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Neil Mosley

@neilmosley.bsky.social

Independent higher education consultant for online learning. Fellow at the Centre for Online and Distance Education, University of London.

268 Posts863 Follower850 Folgt
Neil Mosley@neilmosley.bsky.social · yesterday

"being “data-driven”. Sounds good, doesn’t it? And it’s almost certainly better than being “vibes-based”. But being data-driven can often mean something quite specific and narrow, and the impact of this is a high level of convergence." www.neilmosley.com/blog/is-data...

Is data narrowing how universities think about course portfolios? — Neil Mosley Consulting

A critical look at how data-driven course selection can narrow university course portfolios, encourage convergence and overlook what the numbers leave out.

neilmosley.com

Neil Mosley@neilmosley.bsky.social · 2d ago

"This approach would potentially put a greater emphasis on the learning process and create conditions for educators to think about what would be good for students to do, experience and be exposed to...and courses could be imbued with more of a metacognitive ethos." buff.ly/EhBM1rQ

Three unconventional responses to the AI assessment challenge in higher education — Neil Mosley Consulting

Three counterintuitive ideas for responding to the AI assessment challenge in higher education, from two-tier degrees to experience-only degrees and collective visibility in assessment.

buff.ly

Neil Mosley@neilmosley.bsky.social · 6d ago

"If I had to pick one interesting development over this quarter, it would be the reporting from the Open University on what seems like growing interest in online undergraduate study from a school-leaver-age audience." www.neilmosley.com/blog/2026-q3...

2026 Q3 Review: Online learning developments in UK higher education — Neil Mosley Consulting

A review of online learning in UK higher education in Q3 2026, covering edtech developments, university partnerships, online degrees and emerging trends.

neilmosley.com

Neil Mosley@neilmosley.bsky.social · last mo.

"if, as we are repeatedly told, UK higher education is high-quality and our universities are some of the best in the world, why are some acting like they’re trying to shift as many flat-screen TVs as they can on Black Friday?" www.neilmosley.com/blog/online-...

Online degrees, pricing and the pursuit of scale — Neil Mosley Consulting

An analysis of online degree pricing, scale and value in UK higher education, including the role of OPM partnerships and financial sustainability.

neilmosley.com

Neil Mosley@neilmosley.bsky.social · last mo.

"for OPMs to continue to be valuable partners long into the future, they need to offer more than a standard set of capabilities that universities have historically lacked. Or, to put it another way, some new thinking and creativity is required." www.neilmosley.com/blog/why-are...

Why are more university OPM partnerships ending early? — Neil Mosley Consulting

The growing number of ended OPM partnerships raises questions about company performance, financial sustainability, university decision-making and the long-term future of online education partnerships.

neilmosley.com

Neil Mosley@neilmosley.bsky.social · last mo.

"One of the problematic elements of discounting or pricing things too low is that it can, over time, become an expensive mistake. Too often, it is driven by desperation rather than strategy, or by a fetishisation of “scale”." buff.ly/ibYya5p

Online degrees, pricing and the pursuit of scale — Neil Mosley Consulting

An analysis of online degree pricing, scale and value in UK higher education, including the role of OPM partnerships and financial sustainability.

buff.ly

Neil Mosley@neilmosley.bsky.social · 2mo ago

Nice to be quoted alongside others on the takeover of Lincoln Bishop University by GUS. For what it's worth, I predict we’ll see a very different institution develop over time, driven by an orthodoxy, that seems to have permeated UK HE at the moment.... www.timeshighereducation.com/news/lincoln...

Lincoln Bishop private takeover ‘sign of an unhealthy system’

University told to show it can balance new commercial pressures with retaining its academic ethos to prove new model is ‘credible’

timeshighereducation.com

Neil Mosley@neilmosley.bsky.social · 2mo ago

"There is a subtle but very important difference between a strategy that only seeks to reach new audiences through a lifelong learning offer and one focused on deepening relationships with existing & past students and serving them over their lifetimes." buff.ly/uHSjyd4

Is the sector developing a blindspot in its lifelong learning strategies? — Neil Mosley Consulting

An analysis of lifelong learning strategies in UK higher education, exploring whether universities are too focussed on new student recruitment over building long-term loyalty and encouraging learners…

buff.ly

Neil Mosley@neilmosley.bsky.social · 2mo ago

This is a significant turn of events, especially given Turnitin’s dominance in UK higher education and the lack of alternatives, which in my opinion has been fundamentally unhealthy for the sector. www.timeshighereducation.com/news/southam...

Southampton dumps Turnitin over use of students’ work to train AI

Academic integrity giant denies accusations as university declines to renew contract in favour of ‘other options’

timeshighereducation.com

Neil Mosley@neilmosley.bsky.social · 2mo ago

"One of the biggest question marks people place over the LLE is demand. But it is impossible to prove demand in advance for something that does not currently exist in any meaningful or widespread way." buff.ly/44L01p6

Will the LLE become an opportunity universities fail to pursue? — Neil Mosley Consulting

Are universities at risk of missing the opportunities of the LLE? This article examines demand, credit transfer, online learning and growth in a challenging sector.

buff.ly

Neil Mosley@neilmosley.bsky.social · 2mo ago

"if universities really want to signal that they are supporting people with career-focused study motivations, they could do a lot worse than seek to develop more flexible and accessible forms of study, such as online learning" www.neilmosley.com/blog/2026-q2...

2026 Q2 Review: Online learning developments in UK higher education — Neil Mosley Consulting

A quarterly review of UK online higher education, covering the Canvas hack, edX leadership changes, OPM partnerships, short courses, microcredentials and new online degrees.

neilmosley.com

Neil Mosley@neilmosley.bsky.social · 2mo ago

"There are fundamental differences between the audience most universities are set up to serve and an online student audience. As a result, operations that are geared towards on-campus undergraduates - are often not well aligned to a different audience." buff.ly/xQrqH5f

Separate or embedded? Strategic choices for universities in online education — Neil Mosley Consulting

Universities face key decisions in developing online education, from whether to set up a dedicated online arm and brand to how to align operations for a different student audience.

buff.ly

Neil Mosley@neilmosley.bsky.social · 2mo ago

"Only a small number of partnerships have lasted over five years, and more have ended before that milestone. Given that these partnerships are typically entered into as long-term relationships, this is a pattern that is worth examining in more detail." www.neilmosley.com/blog/why-are...

Why are more university OPM partnerships ending early? — Neil Mosley Consulting

The growing number of ended OPM partnerships raises questions about company performance, financial sustainability, university decision-making and the long-term future of online education partnerships.

neilmosley.com

Neil Mosley@neilmosley.bsky.social · 2mo ago

"This approach would potentially put a greater emphasis on the learning process and create conditions for educators to think about what would be good for students to do, experience and be exposed to...and courses could be imbued with more of a metacognitive ethos." www.neilmosley.com/blog/three-u...

Three unconventional responses to the AI assessment challenge in higher education — Neil Mosley Consulting

Three counterintuitive ideas for responding to the AI assessment challenge in higher education, from two-tier degrees to experience-only degrees and collective visibility in assessment.

neilmosley.com

Neil Mosley@neilmosley.bsky.social · 3mo ago

"The idea of a split undergraduate degree, with clearly defined, fully online modules requiring no campus attendance and others that do, may also face challenges when it comes into contact with the sector’s current understanding of “blended learning”."

Is it time for the UK to develop split-mode undergraduate degrees? — Neil Mosley Consulting

A look at why online undergraduate education has developed so differently in the US and UK, and whether it’s time for UK universities to explore split-mode degrees.

buff.ly

Neil Mosley@neilmosley.bsky.social · 3mo ago

"A £1,500 online microcredential, a live online evening-based course and reasonably priced microcourses, highlight the sheer variety of products within the short course landscape and the range of approaches being taken by universities."

2026 Q2 Review: Online learning developments in UK higher education — Neil Mosley Consulting

A quarterly review of UK online higher education, covering the Canvas hack, edX leadership changes, OPM partnerships, short courses, microcredentials and new online degrees.

buff.ly

Neil Mosley@neilmosley.bsky.social · 3mo ago

"The current doctrine of being robust in course identification and selection is through being “data-driven”. But the related issue is when this approach becomes orthodoxy and is cross-fertilised, everyone begins to do the same thing."

Is data narrowing how universities think about course portfolios? — Neil Mosley Consulting

A critical look at how data-driven course selection can narrow university course portfolios, encourage convergence and overlook what the numbers leave out.

buff.ly

Neil Mosley@neilmosley.bsky.social · 3mo ago

"While trying to ensure that degrees support students’ future career aspirations is clearly an important aim, I worry that UK HE is at risk of employability theatre, developing initiatives that are either impractical or sound good but deliver little."

2026 Q2 Review: Online learning developments in UK higher education — Neil Mosley Consulting

A quarterly review of UK online higher education, covering the Canvas hack, edX leadership changes, OPM partnerships, short courses, microcredentials and new online degrees.

buff.ly

Neil Mosley@neilmosley.bsky.social · 3mo ago

"Twhere there is choice, there is competition, and competition is only growing in online education. The necessity of having a smart strategy that enables universities to build sustainable cohorts of online students is becoming ever more important "

Are marketing orthodoxies limiting online student recruitment? — Neil Mosley Consulting

An analysis of online course marketing, performance marketing dominance, OPM models, and why universities may need more differentiated recruitment strategies.

neilmosley.com

Neil Mosley@neilmosley.bsky.social · 3mo ago

"Lifelong learning presents an opportunity for loyalisation, not simply diversification, and notably the former involves engaging with those you already know, including existing students, alumni and other stakeholders who have engaged with the university before."

Is the sector developing a blindspot in its lifelong learning strategies? — Neil Mosley Consulting

An analysis of lifelong learning strategies in UK higher education, exploring whether universities are too focussed on new student recruitment over building long-term loyalty and encouraging learners…

neilmosley.com

Jerome Hodos@jhodos.bsky.social · 3mo ago

This is a wonderful think-piece. It explores novel possibilities before we get locked into less-than-ideal pathways. Tbh, the 2-tiered option is already consistent with pre-existing tendencies in the US system; for-profit schools, for example, are already considered a kind of second-tier degree.

Neil Mosley@neilmosley.bsky.social · 3mo ago

"In the past few years, the same things come up, such as the need to move to viva-style or in-person assessment, or authentic assessment..so far higher education has few genuine answers to the challenges that generative AI has presented."

Thomas J. Tobin@thomasjtobin.bsky.social · 3mo ago

Few folks work through the possibilities of big topics—incuding the far-flung or less likely ones—like @neilmosley.bsky.social. Definitely worth 10 minutes of your reading time on #AI in higher ed. Let us know your thoughts and reactions, too!

Neil Mosley@neilmosley.bsky.social · 3mo ago

"In the past few years, the same things come up, such as the need to move to viva-style or in-person assessment, or authentic assessment..so far higher education has few genuine answers to the challenges that generative AI has presented."

Neil Mosley@neilmosley.bsky.social · 3mo ago

"In the past few years, the same things come up, such as the need to move to viva-style or in-person assessment, or authentic assessment..so far higher education has few genuine answers to the challenges that generative AI has presented."

Three unconventional responses to the AI assessment challenge in higher education — Neil Mosley Consulting

Three counterintuitive ideas for responding to the AI assessment challenge in higher education, from two-tier degrees to experience-only degrees and collective visibility in assessment.

neilmosley.com

Neil Mosley@neilmosley.bsky.social · 3mo ago

"There are advantages to committing to online provision as a long-term business-as-usual strategy, and there is evidence that points to this amongst universities that have done that."

Why are more university OPM partnerships ending early? — Neil Mosley Consulting

The growing number of ended OPM partnerships raises questions about company performance, financial sustainability, university decision-making and the long-term future of online education partnerships.

neilmosley.com

Neil Mosley@neilmosley.bsky.social · 3mo ago

"we have to properly understand the limitations of data, and how our human biases and nature can lead us to think too much of it, and to norm it as a singular robust method because it’s numerical and comes with some nice charts."

Is data narrowing how universities think about course portfolios? — Neil Mosley Consulting

A critical look at how data-driven course selection can narrow university course portfolios, encourage convergence and overlook what the numbers leave out.

neilmosley.com

Neil Mosley@neilmosley.bsky.social · 3mo ago

"When challenges arrive, sometimes it is helpful to generate more radical solutions that are less fettered by day-to-day realities, on a journey towards coming up with plausible, realistic and desirable solutions and options."

Three unconventional responses to the AI assessment challenge in higher education — Neil Mosley Consulting

Three counterintuitive ideas for responding to the AI assessment challenge in higher education, from two-tier degrees to experience-only degrees and collective visibility in assessment.

neilmosley.com

Neil Mosley@neilmosley.bsky.social · 3mo ago

"This quarter has seen continued growth in online course portfolios across a number of institutions.While new online degrees continue to be launched, there is also interesting and varied activity in the online short-course market." buff.ly/EYvutKt #onlinelearning

2026 Q2 Review: Online learning developments in UK higher education — Neil Mosley Consulting

A quarterly review of UK online higher education, covering the Canvas hack, edX leadership changes, OPM partnerships, short courses, microcredentials and new online degrees.

buff.ly

Neil Mosley@neilmosley.bsky.social · 3mo ago

"My sense so far is that higher education has few genuine answers to the challenges that generative AI has presented. But if this challenge is going to be properly taken on, then I think it will require some creative experimentation"

Three unconventional responses to the AI assessment challenge in higher education — Neil Mosley Consulting

Three counterintuitive ideas for responding to the AI assessment challenge in higher education, from two-tier degrees to experience-only degrees and collective visibility in assessment.

neilmosley.com