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HVAC projects to improve indoor air quality. Tutoring programs for struggling students. Tuition support for young people who want to become teachers in their home communities.
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Almost 3 in 5 K-12 educators (55 percent) have positive perceptions about GenAI, despite concerns and perceived risks in its adoption, according to updated data from Cengage Group’s “AI in Education” research series.
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When it comes to visual creativity, AI tools let students design posters, presentations, and digital artwork effortlessly. Students can turn their ideas into professional-quality visuals, sparking creativity and innovation.
Ensuring that girls feel supported and empowered in STEM from an early age can lead to more balanced workplaces, economic growth, and groundbreaking discoveries.
In my work with middle school students, I’ve seen how critical that period of development is to students’ future success. One area of focus in a middle schooler’s development is vocabulary acquisition.
For students, the mid-year stretch is a chance to assess their learning, refine their decision-making skills, and build momentum for the opportunities ahead.
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Art has a unique power in the ESL classroom–a magic that bridges cultures, ignites imagination, and breathes life into language. For English Language Learners (ELLs), it’s more than an expressive outlet.
In the year 2025, no one should have to be convinced that protecting data privacy matters. For education institutions, it’s really that simple of a priority–and that complicated.
Teachers are superheroes. Every day, they rise to the challenge, pouring their hearts into shaping the future. They stay late to grade papers and show up early to tutor struggling students.
Lumio by SMART Technologies, a cloud-based learning platform that enhances engagement on student devices, recently announced a new feature for its Spark plan. This new offering integrates AI Assist, an advanced tool designed to save teachers time and elevate student engagement through AI-generated quiz-based activities and assessments.
Designing effective quizzes takes time—especially when crafting well-balanced multiple-choice questions with plausible wrong answers to encourage critical thinking. AI Assist streamlines this process, generating high-quality quiz questions at defined levels in seconds so teachers can focus on engaging their students rather than spending time on quiz creation.
More News from eSchool News
HVAC projects to improve indoor air quality. Tutoring programs for struggling students. Tuition support for young people who want to become teachers in their home communities.
Almost 3 in 5 K-12 educators (55 percent) have positive perceptions about GenAI, despite concerns and perceived risks in its adoption, according to updated data from Cengage Group’s “AI in Education” research series.
Our school has built up its course offerings without having to add headcount. Along the way, we’ve also gained a reputation for having a wide selection of general and advanced courses for our growing student body.
When it comes to visual creativity, AI tools let students design posters, presentations, and digital artwork effortlessly. Students can turn their ideas into professional-quality visuals, sparking creativity and innovation.
Ensuring that girls feel supported and empowered in STEM from an early age can lead to more balanced workplaces, economic growth, and groundbreaking discoveries.
In my work with middle school students, I’ve seen how critical that period of development is to students’ future success. One area of focus in a middle schooler’s development is vocabulary acquisition.
For students, the mid-year stretch is a chance to assess their learning, refine their decision-making skills, and build momentum for the opportunities ahead.
Middle school marks the transition from late childhood to early adolescence. Developmental psychologist Erik Erikson describes the transition as a shift from the Industry vs. Inferiority stage into the Identity vs. Role Confusion stage.
Art has a unique power in the ESL classroom–a magic that bridges cultures, ignites imagination, and breathes life into language. For English Language Learners (ELLs), it’s more than an expressive outlet.
In the year 2025, no one should have to be convinced that protecting data privacy matters. For education institutions, it’s really that simple of a priority–and that complicated.
by Hans de Wit, Tessa DeLaquil, Ellen Hazelkorn and Hamish Coates
Hans de Wit, Ellen Hazelkorn and Hamish Coates are editors and Tessa DeLaquil is associate editor of Policy Reviews in Higher Education. This blog is based on their editorial for issue 1, 2025.
Transnational education (TNE), also referred to as crossborder education, is growing and morphing in all kinds of interesting ways which, while exciting for innovators, surface important policy, regulatory, quality and ethical concerns. It is therefore vital that these developments do not slip around or through policy gaps. This is especially true for on-line TNE which is less visible than traditional campus-based higher education. Thus, it is vital that governments take the necessary actions to regulate and quality assure such education and training expansion and to inform the sector and broader public. Correspondingly, there is a pressing need for more policy research into the massive transformations shaking global higher education.
TNE and its online variants have been part of international higher education for a few decades. As Coates, Xie, and Hong (2020) foreshadowed, it has seen a rapid increase after the Covid-19 pandemic. In recent years, TNE operations have grown and diversified substantially. Wilkins and Huisman (2025) identify eleven types of TNE providers and propose the following definition to help handle this diversity: ‘Transnational education is a form of education that borrows or transfers elements of one country’s higher education, as well as that country’s culture and values, to another country.’
International collaboration and networking have never been more important than at this time of geopolitical and geoeconomic disruption and a decline in multilateral mechanisms. But TNE’s expansion is matched by growing risks.
International student mobility at risk
International degree student mobility (when students pursue a bachelor, master and/or doctoral degree abroad) continues to be dominant, with over six million students studying abroad, double the number of 10 years ago. It is anticipated that this number will further increase in the coming decade to over 8 million, but its growth is decreasing, and its geographical path from the ‘global south’ to the ‘global north’ is shifting towards a more diverse direction. Geopolitical and nationalist forces as well as concerns about adequate academic services (accommodation in particular) in high-income countries in the global north are recent factors in the slowing down of the growth in student mobility to Australia, North America and Europe, the leading destinations. The increased availability and quality of higher education, primarily at the undergraduate level, in middle-income countries in Asia, Latin America and parts of the Middle East, also shape the decrease in student mobility towards the global north.
Several ‘sending countries’, for instance, China, South Korea and Turkey, are also becoming receiving countries. Countries like Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Ukraine (until the Russian invasion), Egypt and some of the Caribbean countries have also become study destinations for students from neighbouring low-income countries. These countries provide them with higher education and other forms of postsecondary education sometimes in their public sector but mostly in private institutions and by foreign providers.
An alternative TNE model?
Given the increased competition for international students and the resulting risks of falling numbers and related financial security for universities, TNE has emerged as an alternative source of revenue. According to Ilieva and Tsiligiris (2023), United Kingdom TNE topped more than 530,000 students in 2021. In the same year, its higher education institutions attracted approximately 680,000 international students. It is likely that TNE will surpass inward student mobility.
As the United Kingdom case makes clear, TNE originally was primarily a ‘north-south’ phenomenon, in which universities from high-income and mostly Anglophone countries, offered degree programmes through branch campuses, franchise operations and articulation programmes. Asia was the recipient region of most TNE arrangements, followed by the Middle East. As in student mobility, TNE is more diverse globally both in provision and in reception.
The big trend in TNE is the shift to online education with limited in-person teaching. A (2024) report of Studyportals found over 15,000 English-taught online programmes globally. And although 92 per cent of these programmes are supplied by the four big Anglophone countries – the United Kingdom, United States, Canada and Australia – the number of programmes offered outside those four doubled since 2019 from 623–1212, primarily in Business and Management, Computer Sciences and IT.
Private higher education institutions
This global growth in online delivery of education goes hand in hand with the growth in various forms of private higher education. Over 50% of the institutions of higher education and over one-third of global enrolment are in private institutions, many of which are commercial in nature. Private higher education has become the dominant growth area in higher education, as a result of the lack of funding for public higher education as well as traditional HE’s sluggish response to diverse learner needs. Although most private higher education, in particular for-profit, is taking place in the global south, it is also present in high-income countries, and one can see a rise in private higher education recently in Western Europe, for instance, Germany and France.
TNE is often a commercial activity. It is increasingly a way for public universities to support international and other operations as public funding wanes. Most for-profit private higher education targets particular fields and education services and tends to be more online than in person. There is an array of ownership and institutional structures, involving a range of players.
Establishing regulations and standards
TNE, especially online TNE, is likely to become the major form of international delivery of education for local and international students especially where growing demand cannot be met domestically. Growth is also increasingly motivated by an institution’s or country’s financial challenges or strategic priorities – situations that are likely to intensify. This shift could help overcome some of the inequities associated with mobility and address concerns associated with climate change but online TNE is significantly more difficult to regulate.
A concerning feature of the global TNE market is how learners and countries can easily become victims. Fraud is associated with the exponential rise in the number of fake colleges and accreditors, and document falsification. This is partly due to different conceptions and regulatory approaches to accreditation/QA of TNE and the absence of trustworthy information. Indeed, the deficiency in comprehensive and accessible information is partly responsible for on-going interest in and use of global rankings as a proxy for quality.
A need for clearer and stronger TNE and online quality assurance
The trend in growth of private for-profit higher education, TNE and online delivery is clear and given its growing presence requires more policy attention by national, regional and global agencies. As mentioned, public universities are increasingly active in TNE and online education targeting countries and learners underserved in their home countries whilst looking for other sources of income as a result of decreasing public support and other factors.
The Global Convention on the Recognition of Qualificationsmakes clear the importance of ensuring there are no differences in quality or standards between learners in the home or host country regardless of whether the delivery of education programmes and learning activities is undertaken in a formal, non-formal or informal setting, in face-to-face, virtual or hybrid formats, traditional or non-traditional modes. Accordingly, there are growing concerns about insufficient regulation and the multilateral framework covering international education, and especially online TNE.
In response, there is a need for clearer and stronger accreditation/quality assurance and standards by national regulators, regional networks and organisations such as UNESCO, INQAAHE, the International Association of Universities (IAU) with regards to public and private involvement in TNE, and online education. This is an emerging frontier for tertiary education, and much more research is required on this growing phenomenon.
Professor Ellen Hazelkorn is Joint Managing Partner, BH Associates. She is Professor Emeritus, Technological University Dublin.
Hamish Coates is professor of public policy, director of the Higher Education Futures Lab, and global tertiary education expert.
Hans de Wit is Professor Emeritus and Distinguished Fellow of the Boston College Center for International Higher Education, Senior Fellow of the international Association of Universities.
Tessa DeLaquil is postdoctoral research fellow at the School of Education at University College Dublin.
Reading my colleague Jackie Mader’s latest story about the vital importance of warm, interactive exchanges between caregivers and children brought back the terrifying feeling that comes with leaving your baby in the hands of someone you don’t really know — and the relief when you see an experienced, loving educator taking charge.
Mader’s story details how a growing number of cities and states — red and blue — are pouring resources into training teachers and even evaluating programs on how warm and responsive teachers are. As Bridget Hamre, a research associate professor at the University of Virginia, told Mader, other elements of quality, like teacher education are “only important to the degree to which they change the way that teachers interact with kids.”
The story, as well as a documentary that I saw last week at the SXSW EDU conference on model child care programs, left me feeling inspired about the future of child care in America for the first time in a while. The documentary, “Make a Circle,” tells the story of highly trained and qualified child care workers in the California Bay Area, and their efforts to transform the way society views their industry. It will be available on PBS in the fall, and is being shown at film festivals and other events across the U.S.
Throughout the film, you see the intricate and important work of early educators as they play with children, teach them letters, colors and sounds, and take them for walks in the woods. That might sound basic but, like the thoughtful interactions described in Mader’s piece, can ultimately make a huge difference in the lives and well-being of children. And sadly, this kind of child care is not widely available or affordable.
Fortunately, it was for the children of the filmmakers, husband-and-wife team Todd Boekelheide and Jen Bradwell. They actually knew some preschool owners and teachers featured in the film: Their own two children attended one of them. Bradwell calls the documentary “a love letter to early educators and a rallying cry for a child care system in crisis.”
The system needs all of the love it can get: a point that Isabelle Hau makes in her new book, “Love to Learn,” a deep dive into the importance of building quality relationships in early childhood care. (I’ll be moderating a discussion of some of her findings at the ASU+GSV conference in San Diego next month.)
“Close, nurturing relationships in the early years are like the foundation of a house,” Hau writes. “If the foundation is not solid, the house may shake apart later in strong winds.”
Both Bradwell and Hau had a chance to expound on their findings at another early childhood event: a celebration of Hau’s book at the Austin, Texas, home of Libby Doggett, who over the years taught me a great deal about the importance of quality early childhood education as the former director of Pre-K Now, a 10-year campaign to advance high-quality, voluntary pre-K for all 3- and 4-year-olds across the U.S.
Here was a crowd committed to improving the way we teach our littlest learners and training their teachers during this difficult time for the early childhood industry. The Hechinger Report is documenting cuts to research and other shifts in early childhood spending under the Trump administration. We keep an updated Trump tracker on our site to catalog everything we know. We also love hearing from you on these issues, so please respond to this newsletter to get in touch!
This story about responsive teachers was produced by The Hechinger Report, a nonprofit, independent news organization focused on inequality and innovation in education. Sign up for the Hechinger newsletter.
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Stephanie Marshall is Vice-Principal (Education) at Queen Mary University of London. She is the author of the forthcoming Strategic Leadership of Change in Higher Education (3rd edition). Ben Hunt is Executive Officer (Education) at Queen Mary University of London.
In contrast to the adage that ‘good strategy closes doors’, the Office for Students (OfS) Strategy consultation has left many options open. This is true of the Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF), which the OfS intends to bring into alignment with its wider quality regime:
‘TEF will be the core of our new integrated approach to quality, with assessment activity becoming more routine and more widespread to ensure that institutions are delivering high quality academic experiences and positive outcomes’.
Cart before the horse?
The OfS has stated in its consultation that it will expand its quality assessment regime without evaluating how this exercise has, or will, enhance education provision.
Previous investigations were seen as burdensome and lacking transparency.[1] On transparency, Professor Amanda Broderick, Vice-Chancellor & President at the University of East London, reflected on a quality investigation: ‘…we were not informed of what the OfS’s concerns had been at any point of the review’.
On burden, Professor David Phoenix, Vice-Chancellor of London South Bank University, has written about an investigation at his provider: ‘…providers are already very used to…scrutiny. Professional and regulatory bodies (PSRBs) have their own approaches to course review and validation, and in many instances the level of scrutiny can greatly exceed that of the OfS’.
And in a recent HEPI blog, the ex-higher education minister and architect of TEF Lord Jo Johnson asserts that the OfS has consistently deprioritised innovation.
So perhaps the OfS has reached a moment of choice: to stick or pivot.
Stephanie Marshall has written previously about the different global ‘pivots’ in higher education quality: ‘massification, quality assurance, quality enhancement, and then a move to addressing equity deploying large data’.
The OfS’s decision to pause new provider entrants has arguably stalled massification. It is duplicative when it comes to assurance with other regulators such as Ofsted. And its deployment of data through the Data Futures process is beset by delays. Instead of enabling providers to embrace change, an unintended consequence of these decisions is that sector innovation is slowed. Amidst this and the sector’s financial challenges, the OfS seeks to expand its investigatory regime without a clear theory of change linked to enhancement.
Pivot Part 1: From assurance to fremragende
In a Norwegian report to which Marshall contributed, it was noted that: ‘In English, the term ‘excellence’ is now much overused…In Norwegian the word “fremragende” has a sense of moving forward (frem) and upward (tall or reaching above the rest, ragende) and is reserved to describe something really cutting-edge’.[2]
Centres for disciplinary excellence in education were established in Norway through the Centres for Excellence (CfE) Initiative, introduced by their previous Quality Assurance body, NOKUT. To be eligible for CfE status and funding, higher education institutions had to meet baseline standards and evaluate the distinctive quality of their provision. Each Centre selected its own criteria aligned to the provider’s vision and mission.
Of course, there were challenges with this process, particularly when it came to differences in judgements of the panel assessing, against the institution being assessed. However, NOKUT was open to evolving its views, positioning itself as a ‘critical friend’. This process set out to be supportive and iterative, focused on both past impact and continuous improvement. The success of this approach has been validated over the years by regular evaluations of the impact of the scheme.
In England there were 227 providers who participated in TEF. Adopting a system from a country with 21 higher education providers is clearly not practical. The important lessons are, firstly, a critical friend approach can be beneficial to enhancement, and, secondly, institutions can be trusted to evolve some of their quality metrics in line with their mission and values. This is particularly important in a system as diverse as in England where most providers are already above the quality baseline.
Fremragende may be a more accurate framing of authentic educational enhancement rather than the English buzzword ‘excellence’.Frenragende suggests an ongoing journey: a verb rather than a noun. The higher education environment is and will be in a state of flux where quality frameworks need to be agile and unlock innovation, particularly in the territory of AI.
Pivot Part 2: Enabling enhancement through data
The OfS has a basket of lagging indicators: the National Student Survey (NSS) and Graduate Outcomes Survey (GOS) which comprise the TEF. If they are utilised in the next TEF, which seems likely, one way to begin to move from assurance to continuous improvement could be for the OfS to encourage greater use of the optional NSS bank. There are additional questions in place regarding the views of healthcare students, and several optional additional questions. An integrated approach could also be taken to the questions within the GOS, either enabling some optional questions for graduates, or mapping the GOS questions to those in the NSS.
This flexibility would demonstrate trust, give providers a way to articulate ‘learning gain’, and capture the diversity in the sector. It would also maintain many of the positive aspects of TEF for key stakeholders, including the centrality of the student voice through the NSS and other mechanisms.
Pivot Part 3: Quality through partnership
Any approach to integration should be a partnership with students, providers, international organisations and employers. We hope that entrance into the International Network for Quality Assurance Agencies in Higher Education will enable the OfS to collaborate with other global quality bodies.
The OfS should consider how, in its assessment of excellence, it integrates learning from other inspection regimes, such as Ofsted and existing PSRB requirements. Through this, it should reduce regulatory duplication. This is in line with the Regulator’s Code principle of ‘collect once, use many times’.
A mindset shift from assessing the baseline to forward-facing, continuous enhancement is required, both by the OfS and the sector. With further contextualisation of provision, the sector can exercise its autonomy to drive excellence, and the OfS can fulfil its statutory role in enabling quality and innovation.
Let’s join our Norwegian colleagues in adopting the fremragende approach.
Australia’s vice-chancellors will be questioned about their pay packages, instances of wage underpayment, and the use of external consultants in a new parliamentary inquiry into the quality of university governance.
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National Advisory Committee on Institutional Quality and Integrity
FR Document: 2025-01459 Citation: 90 FR 7677 PDF Pages 7677-7679 (3 pages) Permalink Abstract: This notice sets forth the agenda, time, and instructions to access or participate in the February 19-20, 2025 meeting of NACIQI, and provides information to members of the public regarding the meeting, including requesting to make written or oral comments. Committee members will meet in-person while accrediting agency representatives and public attendees will participate virtually.
