predict. Here are three lessons from evolutionary biology to make sense of a changing world – and three skills the workforce of tomorrow will need

Lakshmi Goel

Al Akhawayn University

A woman in a VR headset

Welcome to your virtual reality-based classroom

VR innovation can make education truly inclusive and sustainable. Here’s how academics at UCL and Marmara University developed a virtual reality-based building

Stephen Hilton, Blanka Hilton

UCL, University of Kent

Online student studying at her laptop

Bringing the human touch into the virtual classroom

Personalising learning experiences and building trust are just two of several strategies outlined in this resource aimed at helping teachers build supportive online learning environments

Lauren Flannery

The University of East Anglia

A pair of surgical scissors are passed from one member of the surgical team to another

Making educational content open access can save lives

By making training resources for surgical professions available on an open access platform, RCSI and its partners are helping to address a huge number of preventable deaths each year. Find out how you can do something similar

Eric O'Flynn, Ines Perić

RCSI University of Medicine and Health Sciences

Yooung woman studying at her latop at university

Ensuring online education is inclusive and accessible to all

Creating a culture of inclusivity where every student feels welcome and listened to is paramount. Here are some ways to achieve it

Mayela Beatriz Rodríguez Romo , Martha Fabiola Espinosa Mata, Abraham Esteban Gómez Coss

Tecnológico de Monterrey

Members of Gen Z use a range of devices

For Generation Z, online courses are the future of education

What do online courses need to offer to engage Generation Z? Find out what young people want and how to make their education serve them better

Samar Abdelazim Ahmed

Dubai Medical University

A metal toy robot looks into the distance

The two key steps to promoting responsible use of LLMs

Large language models offer opportunities for higher education, but also present challenges. Here is how to balance both

Xiangen Hu

The Hong Kong Polytechnic University

Students studying together on campus

Strategies to enhance your online course

Read about some strategies to make your online courses more engaging

Sara Camacho

Tecnológico de Monterrey

A woman studying at her laptop

Promoting online courses: five effective marketing strategies

Several ways to promote Moocs and other online courses, including a focus on email marketing and paid advertising

Luke Howard, Ari Badlishah

The University of Edinburgh

A smiling student uses her laptop to work

Make the most of online education for your students

Students appreciate the value of online education. How can educators maximise this value as much as possible?

Ayten Ordu

Near East University

A student in front of a screen coding

Eight innovative ways to teach coding online

Advice on how to create dynamic, engaging and supportive online learning environments that cater to the diverse needs of today’s coding students

Manojkumar Nagasampige

Manipal Academy of Higher Education

Student speaking to a teacher in front of laptop

Using philosophy to enhance online students’ critical thinking skills

Online courses often lack the kind of spontaneity that builds critical thinking skills. So how can we make up for this?

Garth Elzerman

Xi’an Jiaotong-Liverpool University

A lecturer gives a talk

Three ways to integrate emerging technologies into the curriculum

Your students’ future jobs will depend on technology just in its infancy today. But how best to teach them the skills they need? Sabrina Azzi offers advice

Sabrina Azzi

University of the West of Scotland

Students talk to their teacher round a table

Five tips for blended learning design

Blended learning has become more prevalent in higher education in the past few years. But what do students think about it? A students-as-co-creators project found out

Gustavo Espinoza Ramos , Setenay Dilek Fidler, Mahima Singh, Drilena Ukperaj

University of Westminster

podcast graphic

Campus talks: how technology is reshaping the 21st-century campus

When hybrid learning and immersive technology can connect and engage students working in any location, where does that leave all those lecture halls and libraries? We ask two US experts about how universities are adapting to the digital transformation

Stephen W. Harmon, Lev Gonick

Georgia Tech’s Center for 21st Century Universities, Arizona State University