HOW ONLINE TEACHING HAS ALREADY CHANGED COURSES AT 4 TOP UNIVERSITIES

In 2018, long before Covid-19 broke out (or so it seems), the Hong Kong government brought together four of the city's top 5 universities in an initiative called Responsive4U to share teaching by offering select courses to each other's students. These courses comprise both in-person and online classes from across the partnered institutions. Combining specialisms and opening up cross-institutional courses to students from all four universities offers the opportunity to experience different working styles and collaborate with other students.

It has also made the transition to online learning easier for these universities. Both staff and students were used to delivery of classes online and incorporating technology into the course structure. With online teaching now a necessity, the logistics can no longer be a block to the provision of teaching for Higher Education Institutions.

The Responsive4U programme may demand additional time and resources from staff, but this is familiar territory for UK universities given the trend in student expectations over recent years. Not only is it attractive to prospective students as a learning experience, but it means they don't have to choose between course content and culture, environment or location. It also has the potential to build up a wider skillset needed in the workplace and broaden students' horizons.

The initiative's project leader has called it “a stress test for genuine collaboration between institutions”, but it appears to be working so far. This model could achieve success in the UK. The ideas and values behind Responsive4U already underpin collaborations such as the N8 Research Partnership. It may go one step further, but it's not a huge leap.

And why stop there? We might see international collaborations before long. Many UK universities have strong links with foreign counterparts and developing these relationships may bring a competitive edge. International competition is only going to increase if students can do more from home.

In Hong Kong, this project currently relies on government funding (administered by the University Grants Committee), which is increasing for Responsive4U – contrary to the global trend of cuts to Higher Education. But pooling resources might avoid hiring new lecturers and if it's an easy sell to students, it could prove to be profitable.