The 'Blended Teaching' paradigm

Cristin Thomas submitted on

Wednesday 25th November 2020

Complete

Good evening!
 
Hope you're doing well. I had an issue I was hoping to discuss with you.   
 
The year 2020 has been hard on all of us. As international students, we were all extremely insecure in travelling to the UK during the pandemic. A major issue being going all the way to the UK just to be subjected to online teaching.  It was during this time of insecurity that we were introduced to the concept of 'blended learning' with assurances of up to 50% of teaching being FTF.  For eg: In my case, I initially had 2 modules to be held FTF with DEMO6020 being one of them. It was only later when the module actually started (3 weeks into the start of the semester), that we were informed of the true reality. The module was to be taken online with one final week of FTF teaching. That idea has also since been discarded. Currently in our course, we just have one FTF class once every 2 weeks. Sadly, this is a priviledge that some courses don't even have.  
 
I understand that these are unprecedented times, and we must adapt for our own protection. As a Global Health student, I completely agree to this. What I would like to ask is why is this not reflected on our fees as well. I don't understand as to why we are paying the full amount for a complete online learning model. This is even more problematic for international students who pay twice the normal amount. 
 
We are currently paying full price for facilities that we don't even have access to. This rings true even for the accommodation fees as well. As a student, I don't think that I am being unreasonable in raising this issue. 
 
As part student's union formed to protect the rights of the students, I was wondering whether this is something that you are disturbed with as well.  Are there any actions being taken from the UoS union council? Or plans for any? I understand that Uni of Glasgow and Manchester are currently raising this issue quite strongly.  

Answers

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Avila Chidume submitted on

Friday 22nd January 2021

Complete

Dear Cristin,

Thank you for your submission. 

The impact COVID has had on International students has been felt throughout our community and SUSU are working on addressing it, and lobbying the University to provide additional support to you all. With regards to fees and accomodation we have currently discussing these issues with the University and external bodies. Unfortunately, these are unprecedented times and a lot of decisions are determined by the Government and external policies. However, SUSU are committed to supporting its student body, working hard to ensure that your voice is heard and discussions are being had regarding these issues raised.

If you wish to discuss anything further please do not hesitate to contact me: vpeddem@soton.ac.uk

Kind Regards,

Avila