Digital education reading group: January 2026
In our first meeting of 2026 we are delighted to welcome Huw Morgan Jones and Leanne Benford from the Surveys and Student Voice team as our session leads. Huw and Leanne will draw on their work with our international student body, alongside findings from a major Jisc research project involving UK universities, including UoL. Together, they will help us engage with student and staff perspectives drawn from nearly 5,000 transnational students and over 400 staff across more than 30 countries.
This session explores some of the potential barriers to delivering digital equity in transnational education. Using the research as a starting point, we will examine how transnational students experience digitally mediated education in practice, and how factors such as connectivity, cost, platform access, cultural expectations and assumptions about independent learning shape those experiences.
The session invites us to reflect critically on how digital education is designed and supported, whose voices are heard in institutional decision-making, and what practical changes could make online education more equitable for learners studying in diverse global contexts.
Reading
Newman, T. and Newall, E. (2025) Global education and technology: insights into transnational student and staff digital experiences. Jisc
This report from Jisc foregrounds lived experiences to challenge assumptions about universal access, highlighting how digital systems, policies and pedagogies designed in one context can play out very differently elsewhere. It offers practical insights to help institutions rethink how digital education is designed, supported and evaluated in transnational settings.
For discussion
1. What aspects of the research findings especially resonate with you?
Which findings did you find most striking or uncomfortable, and what assumptions or norms do they encourage us to re-examine?
2. Where might our current digital practices unintentionally disadvantage transnational learners?
Thinking about platforms, assessment, learning materials, communication and support, which aspects of digital provision are most likely to create friction, cost or exclusion for students in different regions or modes of study?
3. How can student voice and feedback be used more meaningfully to improve transnational digital education?
What would it take to move from collecting feedback to acting on it in ways that are visible and credible to transnational students, and how might this shape design, policy or institutional priorities?
We’re looking forward to the conversation. Let us know if you have any questions or need help accessing the materials.
Huw and Leanne
List of topics discussed at previous meetings
Photo by Mario Verduzco on Unsplash
