This blog was written by IGHI Teaching Fellow, Julien le Jeune d’Allegeershecque. It features reflections on wellbeing, belonging and flexibility in online learning from Julien and Dunya Al‑Hayali, a MSc Health Policy student.
More and more students are opting for online postgraduate taught (PGT) programmes. It allows people from diverse cultural, linguistic and professional backgrounds to balance study with work and caring commitments. Although flexible and convenient, the online environment doesn’t have in-person contact and it can present unfamiliar institutional norms. This can affect students’ confidence, engagement and academic outcomes.
In a recent presentation for Imperial’s Students’ Voice initiative, chaired by Monica Tolocica from the Imperial Institute of Lifelong Learning, Dunya and I explored the challenges of online education.