It is a cliche that crises create opportunities. But they certainly demand innovation (and a lot of hard work). In Oxford Mathematics, in line with many others departments and universities, we have had to switch from in-person teaching to online in most cases. This has been 100% the case in terms of undergraduate lectures which normally take place in large lecture theatres where a whiteboard, a marker pen (or two or three) and a mathematician take centre stage.

However, the online world is a much more varied place. Lectures tend to be shorter (though the courses are the same length), some lecturers write as they go using tablets while some use pre-prepared slides. Some are in shot, some are not. However, as you can see from the image above and the lecture below, some lecturers, in this case André Henriques (and also Artur Ekert in other lectures), are trying different approaches, taking advantage of latest technologies. The lightboard is not new, but this might be its teaching moment.

Then again, the important thing is that the teaching is up to scratch. You can judge for yourself via the lecture below. You can also watch a range of student lectures on our YouTube channel as we show what we do and the increasing variety of ways we do it.

Posted on 3 Apr 2021, 3:26pm. Please contact us with feedback and comments about this page.