In our 🌍Perspectives Forum session on Tuesday 6 January, we discussed how we support our students in changing educational landscapes.

What Three Words

To start, we shared three words to describe what students bring (or brought) to class, the ten minutes before a class starts, and typical teaching materials — considering each when we were students, when we first started teaching, and now. Contributions such as “blackboard, whiteboard, screen” and “chitchat, chitchat, silence” really brought the conversation to life. They highlighted how much has changed in the tools we use, the pace of our classes, and even the way students interact.

Societal change

We used these as a launchpad to consider the social changes they represent and how they impact our teaching. The breadth and complexity of changes came through in discussion. One striking example was the change in social and spatial relationships was one area that it was felt could at times lead to a greater sense of connectivity, and at times greater isolation. We also explored how faster-paced learning, digital abundance, and new study habits intersect with tools like recording, translation, and AI, all of which are reshaping engagement and the depth of learning.

Pedagogic implications

Colleagues from different universities noted a clear trend: adding more speaking activities to keep students engaged and counter what feels like growing passivity. The conversation also touched on spontaneous communication, assessment approaches, and the evolving role of AI in language learning and STEM contexts.

Just One Thing

We closed by asking, what is one thing you could do (or are doing) to deliver teaching that is mindful of the social context?

Whether or not you were able to join us at the session on 6 January or not, we would love to hear what you are doing – please post a comment below.

Laura Duncan, L.J.Duncan@soton.ac.uk, is Senior Teaching Fellow at the University of Southampton and co-founder of this STEM SIG.

💬 Join the conversation

What is one thing you could do (or are already doing) to make your teaching more mindful of the wider social context? Please leave a comment.