ICE award-bearing courses 2020-21 – remote but connected

It’s been a difficult and disruptive period for everyone, but with the start of a new academic year fast approaching, we’re delighted that ICE is open for business – with a few tweaks. Director of Academic Centres, Dr Corinne Boz, takes us through what’s new for 2020-21 and how the Institute is determined to maintain the spirit of the renowned ICE learning community.

Business as usual – part-time courses for real-life needs

In one sense, the restrictions and dilemmas we all currently face mean business as usual for us here at ICE. We know that learners come to us wanting to study on a part-time basis while juggling other, significant responsibilities, so we’re used to people’s real and complicated lives. Whether they’re accessing higher education for the first time, returning to learning after a long break or looking for support in changing or progressing their careers, ICE’s students are often confronting important, personal transitions.

That won’t change, particularly as more people look to develop additional skills for newly arising employment or life challenges, and neither will our capacity to support students through those transformations. We remain committed to providing access for, and interaction with, all those who are motivated to engage with learning. We support equality, diversity and inclusive practices and our focus on community helps make studying here so rewarding. Assessment at ICE is already primarily carried out through ongoing assignments, presentations and portfolios, so little will change in that regard. Similarly, we’ll always provide the academic rigour of a University of Cambridge award.

A not-so-new way of teaching

What will be different for many this year is the mode of teaching. We’ve worked hard to make things as straightforward and certain as possible for this year’s students. That means all one-year undergraduate courses will be delivered remotely for their full duration. Postgraduate courses will also begin this way for the first term, but we intend to resume in-person teaching once public health guidelines permit it and we’re certain it’s safe to do so.

We already do lots of online teaching and learning, so this isn’t something new to us either academically or technologically. We have a decade’s experience developing online courses, and our well-regarded online learning environment brings people together from otherwise distant locations. All our tutors and Course Directors have done incredible things over the summer to make sure this year’s courses are just as engaging and rich as ever while being specifically designed with that remote mechanism in mind.

As we do every year, we’ve thought hard about how to balance the amount of learning that’s delivered live to a whole class against the volume of material learners can access at their own pace. We always want our courses to be as flexible as possible around the competing demands on learners’ lives.

Protecting the celebrated ICE learning community

There’s one thing our students, past and present, tell us all the time: the sense of belonging and community they earn from engaging with their peer network is a prime benefit of studying at ICE. It’s of crucial importance that we capture that spirit in our remote delivery. Students will be able to participate in wide-ranging discussions and debates with both academics and peers in our long-established virtual learning environment. We’ll focus on this experience just as much as the learning itself, and we think students will love how rewarding and connecting a well-managed remote learning community can feel.

Even if our students aren’t here at Madingley Hall with us, they’re certainly not alone. We’re highly experienced at supporting our learners, wherever they are in the world. Our teams are here to help with all sorts of issues, from managing study alongside busy lives to using and getting the best out of the technology we employ. With Course Directors, tutors and programme administrators on hand throughout, we’re convinced this year’s students will get the same buzz and intellectual stimulation as they’d expect from ICE at any other time.

To find out more about upcoming and available courses at ICE, visit: https://www.ice.cam.ac.uk/qualifications