Tim Blackman
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Articles by Tim Blackman
Why we should continue to measure ‘grade inflation’ – but ask different questions about it - HEPI
This HEPI blog was kindly authored by Tim Blackman, Vice-Chancellor of The Open University (@TimJBlackman). He writes in a personal capacity. If education is about growth as a person, as it surely must be, then the worst message we can send a student is that because this is what you achieved in the past, that is what we expect you to achieve in the future. In an interview some years ago I heard educationalist John Hattie comment on how students learn their place in class.
Which manifesto will unlock the potential of England's Lifelong Learning Entitlement?
This HEPI blog was kindly authored by Tim Blackman, Vice Chancellor of the Open University. Tony Blair’s commitment that his Labour government would achieve 50 per cent participation in higher education was made in 1999, although the participation rate did not start rising substantially until the coalition government of the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats ended England’s student number controls in 2013.
A skeleton bill is no way to determine funding policy
Today, the starting pistol is fired on the biggest change to higher education funding since 2012. The innocuous-sounding Lifelong Learning (Higher Education Fee Limits) Bill is a short, technical, instrument with almost no policy in it. That we are going to see a Second Reading debate in the House of Commons (that’s the one that is supposed to cover the main principles of the bill) on a skeleton bill.
How could we test the attractiveness of the lifelong loan entitlement?
As the leader of a university established to promote flexible lifelong learning for the past 20 years, I’ve long argued the case for better support for it. I’ve met many education secretaries, university ministers and party leaders who have agreed how important it is for the individuals who chose to continue to learn, for social mobility, and for the economy. Yet over those 20 years, very few if any government policies have supported lifelong learning.
Credit where credit is due
The sector has long awaited detail on how the Lifelong Loan Entitlement (LLE) would work in practice to support the Government’s vision for lifelong learning.
Isle of Wight musician's first album sold so badly, he's released another three
Tim shares news of his latest album releases, available on over 20 audio streaming sites. In his own words. Ed First album release had hardly any sales two years ago, so now Isle of Wight composer has released another three … Huh?
Here is a 7-point checklist to make sure the impending FE White Paper doesn’t fail
We have both spent our careers working in education and training – from primary schools to PhD researchers – and there is no doubt that the Covid crisis is the biggest shock to education we have ever seen. Both our organisations are also leading providers of high-quality courses that use technology to enable flexibility for learners. Because of Covid, never has this flexibility been more important.
Collective Optimism: A great foundation for a tertiary education system fit for the twenty-first century
Further Education News The FE News Channel gives you the latest education news and updates on emerging education strategies and the #FutureofEducation and the #FutureofWork. Providing trustworthy and positive Further Education news and views since 2003, we are a digital news channel with a mixture of written word articles, podcasts and videos.
Businesses set back 18 months by pandemic
Contributor: Professor Tim Blackman, Vice Chancellor - The Open University | Published: 5 July 2020 Professor Tim Blackman, Vice Chancellor - The Open University 6 July 2020 UK organisations anticipate that it will take 18 months to fully recover from the disruption of the coronavirus pandemic and subsequent social distancing measures, with small businesses leading the way back to “normal”.
Search for youth
Covid-19 provides a chance to promote The Open University to young people, says Tim Blackman The Open University, which turns 51 this year, has grown to be the largest university in the UK, with more than 160,000 students around the world studying remotely at home or at work.
Five million left without right skills after COVID-19
Contributor: Professor Tim Blackman, Vice Chancellor - The Open University | Published: 25 May 2020 Professor Tim Blackman, Vice Chancellor - The Open University 25 May 2020 Covid-19 is expected to significantly change the skills required for as many as 5 million job roles across the UK, driving a surge in employees seeking out distance learning opportunities, according to The Open University.
A welcome argument, but only half of the argument
A response by Professor Tim Blackman, Vice-Chancellor of The Open University, to Lee Elliot Major’s Social mobility and elite universities. Lee Elliott Major’s note Social mobility and elite universities makes a series of important recommendations, many of which are a welcome step forward in the debate about how to create more diversity in all our universities.
Augar is a disappointment for higher education
The Augar report is a disappointment. It contains many sensible reforms – some quite radical, such as new entitlements to free level two and three learning, increasing teaching grants to allow fees to be reduced, and replacing loans for studying qualifications with loans for studying module-by-module. But the report is technocratic rather than visionary. Augar navigates awkwardly between the pros and cons of planning or market forces as the drivers of tertiary education.
Degrees of inequality
A guest blog kindly contributed by Tim Blackman, Vice-Chancellor, Middlesex University Degree classification and inequalities in higher education are the focus of two recent Office for Students reports and regulations. Both these issues are informed by statistical analyses by the OfS that make much of ‘unexplained variation’. However, very different approaches are taken depending on the issue.
Driving innovation
Higher education is booming as governments across the world fuel their knowledge economies with skilled graduates. India is no exception. However, like many other countries, India has a shortage of places and a mismatch between graduate skills and what is needed to power economic growth and jobs creation. Foreign universities have a role to play in meeting these challenges, but they must help raise quality as well.
If we are serious about social mobility then degree apprenticeships are essential
While apprenticeship starts generally are falling, degree apprenticeships are bucking the trend. But numbers are still very small compared with other apprenticeships, and they have a long way to go before having the transformational effect on skills and social mobility that conventional degree courses have had in the UK. So why are we enthusiasts for degree apprenticeships?
New research suggests levels of independent study are more important than contact hours in determining how much students learn - HEPI
In What affects how much students learn? (HEPI Policy Note 5), Professor Tim Blackman, the Vice-Chancellor of Middlesex University, undertakes new analysis of the annual Student Academic Experience Survey and shows students’ self-reported learning gain depends upon: Professor Tim Blackman, the author of the Policy Note, said: The Student Academic Experience Survey is a rich source of data on what matters to student learning in higher education.
The impact of early dementia on outdoor life
This article reports the voices of 22 people with early to moderate dementia and their carers about the use of the outdoor environment. Analysis of semi-structured interviews demonstrates that people with early dementia value the outdoor environment for reasons such as exercise, fresh air, emotional well-being, the opportunity for informal encounters with neighbours and friends and the appreciation of the countryside. Conversely, not being able to go out was associated with feelings of depression.
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