This week, Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced that schools and colleges in England will remain closed until 8th March ‘at the earliest’, an announcement which dwindles any hope of face-to-face teaching resuming for at least the next five weeks. The extended closure overthrows the initial plan to return after February half-term, which was thwarted by a surge in COVID-19 infection rates and queries over the … Continue reading The Big Question 5: Can Online Teaching Ever Replicate Face -to-Face Teaching?

Being productive can be difficult at the best of times. Add in a lack of motivation because of a series of lockdowns, and suddenly even the thought of doing any academic work feels overwhelming. In this week’s Big Question, I wanted to talk about the topic of productivity (specifically in academics) and the ways in which you can increase it. I’ve compiled a list of … Continue reading The Big Question 4: How Can We Be More Productive? Ten Tips To Boost Your Academic Productivity

Fake news has always existed alongside the presence of truthful news. Wherever there is honest, factual and accurate news, there will be an ugly attempted replication of that. The term ‘fake news’ has become a buzzword over the last few years. As the name suggests, fake news refers to misleading information which is believed to be truthful news. Essentially, there are two forms of fake … Continue reading The Big Question 3: What is fake news? How can we recognise it? And why should we care about it?

As we enter the tenth day of 2021, we are all slowly adjusting to the idea of the ‘New Year’. Festivities are wearing off, Christmas decorations have been packed up and stuffed into the attic; a sense of normality begins to resume after the past hectic few weeks.  As part of your New Year’s routine, you might have made a list of resolutions. For me, … Continue reading The Big Question 2 – Are New Year’s Resolutions Really Necessary?

No matter where or when you are reading this, COVID-19 has impacted each one of us in many different ways. My hope in writing this blog post is to provide an idea of what life could be like in 2021 amidst a global pandemic. Nobody can say with any certainty how the next year will progress. However, through looking at the global progress that has … Continue reading The Big Question 1: Amidst a global pandemic, what will life look like in 2021?