Tag: World

Making human learning visible in a world of invisible AI

The mainstreaming of disruptive technology is a familiar experience.

Consider how quickly contactless payment has become largely unavoidable and assumed for most of us.

In a similar way, we are already seeing how generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) is, even more rapidly, weaving itself into the fabric of education, work, and wider society.

In higher education’s search for appropriate responses to the rise of GenAI, much of the emphasis has focused on the technology itself. Yet, as machine learning becomes increasingly embedded in everyday tools and student learning practices, we suggest that this brings new urgency to making the ongoing value of human learning visible. Not to do so risks leaving universities struggling to explain, in an era of increasingly invisible GenAI, what is distinctive about higher education at all.

A revealing weakness

Our starting point for a meaningful response to this has been a focus on critical thinking. For a long time, institutions have expressed the importance of students developing as capable critical thinkers through high-level signifiers like graduate attributes, employability skills, and course learning outcomes. But these often substitute for shared understanding, signalling value without making it visible. The rise of GenAI does not challenge critical thinking so much as it reveals our existing weakness in articulating its substance and connection to practice.

If we were to ask you what critical thinking meant to you, what would you say? And would your students think the same? Through a QAA-funded Collaborative Enhancement Project with colleagues from Stellenbosch University, we have been asking teachers these same questions. While each person we spoke to was quick to value it as an essential learning outcome, we were struck by the extent to which staff acknowledged how little time they had spent reflecting on what it meant to them.

Through extended conversations with colleagues from our two universities we were able to explore what critical thinking meant in a range of disciplines, and to capture the diverse richness of associated practices, from a search for truth, a testing of beliefs, and an openness to critique to systematic analysis and structured argumentation.

The right answer?

Colleagues also identified both strengths and barriers in students’ engagement with critical thinking. Some highlighted students’ social awareness and willingness to experiment, while others noted that students often demonstrate criticality in everyday life but struggle to transfer it to academic tasks. Barriers included a tendency to seek “right answers” rather than engage with ambiguity. As one lecturer observed, “students want the correct answer, not the messy process”. Participants also reflected on the influence of GenAI, with some warning that this technology “gives answers too easily” – allowing students to “skip the hard thinking” – while others suggested it could create space for deeper critical engagement if used thoughtfully.

From the student perspective, surveys at both institutions also revealed broadly positive perceptions of critical thinking as an essential graduate capability, with respondents articulating their belief in its long-term value including in relation to GenAI, but expressing uncertainty as to how such skills were embedded in their programmes.

The depth of staff responses demonstrates that a collective wellspring of understanding exists. What we need to do more is find ways to bring this to the surface to inform teaching and learning, communicate explicitly to students, and give substance to the claims we make for higher education’s purpose.

With this practical end in mind, we used our initial findings to develop a Critical Thinking Framework structured around three interrelated dimensions: Critical Clarity, Critical Context, and Critical Capital. This framework supports educators in identifying the forms of critical thinking they wish to prioritise, recognising barriers that may inhibit its development, and situating these within disciplinary and institutional contexts. It serves both as a reflective tool and a practical design resource, guiding staff in creating learning activities and assessments that make human thinking processes visible in a GenAI-rich educational landscape. This framework and a set of supporting resources, along with our full project report, are now available on the QAA website.

The slowdown and the human factor

By working with educators in this way, we have seen the adoption of approaches that slow learning down, providing space to support reflection and make the mechanics of critical thinking more visible to learners. Drawing on popular culture through the use of materials that are familiar to students, such as advertising, music and film, has been used as an approach to reduce cognitive load, enabling learners to focus on actually practising thinking critically in ways that are more visible and explicit.

Having put this approach into practice, the feedback received across both institutions suggests that our framework not only supports staff in designing effective approaches to promote critical thinking but also gives students opportunity to articulate what it means to them to think critically. As students and staff have been given the opportunity to pause and reflect, it has underpinned meaningful awareness of the value of the human component in learning.

The growth of GenAI has disrupted the higher education sector and challenged leaders and practitioners alike to think differently and creatively about how they prepare graduates for the future. As an international collaboration, this project has reinforced the view that this challenge is not limited to any single institution, and that there is much to be gained from fostering shared understanding. The results have reminded us that effective solutions can include those that are low-cost and low-risk, simple and practical.

GenAI makes visible what universities have left implicit for too long. Higher education needs to slow down, not to resist GenAI, but to better articulate and advocate for human learning.

Join us at The Secret Life of Students on Tuesday 17 March at the Shaw Theatre in London to keep the conversation going about what it means to learn as a human in the age of AI.

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January 26, 2026
Responding to the International Education Strategy requires an appreciation of how fast the world is changing

The long-awaited new UK international education strategy looks and feels very different from the last one.

Gone is the target for international recruitment from the previous strategy, which had, in any case, been exceeded substantially. It has been replaced by a “bold ambition” to grow overall education exports to £40bn per year by 2030 (the figure for 2022 was calculated at £32.3bn).

The emphasis is on growing transnational education (TNE) and partnerships in education and research, as well as outward student mobility, and the UK’s global reputation in education. There is much to welcome in this strategy. Not least the cross-government (FCDO, DfE and DBT) ownership of the agenda, and the recognition that the rapidly changing geopolitical landscape requires support from the UK government and its institutions to support the sector.

But let’s turn to what isn’t in the strategy. Great strategies are adaptable to a changing landscape, and the external environment in international education is shifting very rapidly.

Times change

Two major issues are worth highlighting. First, there is no such thing as a single TNE model, and the financial margins differ markedly depending on the host country and the teaching model. The margins depend on the nature of the regulatory regime and the nature of the host country partnership(s). International campuses which involve an element of research activity are also more expensive to run.

It’s fair to say that many UK universities operating overseas have tended to engage in TNE not solely because of financial margin, but often to raise their international profile in order to attract more direct recruitment to their UK campuses. Others make a larger margin by adopting a very streamlined and low-cost teaching model.

Second, the financial sustainability of UK universities has been greatly impaired by the instability of direct international recruitment. The international education strategy uses the cautious language of “sustainably recruiting high-quality students” to the UK, not least because of the difficult immigration debates student flows have caused.

Canada, Australia and the USA – the other three of the “Big Four” international student destinations – have had similar debates on student visas. But the shift from the Big Four dominating international direct recruitment to a situation where a “Big Fourteen” have come to compete more aggressively for this market has been very sudden, and has left the UK and other anglophone countries having to compete much more aggressively.

The countries experiencing growth range from Europe (for example France, Germany and the Netherlands) to Asian destinations (such as China, Korea and Malaysia). There are many reasons why these new destinations have become more competitive beyond the student visa regime: student safety, work experience opportunities, pricing/affordability, cultural and language factors, and the geopolitical environment have all played a part.

Universities in the Big Four are responding by competing on some of these fronts. Many of the new countries and jurisdictions in the Big Fourteen have explicit targets to grow international numbers, unlike the new UK strategy (e.g. Japan, South Korea, Hong Kong, and France). Many non-Anglophone countries have embraced English language teaching, especially at master’s level.

We need new models

But is this a definitive trend we are observing away from the Big Four – or is the market just becoming more contestable and the landscape will evolve even further?

I would argue the latter: I believe that the international recruitment market could continue to evolve rapidly. Under the circumstances, universities in the more established markets will want to forecast the potential short-term trends and cycles in student demand, but more importantly the underlying factors: to what extent are some factors like studying closer to home important for students in large sender markets like China and India? To what extent are there trade-offs between different factors such as the cultural affinity of the host nation and affordability/pricing? Economic theory, and indeed the instability of flows since the pandemic, suggests that these factors do interact and there are trade-offs.

University leaders will want to gain a much more sophisticated market understanding in the next five years than relying on the simple linear market trends which we adopted in our recruitment forecasts 10-15 years ago. That will require much more refined economic analysis of what students (and their families) think about international study.

Similarly, UK and other universities jumping on the accelerating TNE bandwagon will want to understand how this interfaces with direct recruitment in the Big Fourteen. We know that an in-country TNE presence in a large sender market can have an impact on direct recruitment.

Watch this landscape carefully over the next five years – it will rapidly evolve.

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January 26, 2026
The 6-7 Craze Offered A Brief Window Into the Hidden World of Children – The 74

Many adults are breathing a sigh of relief as the 6-7 meme fades away as one of the biggest kid-led global fads of 2025.

In case you managed to miss it, 6-7 is a slang term – spoken aloud as “six seven” – accompanied by an arm gesture that mimics someone weighing something in their hands.

It has no real meaning, but it spawned countless videos across various platforms and infiltrated schools and homes across the globe. Shouts of “6-7” disrupted classrooms and rained down at sporting events. Think pieces proliferated.

For the most part, adults responded with mild annoyance and confusion.

But as media scholars who study children’s culture, we didn’t view the meme with bewilderment or exasperation. Instead, we thought back to our own childhoods on three different continents – and all the secret languages we spoke.

There was Pig Latin. The cool “S” doodled on countless worksheets and bathroom stalls. Forming an L-shape with our thumb and index finger to insult someone. Remixing the words of hand-clapping games from previous generations.

6-7 is only the latest example of these long-standing practices – and though the gesture might not mean much to adults, it says a lot about children’s play, their social lives and their desire for power.

The irresistible allure of 6-7

You can see this longing for power in classic play like spying on adults and in games like “king of the hill.”

A typical school day involves a tight schedule of adult-directed activities; kids have little time or space for agency.

Kids spend much of their days watched and controlled – and will jump at the chance to turn the tables. (H.Armstrong Roberts/ClassicStock via Getty Images)

But during those in-between times when children are able to stealthily evade adult surveillance – on playgrounds, on the internet and even when stuck at home during the pandemic – children’s culture can thrive. In these spaces, they can make the rules. They set the terms. And if it confuses adults, all the better.

As 6-7 went viral, teachers complained that random outbursts by their students were interrupting their lessons. Some started avoiding asking any kind of question that might result in an answer of 67. The trend migrated from schools to sports arenas and restaurants: In-N-Out Burger ended up banning the number 67 from their ticket ordering system.

The meaninglessness of 6-7 made it easy to create a sense of inclusion and exclusion – and to annoy adults, who strained to decipher hidden meanings. In the U.S., siblings and friends dressed as the numbers 6-7 for Halloween. And in Australia, it was rumored that houses with 6-7 in their address were going for astronomical prices.

Remixing games and rhymes

Since before World War I, historians have documented children’s use of secret languages like “back slang,” which happens when words are phonetically spoken backwards. And nonsense words and phrases have long proliferated in children’s culture: Recent examples include “booyah,” “skibidi” and “talk to the hand.”

6-7 also coincides with a long history of children revising, adapting and remixing games and rhymes.

For example, in our three countries – the U.S., Australia and South Korea – we’ve encountered endless variations of the game of “tag.” Sometimes the chasers pretend to be the dementors from Harry Potter. Other times the chasers have pretended to be the COVID-19 virus. Or we’ll see them incorporate their immediate surroundings, like designating playground equipment as “home” or “safe.”

Similar games can spread among children around the world. In South Korea, “Mugunghwa kkochi pieotseumnida” – which roughly translates to “The rose of Sharon has bloomed,” a reference to South Korea’s national flower – is similar to the game “Red Light, Green Light” in English-speaking countries. In the game “Hwang-ma!,” South Korean children in the early aughts shouted the word and playfully struck a peer upon seeing a rare, gold-colored car, a game similar to “Punch Buggy” and “Slug Bug” in the U.S. and Australia.

Variations of ‘Red Light, Green Light’ exist around the world.
Jarek Tuszyński/Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA

Historically, children have reworked rhymes and clapping games to draw on popular culture of the day. “Georgie Best, Superstar,” sung to the tune of “Jesus Christ Superstar,” was a popular chant on U.K. playgrounds in the 1970s that celebrated the legendary soccer player George Best. And a variation of the clapping game “I went to a Chinese Restaurant” included the lyrics “My name is, Elvis Presley, girls are sexy, Sitting on the back seat, drinking Pepsi.”

Making space for children’s culture

One reason 6-7 became so popular is the low barrier to entry: Saying “6-7” and doing the accompanying hand movement is easy to pick up and translate into different cultural contexts. The simplicity of the meme allowed young Korean children to repeat the phrase in English. And deaf children have participated by signing the meme.

Because the social worlds of children now exist across a range of online spaces, 6-7 has been able to seamlessly spread and evolve. On the gaming platform Roblox, for example, children can create avatars that resemble 6-7 and play games that feature the numbers.

The strange words, nonsensical games and creative play of your childhood might seem ridiculous today. But there’s real value in these hidden worlds.

With or without access to the internet, children will continue to transform language and games to suit their needs – which, yes, includes getting under the skin of adults.

A great deal of attention is given to the omnipresence of digital technologies in children’s lives, but we think it’s worth taking a moment to appreciate the way children are using these technologies to innovate and connect in ways both creative and mundane.

Rebekah Willett, Professor in the Information School, University of Wisconsin-Madison; Amanda Levido, Lecturer, Southern Cross University, and Hyeon-Seon Jeong, Professor of Digital Media Education, Gyeongin National University of Education

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January 17, 2026
The good and bad of roaming the world

In six months I will move again. It will be my seventh move in less than two years.

I’m not homesick for Calgary, Canada, where I started this journey. But I am tired of searching for new friendships and, sometimes, of carrying more clothes — and emotions — than I can fit into two suitcases

When I try to describe what moving around is like, I remember one moment. It was my second day in Peru, and everywhere around me were mountains of sand. Not a single plant in sight, not even a cactus.

The sun was strong and I felt the beginnings of a sunburn. After multiple stops and a wild dune buggy ride through the desert where I held on for dear life, I made it to the top of one of the sand dunes. I moved around to the other side and looked down. There it was: Oasis de la Huacachina, a shimmering pool of water surrounded by palm trees.

The wind was blowing harshly. In that moment, I was grateful that my face was covered with the brightly coloured bandana I had bought from a vendor who was upset I could pay only in American dollars and warned me he would charge me more. I hadn’t had enough time to convert money to Peruvian soles.

This is the cost of not being prepared with cash in the right currency for unexpected purchases that happen on a trip.

Preparing for the unexpected

Being a nomad is like going through a desert, trying to be as prepared as possible only to be faced with the unexpected — strong winds blowing sand in your face and getting overcharged for the things you didn’t know you would need.

But once you get to the top of the sand dune and look down at the oasis, you appreciate the journey you’ve made.

The nomadic life isn’t as romantic as the internet paints it to be. Between the excitement of new places and adventures is the challenge of creating and maintaining a sense of community.

This journey started back in 2023 in Calgary. I was having dinner with friends and talking about the awful job market and how I’d managed to land only remote work on temporary contract.

“You know, I think I’m probably going to leave Calgary soon,” I heard myself say.

Embarking on a journey

I had absolutely no plan for how that was going to happen. But almost a year later I got married. My husband had finished his first year of residency and needed to move for training opportunities in various cities. We would spend only one to three months in each city before moving on.

Like most young adults, I left my hometown to start something new. The packing part was easy. The hard part was saying goodbye to the familiarity of Calgary — my family, friends, the parks I visited regularly and my favourite cafés.

The journey began in Calgary, and carried us to Kingston, a town on Lake Ontario, for four months, from where we relocated to Montréal for one month. We moved to Toronto for three months, where we then traded the snowy weather for the warm desert in Lima, Peru for just over two months. From there, we returned to Toronto for another three months before arriving in Baltimore in the U.S. state of Maryland.

As we moved from place to place over the course of 13 months, I realized I wasn’t homesick. Instead, I was weighed down by the things I’d grown so attached to. With each move, I faced this dilemma: Pack them up again or let them go before starting over again.

After almost four months in Kingston, the time had come to pack up again. There was stuff everywhere. Bags of clothes sat on the living-room floor and overfilled boxes of household items covered the kitchen floor.

What you pack and what you leave

I couldn’t take everything with me, yet as I was folding clothes I found that my suitcases weren’t filling. The donation bags seemed to be getting bigger and bigger. At that point, I was repulsed by the number of clothes I had. Did I really need four pairs of jeans? In normal circumstances, my answer would have been yes. Then, I needed functionality and I didn’t know how to achieve that.

What was replaceable if I later changed my mind?

I was nostalgic as I sifted through the piles — recalling the memories attached to those items. “They’re just things,” I told myself. I found a folder filled with cards from friends and families. I didn’t have it in me to throw them out, so I stuffed them in my backpack. It wasn’t like they were replaceable items you can buy at a store.

The worst part of moving so frequently is that distance doesn’t make the heart grow fonder. It makes communication challenging and if you can’t catch someone by phone, many things — life updates and check-ins — are lost through text messages.

The best part of moving so frequently is you get to be a tourist while living like a local: You have the best of both worlds. You learn your neighbourhood so well you find shortcuts to get to your favourite places. You earn the right to learn about local gems and can still visit the cliché tourist spots without feeling the embarrassment a local would. That was the highlight of my month in Montreal — I’d finish work and hop on the subway to explore. Every day was its own adventure, trying new restaurants, shopping at local grocery stores and catching up with work colleagues in the area.

Finding meaning in new places

I celebrated my birthday in Montreal for the first time outside of my hometown. I’m not much of a birthday person, but I was disappointed that many of my friends had forgotten my birthday. On a positive note, some friends did remember, and those birthday text messages were special. I decided to celebrate with some “restaurant hopping,” trying a savoury meal at one restaurant, going for dessert at another and trying interesting snacks all in the same night. It was the first time I tried ramen, a Japanese noodle soup, and the first time I ordered in French.

The month flew by and it was time to move to Toronto. The good news is I hadn’t fully unpacked, because I knew that my time in Montreal was short. I somehow did make friends, but we didn’t keep in touch after I moved.

For some reason, surface-level friendships were easier than having to worry about whether people would want to keep in touch, and I wouldn’t feel the pressure of having to reach out or go through the cycle of feeling disappointed if they wouldn’t get back to me. I was still grieving how many of my close friendships in Calgary had gone static.

A few weeks later, we moved to Toronto and I joined a running club. I was shy at first, but I slowly warmed up and made friends. I didn’t bother to take my new friends’ phone numbers or make plans outside of the running club, because I knew I would soon be leaving. One of my best friends in Calgary had a baby girl during my time in Toronto and I couldn’t visit over the holidays to celebrate because I was preparing for my next move.

For some reason, deciding what stays and what goes never gets easier. You just get better at the time management part of it and start earlier — or stay up later getting the job done. We were packing until 3 a.m. on the day we were leaving for Lima, Peru, where my husband was going to take a tropical medicine course. A few hours later, we boarded the flight.

Meeting people in Peru

Lima is one of the most beautiful cities I’ve ever visited. It’s a desert that sits on the Pacific coast, offering the best of both worlds: an ocean and a stunning oasis.

By this point, my work contract had ended and could not be renewed due to budget changes. I was initially worried that I would be bored or miss out on professional growth. I decided that it would instead be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to try new activities, travel and reflect on what I wanted my professional career to look like.

I expected to encounter many English speakers in Lima, because it was the capital, but I was mistaken. I didn’t want to rely on Google Translate for basic conversations because I wanted to immerse myself in the culture and everyday life. So I enrolled in Spanish-language classes.

I met people from all over the world who had come to Peru for all kinds of reasons, including business, backpacking across South America and simply to learn Spanish.

This is probably my favourite part of moving around: You get to meet people from all walks of life, with various backgrounds and experiences, who teach you things you never otherwise would have learned.

Nomads find each other

I made friends with a girl my age who worked in marketing in London and was visiting her father, who had a business in Peru. One American man in his late 60s had married a Peruvian woman and was planning to retire in Lima.

Another was a businessman who opened restaurants all around the world and was looking to break into the Peruvian market.

And I met a Canadian from the Greater Toronto Area whom I probably would never have crossed paths with had it not been that we were in Peru at the same time. I had wonderful conversations with her during our walks in the Miraflores neighbourhood.

While learning Spanish, I also stepped out of my comfort zone and tried new activities. I sand-boarded, where I rode down a sand dune in the desert south of Lima, surfed on the Pacific Ocean, hiked the famous Machu Picchu — an ancient Incan citadel located in the Andes Mountains — and took a chocolate-making class during which I roasted my own chocolate beans.

It was through enjoying all of these adventures and writing about my experiences to family and friends that I decided to try journalism and a few months later, applied for a fellowship in Journalism and Health Impact at the University of Toronto’s Dalla Lana School of Public Health.

Accepting the changes that take place

I returned to Toronto months later. It was spring and I got to see cherry trees in blossom, enjoy walks by the harbour and prepare for my next move, this one to Baltimore, Md. I reconnected with old friends, shared my adventures in South America and realized that although we don’t talk as much as we used to, living far apart does change the dynamic of a friendship. It’s not a bad thing, it’s just different and that’s okay. It’s fine to keep in touch with friends on a semi-annual basis and meet in person when given the chance.

I discovered that it’s not fair to assume things will stay the same when I was the one who moved away.

Shortly after moving to Baltimore, my childhood best friend got married in Calgary. The timing was difficult and I had to miss it. My friends who did attend FaceTimed me during the reception. It was like I was there, but I also wasn’t.

It was difficult, but I came to learn that the way I conducted friendships also changed. Distance created challenges in the way I showed up and, although my friends never called me out on it, I’m certain now that they probably felt emotions similar to mine. Long-distance friendships are not easy and that’s part of the baggage that comes with nomadic living. My best advice is to show up when you can and reach out when you miss them.

Flash forward to today: I did apply to the journalism fellowship and was accepted. I’m glad I did because I’m enjoying writing and reporting on health topics I’m interested in.

In the meantime, I have another six months until I move again. I don’t know where I’m going next. I’m riding the wave and ready to embark on my next adventure when the time comes. I have a community of people with whom I meet regularly and, although I’m not sure how those relationships will change when I move again, I know these are the kinds of feelings that can fit in my suitcase.

Questions to consider:

1. What was one thing the author learned after moving from place to place?

2. What is one disadvantage of moving every few months?

3. If you were to move from the country you now live in what would you miss?

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December 30, 2025
DEI in education: Pros and cons

eSchool News is counting down the 10 most-read stories of 2025. Story #6 focuses on DEI in education.

Key points:

Diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives have become integral to educational institutions across the United States. DEI aims to foster environments where all students can thrive regardless of their backgrounds. The programs are designed to address systemic inequalities, promote representation, and create inclusive spaces for learning. However, as DEI becomes more prevalent, it also faces scrutiny and debate regarding its effectiveness, implementation, and impact on educational outcomes.

One of the main advantages of DEI in education is the promotion of a more inclusive and representative curriculum. Students gain a broader understanding of the world by integrating diverse perspectives into course materials. This enhances critical thinking and empathy. Furthermore, the approach prepares students to navigate and contribute to our increasingly globalized society. Moreover, exposure to diverse viewpoints encourages students to challenge their assumptions and develop a more nuanced perspective on complex issues.

DEI initiatives also contribute to improved academic outcomes by fostering a sense of belongingness amongst students. When students see themselves reflected in their educators and curricula, they are more likely to feel valued and supported. This leads to increased engagement and motivation. This sense of inclusion can result in higher retention and graduation rates (particularly among historically marginalized groups). Furthermore, diverse learning environments encourage collaboration and communication skills because students learn to work effectively with peers from different backgrounds.

In addition to benefiting students, DEI programs can enhance faculty satisfaction and retention. Institutions that prioritize diversity in hiring and promotion practices create more equitable workplaces. This can lead to increased job satisfaction among faculty members. Mentorship programs and professional development opportunities focused on DEI can also support faculty in creating inclusive classroom environments, which further benefits students.

Despite these benefits, DEI initiatives are not without challenges. One significant concern is the potential for resistance and backlash from individuals who perceive DEI efforts as a threat to traditional values (in other words, a form of reverse discrimination). This resistance can manifest in various ways (opposition to DEI policies, legal challenges, and political pressure). Such opposition can hinder the implementation and effectiveness of DEI programs, thereby creating a contentious atmosphere within educational institutions.

Another challenge is the difficulty in measuring the success of DEI initiatives. Without clear metrics, it can be challenging to assess the impact of these programs on student outcomes, faculty satisfaction, or institutional culture. The lack of quantifiable data can lead to skepticism about the efficiency of DEI efforts, thus resulting in reduced support or funding for such programs. Additionally, the absence of standardized definitions and goals for DEI can lead to inconsistent implementation across institutions.

Resource allocation is also a critical issue in the execution of DEI initiatives. Implementing comprehensive DEI programs often requires significant financial investment (funding for specialized staff, training, and support services). In times of budget constraints, institutions may struggle to prioritize DEI efforts. This may lead to inadequate support for students and faculty. Without sufficient resources, DEI programs may fail to achieve their intended outcomes thus further fueling criticism and skepticism.

The potential for tokenism is another concern associated with DEI initiatives. When institutions focus on meeting diversity quotas without fostering genuine inclusion, individuals from underrepresented groups may feel marginalized or exploited. Tokenism may undermine the goals of DEI by creating superficial diversity that does not translate into meaningful change or equity. To avoid this, institutions must commit to creating inclusive environments where all individuals feel valued and empowered to contribute fully.

Furthermore, DEI programs can sometimes inadvertently reinforce stereotypes or create division among student populations. For example, emphasizing differences without promoting commonalities may lead to increased social fragmentation or feelings of isolation among certain groups. Educators must carefully balance the celebration of diversity with the promotion of unity and shared values to foster cohesive learning communities.

In summary, DEI initiatives in education offer numerous benefits, but these programs also face significant challenges. To maximize the positive impact of DEI efforts, educational institutions must commit to thoughtful, well-resourced, and inclusive implementation strategies that promote genuine equity and inclusion for all members.

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December 24, 2025
India and the world – co-creating the future of global education

For much of the past few decades, global higher education’s engagement with India followed a narrow script. India was the source of students; institutions elsewhere were the destination. Success was measured in enrolments and mobility flows.

That framing is no longer adequate – nor is it aligned with the scale of the challenges and opportunities now facing the world. The coming decade will be shaped by ageing populations, rapid technological disruption and the green transition, creating a global talent challenge. At this moment, India stands out as the world’s youngest and most dynamic talent nation – and by 2030, one in five global workers is projected to be Indian.

If global progress on artificial intelligence, climate and sustainability, healthcare, inclusive growth and productivity is to be meaningful, India and the world must work together – not through transactional pipelines, but through deeper collaboration between education, industry and governments.

India is not only a key driver of international student mobility; it is increasingly the talent engine of the world. Yet many international engagements with India remain fragmented. MoUs are signed without delivery pathways. Recruitment activity is often disconnected from research, innovation, skills and employability. What is missing is not ambition, but shared infrastructure: platforms that bring universities, domestic and international, together with policymakers, employers, innovators and students to design solutions – not just discuss them.

The next phase of global engagement with India will be defined by mutually beneficial, equitable co-creation

The next phase of global engagement with India will be defined by mutually beneficial, equitable co-creation.

This requires moving beyond “India as a market” to “India as a partner” – and engaging India as a federal ecosystem in which states are decisive actors in shaping education, research, industry collaboration and workforce strategy. Tamil Nadu exemplifies this shift.

Long recognised as India’s leading state for higher education, research and industry integration, Tamil Nadu is now advancing a next-generation model for global collaboration through Knowledge City – India’s first integrated global education district. Designed as a full ecosystem rather than a standalone campus, Knowledge City is planned as an 870-acre, purpose-built education, research and innovation district with universities and research at its core, co-located with industry clusters and supported by plug-and-play infrastructure for global institutions.

The significance is not branding; it is architecture. Knowledge City enables joint degrees, transnational education delivery, applied research hubs, innovation clusters and skills pathways that are inherently industry-aligned. It is designed to make academic–industry collaboration the default rather than the exception, and to convert education into workforce and innovation outcomes at scale.

This moment also demands a different kind of convening infrastructure. Not conferences as showcases, but platforms built to translate intent into execution – where governments, domestic and international universities, employers, innovators and student communities can align on priorities and progress. This includes structured engagement through B2B exhibitions, curated G2G, G2B and B2B dealrooms, and focused dialogues that enable partnerships to move from discussion to delivery.

For those holding responsibility across education, skills, talent and innovation – including ministers and policymakers; vice-chancellors and senior academics; international directors and employability leaders; CEOs, investors; innovators; global employers and talent platforms; testing and credentialing bodies, think tanks and foundations – this conversation is now critical to shaping the decade ahead.

The focus is not only internationalisation and transnational education – though those remain central. It also spans the domains where universities are now system actors: AI and future learning, climate and sustainability, healthcare, creative economies, diversity and inclusion, academic-industry collaboration, employability and entrepreneurship, and the role of universities in nation-building. These are not “themes”; they are national and global imperatives.

A delivery-oriented platform should therefore be judged by outcomes. The most serious convenings are those that build the partnerships and systems required for the decade ahead: aligning education with future skills and workforce demand; strengthening sustainable transnational education models; building ethical, student-centred mobility frameworks; developing global communities of practice; providing data and intelligence for decision-making; and co-creating Knowledge City as a living global education lab for research, education and innovation partnerships.

It is in this spirit that the inaugural India Global Education Summit (IGES) will take place on January 2026 28-29, co-organised by the government of Tamil Nadu and NISAU. The invitation is intentionally inclusive: to Indian institutions and stakeholders shaping India’s domestic education and skills future, and to international partners seeking equitable collaboration with India at scale.

Registration is complimentary for academic institutions and universities, ensuring broad participation across the global higher education community. For those shaping education, skills, talent and innovation strategies, this is an opportunity to move from conversation to co-creation.

Registration details are available at educationsummit.global.

About the author: Sanam Arora is founder and chair of NISAU (National Indian Students and Alumni Union UK) and convenor of the India Global Education Summit.

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December 19, 2025
The borderless world of music

Public performances

For the last 6-7 years, Salo has been out busking in public. What started as a suggestion from a friend quickly turned into a hobby and then a lifelong love for these public performances.

He prefers these public performances over performing in concert halls; it is here that he is “free in his choices,” both managing and directing every performance to his taste.

He can also talk to his audience on almost every performance. I often observed him chatting with nearby listeners and taking song requests every few minutes. Though his Korean is limited, it doesn’t stop him from connecting with Korean people of diverse backgrounds and ages. It also doesn’t stop him from researching Korean songs on the internet and curating a diverse but meaningful repertoire of all genres of music.

His mother still lives in Ukraine, a country at war with Russia. He knows that the situation there remains unstable but he believes in peace.

He has advice for young musicians wherever they live and whatever the conditions are around them. “No matter what, don’t stop,” he said.

Music creates community.

Music has been the compass of Salo’s life, and his love for it has kept him from ever putting the instrument down. It even led him to Korea, a country that he might have initially never imagined living in, where he says he will likely never leave.

“I found myself here,” he said.

And when asked what music means to him? He answered in two words: “My life.”

For me, meeting Salo, a Ukrainian violinist, was a pivotal moment. It can be easy to feel like an outsider in a new country, something that Salo acknowledged during the interview. Yet, when I saw his performance, I didn’t see any shyness in his musical expression. Rather, he passionately engaged with his music, playing songs that touched the hearts of everyone who was listening.

I, myself, often feel like a foreigner. While I may look Korean, I still feel the cultural disconnect that comes from growing up in a Western country. Yet, Salo’s performance created a space for me to chat with the nearby Korean listeners, even exchanging phone numbers with some people who I became closer to.

For the first time, I truly felt a sense of belonging to this country. Listening to Mr. Salo’s performance reminded me of the purpose of music: not to impress others, but to connect us beyond our divisions.

Questions to consider:

1. Why does Sergiy Salo perform for free when he can get paid for his performances?

2. How can music bring people together?

3. What music do you appreciate and who do you share that appreciation with?

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December 3, 2025
Importance of Media Training Students in Politically Charged World
With student-led campus protests on the rise and polarization intensifying on both sides of the political spectrum, the need to have students media ready is mounting. For example, in recent weeks students rallied across the U.S. because of the Trump administration’s assault on higher education; protests broke out at the University of California, Berkeley, during an event held by Turning Point USA; and students at the University of Florida protested the university’s deal with ICE. Since October 2023, U.S. colleges and universities have seen 3,700 protest days across 525 campuses, including more than 130 encampments. In fact, one in three college students have been involved in a protest.

As a PR professional, you can equip students on your campus with the skills and confidence to excel in interviews. Here are four reasons why you should invest the time and resources in media training your students.
1. It makes your life easier. When a reporter contacts you and asks for a student to weigh in on the news of the day or your institution’s latest initiative, you will have a pool of students to pick from at the ready rather than reaching out to deans or faculty to find a student and vet them that day.
While it will make your life easier in the long run, it does require you to put in the time up front. Meet students on their timelines. Most student group meetings are outside of class time, so it might mean you are attending a student government association meeting at 8 p.m. or doing a Zoom training with the College Democrats or Republicans on your lunch break.
1. It helps students and the community navigate crisis situations. With protests becoming regular occurrences on our campuses and in our communities, media training students will help them remain calm under pressure. When a reporter is looking for a comment, students won’t just say the first thing that pops into their mind. They will know how to get their key messages across to the audiences they are trying to reach.
It’s not just national and local media students need to respond to; student reporters are often the first to approach peers for quotes. All student newspapers are online, can be accessed by anyone and are an extension of your institution and its values. Engaging with student media isn’t just a learning opportunity—it shows how students will represent themselves, which in turn has a direct impact on the reputation of your institution.

Many students don’t know they can choose to not talk to the media or say no to interview requests. We’ve all seen the videos of reporters knocking on students’ doors and the students saying something unfavorable rather than just not opening the door in the first place, or of students having a microphone put in their face as they are walking to class to weigh in on a subject they don’t know about instead of saying, “I don’t know.” Media training can help students realize they have the option to respectfully decline interviews and interactions, which can help alleviate the pressure they might feel to respond in the moment.
1. Students build career-ready competencies. Whether it’s an internship or job interview, being able to succinctly articulate their points will help students for the rest of their lives. From public speaking to leadership roles to internships, media training gives students skills for their future.
We want our students to be able to weigh in on important issues, and media outlets are always looking for a student perspective. For example, my team was recently on campus for faculty and staff media and op-ed training when a professor asked if his students could sit in. Afterward, one student drafted an op-ed that she successfully placed. I’ve also provided op-ed writing training to seminar classes in which students learn the nuts and bolts of writing an op-ed and how to get published as an undergrad.
1. Name, image and likeness (NIL) has changed the game for student athletes. It takes students out of the arena and into the public eye where their reputation will be on the line. If you are at a larger school, some of your student athletes may have their own publicist, but if you are not at school where the NIL money is flowing, media training helps prepare student athletes for local commercials, being the face of the pizza shop down the street or even a postgame interview.
When a scandal occurs—a coach is fired, or student athletes are gambling or being hazed—you want students to know they can come to you for advice and guidance when reporters descend on campus.

Students are the most prominent ambassadors of your institution. Media training isn’t about making them a professional correspondent; it’s about making them feel prepared when they are in the spotlight. Whether they are engaging in a protest, talking with a peer reporter at the school newspaper or navigating a postgame interview, media training can serve them in the moment and long term. It’s worth your time to engage with your best spokespeople.

Cristal Steuer is associate vice president at TVP Communications, a national public relations and crisis communications agency solely focused on higher education.
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December 2, 2025
Ways to optimize college for real world experience
“Top Ways To Optimize College Education For

The Real World Work Environment”

There’s a tremendous amount of work—and sustained effort—that goes into guiding a high school student through graduation and into a great college or university. But once they arrive on campus at their dream school, students quickly learn that a whole new set of exciting (and often challenging) expectations awaits them.

One of the most important things we do as advisors is help families optimize their efforts—not just in high school, but throughout the college years as well. Preparing for a successful college experience and a rewarding career takes more than financial planning. It requires strategy, self-awareness, and an understanding of what truly matters over the next four years.

Because here’s the reality: getting into college is a big achievement, but it doesn’t mean much if a student becomes part of the roughly 32% of college freshmen who never complete their bachelor’s degree. And even among those who do graduate, many enter the workforce without the skills, direction, or experiences that make them competitive job candidates.

With this in mind, this month’s newsletter highlights several key steps students can take to make their college years meaningful preparation for life after graduation. Students who use these strategies early and intentionally can avoid the frustration far too many new graduates face—earning a diploma but struggling to find a rewarding job.

After reviewing this month’s newsletter, if you have questions about helping your student prepare for college—and everything that comes after—please reach out. We’re here to support both the academic and the financial pieces of the journey, and our guidance can strengthen your family’s planning for the exciting years ahead.

1) Begin With the End in Mind

Some students start college with a clear career path. Many do not. Both situations are perfectly normal—but students without a firm plan should use the early college years to explore interests, build strong academic habits, and open doors for future opportunities.

A smart first step is front-loading required courses. Knocking out general education classes early gives students more flexibility later—exactly when internships, major coursework, and professional opportunities start to emerge. It also helps them adjust to the academic rigor of college without the added pressure of advanced major-specific classes.

Students who enter college knowing their intended career path can benefit from the same approach. General education courses are unavoidable, but careful planning—often with the help of an advisor—can reveal classes that count toward both major and core requirements. This streamlines the path to graduation and keeps future options wide open.

2) Work With Good Academic Advisors

A good academic advisor is worth their weight in gold. Many colleges assign advisors simply by last name or department availability. While these advisors can help students understand which classes meet which requirements (and that’s important!), they aren’t always the best resource for career-specific guidance.

Most campuses also have specialty advising offices for competitive career tracks like medicine, law, engineering, or business. These advisors understand the nuances of graduate school applications, interviews, and prerequisite planning.

Outside of campus, professionals in a student’s field of interest can offer invaluable real-world insight. A strong advisor—whether found inside or outside the university—helps students understand not just what to study, but why it matters for their long-term goals.

The bottom line: students should actively seek accurate, timely, and career-aligned advice—not just settle for the first advisor they’re assigned.

3) Don’t Ignore the Value of a Minor

Majors get most of the attention, but minors can be incredibly useful. They require fewer courses, yet they still add depth and versatility to a student’s academic profile.

A minor can:
- highlight a secondary area of interest
- demonstrate broader skills
- add practical abilities (like a second language or computer programming)
- naturally emerge from completing certain prerequisites
For example, many pre-med students accidentally complete a chemistry minor simply by taking the courses required for medical school applications.

Minors also look great on résumés. They show commitment, intellectual curiosity, and a willingness to explore beyond the basics.

4) Diversify Your Options

We always encourage students to work hard toward their goals—but to stay open-minded, too. Success rarely follows a straight line. Career paths evolve, interests shift, and opportunities arise in unexpected places.

Students who diversify their plans—by exploring different fields, staying curious, and being open to new experiences—often discover opportunities they never knew existed. Flexibility, paired with ambition, is a powerful combination.

Encourage your student to aim high, stay engaged, and keep their eyes open. College is a time of tremendous discovery, and the students who embrace that mindset often enjoy the most rewarding outcomes.

Until next month,
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December 1, 2025
A partnership across the Atlantic to inform the world

Preety Sharma is a public health and development consultant currently based in Northern India, near the border with Nepal. She is also a News Decoder correspondent, one of dozens who came to News Decoder through a journalism fellowship at the Dalla Lana School of Public Health at the University of Toronto.

For more than five years, the University of Toronto and News Decoder have partnered to help train health professionals in journalism, with the goal of meeting this need: Too much disinformation in the world about important health issues and too much factual information presented to the public in articles that are difficult to read.

Under the program, mid-career professionals spend a year in journalism training at the University of Toronto and as part of the program, pitch stories to professional news organizations. But to get published, the articles must meet the strict standards of each news organization that accepts the story pitches.

To publish on News Decoder, for example, the stories must be written in way that is accessible to young people and to those who read English as a foreign language. This is challenging for many professional journalists. The stories must also have a global angle and show how the problems in the stories play out in different parts of the world.

Sharma’s first story for News Decoder was on how a relatively inexpensive food product made from algae could be the solution to ending world hunger. Another story she wrote, on the problem of plastics in children’s toys, became News Decoder’s most-read story of all time.

“My first couple of stories were with News Decoder,” Sharma said. “I am glad to have had an opportunity to share it with a diverse and young audience globally.”

Sharma is now a News Decoder correspondent, someone who writes periodically for the site.

Bringing specialized knowledge to journalism

Marcy Burstiner, News Decoder’s educational news director, has worked with Sharma on all her stories and thinks the Dalla Lana program and its partnership with News Decoder is unique and important. “When I taught university journalism, I often told science majors that they should consider going into journalism,” she said. “There are a thousand medical publications but they are not written with a general audience in mind and meanwhile most journalists lack the specialized knowledge to really understand and put into context what is happening in medicine and the hard sciences.”

For News Decoder, this problem is particularly important, she said. “Health and science are two subjects that young people are hungry for information on and that’s our target audience,” Burstiner said. “But, because so much of the information is dense, they turn to sites on the internet that present pseudo science and they can’t tell the difference.”

Sharma agrees. “In the age of fake news and social media information explosion, it is crucial to have a credible and trusted media outlet that can present complex issues, ideas and concepts to youth in a simple and educational style,” she said.

News Decoder Founder Nelson Graves said that the partnership between the University of Toronto and News Decoder was a win-win proposition from the start. “Fellows at the Dalla Lana School of Public Health have a chance to publish stories examining some of the world’s most pressing issues on our global platform,” he said. “They benefit from editing by journalists with deep international experience.”

The students in News Decoder’s global community and readers around the globe also benefit from the fellows’ reporting and insights, he said and that helps to maintain News Decoder’s breadth and depth.

“News Decoder’s association with the University of Toronto encapsulates our nonprofit’s commitment to global citizenship and to fostering connections across borders and between generations,” Graves said.

Connecting with young people

Correspondent Norma Hilton also came to News Decoder through the University of Toronto’s fellowship in global journalism. Her first story was on K-Pop and social media influencers, a topic that’s important to News Decoder’s teen audience. Hilton said it was a great learning experience. “I’d never really written for a youth audience or taken more of an education angle to my stories before,” she said. “So, it was great to understand what young people want to hear about and write for them.”

Hilton is also one of many University of Toronto fellows who have not only written stories for News Decoder, but become an integral part of the News Decoder team. She participated in workshops and cross-border roundtables with students and produced articles and videos that serve as journalism tutorials on such things as how to cover events, how to fact-check articles and how to cover traumatic situations.

“I’ve never really thought I’d be on a panel of any kind, but being able to talk about my journalism experience and hopefully help younger people be interested in journalism and its power, has been the honour of a lifetime,” Hilton said.

News Decoder Managing Director Maria Krasinski argued that the partnership with the University of Toronto is unique. “Neither of our organisations is a traditional journalism school,” she said. “Rather, we both recognize that learning journalism skills helps people, no matter their discipline or profession, communicate clearly and with impact.”

She said that, for the students News Decoder works with, journalism is an entry point, a way to take action and engage with the issues affecting their communities and participate meaningfully in civic dialogue. “Young people discover that journalism isn’t just writing stories, it’s about learning to question, to listen and to make sense of the world,” she said.

For the University of Toronto fellows, meanwhile, the journalism fellowship adds a powerful new skill to their already impressive toolkits. “It helps them translate their knowledge and expertise into stories that resonate beyond academic and industry circles,” Krasinski said. “Many of the fellows stay connected to News Decoder well after their fellowship ends. They are based all over the world and bring a diversity of perspectives and experience that enriches our news platform.”

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November 27, 2025