higher education

French student Manuela Constantini is one of the newest members of the ForeignStudents.com writing team. Here she gives a view of her life studying for a degree in Communication Studies at the University of East London.

"I have been observing and analyzing people from my university since last September when I first moved in. It was love at first sight as I was simply amazed by the view from my kitchen window, as I could see the planes taking off and landing from a distance. Planes from London City airport and the DLR did not sound so noisy back then. Maybe I was way too excited to learn in a new environment, explore the city and make new friends.

I moved in to university halls mainly because it was close to my gym, and close to the uni library open 24/7. Other than that, it is in the middle of nowhere, and the simple thought of going food shopping or central is painful. Food shopping is not even a necessity when I compare French food to English food. I don't get the beans on toast concept? No offence. Oh and please do not assume that French food revolves around frog legs and snails. Although my world revolves around French baguettes and pastries.

In one of the more bizarre stories of the year, student organisers of a black-tie ball at Oxford University have been banned from displaying a living shark as entertainment. The students at Somerville College had planned to make the animal the centre piece of their end of year party only to be told by the principal last week that it would not be allowed.

It all started in January when posters started appearing around the college advertising the May 4th ball. At £110 per ticket, it was billed as "one night of decadence, debauchery and indulgence". However, the really intriguing part came from the poster below.

A new survey by Times Higher Education has asked more than 12,000 undergraduate students how happy they are at their university. The results reveal a top 10 UK universities that offer their students the best experience in terms of lectures, staff, social life and accommodation.

The University of East Anglia (UEA- pictured above) came out in the coveted top spot, ahead of traditionally more prestigious universities like Oxford and Cambridge. UEA's vice-chancellor Prof Nigel Norris was not surprised by the results, saying:

"Our commitment to providing a gold-plated student experience is long-standing and ingrained. This latest endorsement has been made possible only by the hard work and creativity of our academics, support staff and, of course, the students themselves who never cease to inspire us."

London Metropolitan University's international student licence was reinstated this week, allowing them to once again recruit overseas students. The decision from the Home Office comes nine months after the university were initially punished by UKBA for allegedly not meeting its responsibilities.

The university has fought the decision ever since it was first made, and after a number of inspections over the last 6 months the government is now happy that the university meets the required standard. Interestingly, the Home Office have moved to revoke the decision just a matter a weeks after it was announced that UKBA was being disbanded and replaced.

The university will once again be allowed to sponsor Tier 4 visas for international students, meaning that new students can join and the current non-EU students will be able to complete their courses.

However, London Met is now face a 12-month probation period to prove their suitability, during which time the number of international students they are allowed to recruit will be limited.

During the announcement, Immigration Minister Mark Harper said:

The digital revolution has led to many societal and cultural changes. Nowadays people tend to use electronic technologies anywhere and anytime. University students take notes on their laptops and on their iPads or tablets, they do research on the web library because the internet is a huge database without limitations, and also a time saver.

More and more websites are opening free online classes called MOOCs (Massive Online Open Courses), which attract students massively. With web sites offering students the possibility to learn online, their popularity questions the future of higher education. Is this the future of higher education?

The Benefits of Online Courses

Every semester students have to register for their modules, hence everyone goes through the module descriptions and requirements to choose subjects of their interest. No one wants to pay for a module that won't interest them much, as they won't put much effort into it.