Pinned Tweet
In 'Virtual Exchange in the new educational landscape: Challenges for foreign language teachers', I look at some of the emerging pedagogical and ethical challenges that practitioners of Virtual Exchange must navigate. You can access the article here: lltjournal.org/item/10125-73…
Interview with @Dr_T_Mammadova on the role of #VirtualExchange in Higher education...
ttps://youtu.be/g_IF3UaOZi4?si=kKhDmSxG2odaif10
Save the date: International Symposium on Blended Mobility 18–19 March 2027, Leuphana University, Germany. If you are working with Erasmus+ #BIP this will be of interest to you! More details here: leuphana.de/en/institutes/ie…
My goodness, what a crash course in kingdoms, characters, politics and battles. My head is spinning. Thank you @simonmontefiore for such a great introduction which helps to understand how things have come to be as they are today.
Very well explained response to the nonsense being posted here about irish anti-semitism.
The anti-Irish are hitting peak desperation - and peak pathetic
You may see 'Ireland played the Nazi's' and 'Ireland condoled on Hitler' doing the rounds, trying to infer Ireland tolerated or supported them. Its nonsense.
The game played was in 1936. Also playing the Nazi's between 1935 and WW2 were England, Belgium, Denmark, France, Italy, Portugal, Scotland… its a very long list.
The Nazi's also held the Olympics in 1936. America turned up, as did Britain, France, Sweden, the rest.
Trying to suggest Ireland was unusual for playing or appeasing the Nazi's before war broke out is nonsense - it was the norm.
The 'Ireland sent Condolences on Hitler's death' narrative is also a weak attempt to infer Nazi affinity where there was none.
The Irish government were working against the Nazis as early as 1938, before war even broke out.
They set up a secret back channel with British intelligence that operated for the duration of the war, arranging joint defence plans, spying on and reporting Nazi military movements, and much more.
There was endless support for the Allies, hidden behind the veil of alleged neutrality. So much so, MI5 said 'Ireland was of more use neutral' at wars end.
There was also zero state aid or support for the Nazis from the Irish government.
Ireland is the only neutral nation in Europe not to aid the Nazis in some way (with plenty active nations aiding them under occupation).
It is also the only neutral to be vocally critical of Hitler's actions.
9% of the Irish population voluntarily went to the UK war effort. About 260k people. Significantly more if the north is included.
Tiny Ireland had, by far, the largest volunteer enlistment for the Allies of any neutral nation.
Many more were part of other Allied forces.
Zero Irish left Ireland to volunteer for the Nazi's. Not one.
Including IRA leadership, a few radio heads and 2 captured soldiers who turned, the total Irish Nazi collaborators was about 12.
12 people. From 3 million. But they want you to believe in Irish - Nazi affinity?
This is the lowest in Europe - including Britain.
Ireland also had the lowest far right uptake in Europe during this period.
The 'condolences' can seem confusing coming from a nation that worked against the Nazi's and showed no Nazi sympathy. Why did it happen?
The visit by Irish representative Eamon de Valera was to the Germany's officials home (not the German Embassy/Legation). He considered it a call of courtesy, not a call of condolence. He saw it as a necessary act of formality on the death of a head of a state, an action which was in no way intended to show support for the statesman in this instance.
Other neutrals like Portugal and Spain did likewise, although unlike Ireland, those nations had aided the Nazis in some way.
The informal and minimal nature of the visit was in contrast to actions taken on the death of President Roosevelt not long before, including an unprecedented cessation of the Dail, long and glowing speeches and special events.
Flags flew at half mast - something not done on the death of Hitler, despite his technically equivalent position of head of state.
The suggestion De Valera or Ireland held Nazi sympathy has no basis.
He led a nation against the Nazi's for 7 years, green-lighting the huge violations of neutrality in the Allies favour.
He enshrined the Jewish religion in Ireland's Constitution in 1937, an act without equal in an antisemitic age and hardly an act that would find favour with the Nazi's.
Ireland's Jews lived a safe and inclusive exitance in Ireland under his watch and since, some examples of the comments of Chief Rabbi's below. This was in contract to the frequency of violence of exclusionary antisemitism seen in America, Britain and elsewhere.
Ireland's Jews would plant a forest in his name in Israel for his work which contributed to a peaceful existence for Ireland's Jews in WW2.
Even British Ambassador Maffey, who de Valera said would well know well his mind and anti-Nazi stance, offered a defence, saying the courtesy visit was 'unwise but mathematically consistent'.
While stupid and ill considered, there is one thing it most definitely was not - an expression of Nazi sympathy where there was none.
We will take no lectures on misrepresented history by those carrying out modern atrocity
I think the proposed changes in how we organise teaching are the most interesting....more emphasis on presentations and social aspects of subject content.
MIT published a brutally honest report on what AI is doing to students.
A committee of professors and students spent five months studying how AI changed learning on campus, and the findings read like a warning to every university on the planet.
Study groups are disappearing. Office hours are emptying out. Problem sets and take-home exams no longer prove anything, because AI can produce credible solutions to almost any written assignment in the undergraduate curriculum. Students who lean on chatbots lose mastery and confidence, and some slip into what the report calls cognitive surrender, reaching for AI at the first hint of struggle.
The numbers are rough. 46 percent of surveyed MIT undergrads use LLMs daily. 90 percent worry about their own overreliance. Undergrads who feel AI makes them replaceable now outnumber those who feel it makes them capable.
The committee's answer surprised me. They refused to fight AI with surveillance. The report calls AI detectors unreliable, says lockdown browsers feel like spying, and warns that policing students builds a classroom atmosphere of mutual distrust.
Instead, MIT wants to rebuild education around the things AI can't replace. That means oral exams, semester portfolios, in-person project work, and a required social component in every subject. The report even floats the idea of rethinking grades entirely, since without a GPA to optimize, much of the incentive to cheat with AI evaporates.
The committee warns professors against replacing undergrad research assistants with AI agents just because they're cheaper, because a university exists to grow people, not output.
The most famous tech school on earth admitted the machines broke its way of teaching. Its answer is more humans, not more software.
This is a bloody disgrace. These idiots need to have a look at their own DNA and learn some history.
🇪🇸Córdoba, Spain, August 1, 2026: SHOCKING: The statue of Maimonides (the Rambam) in Córdoba's historic Jewish Quarter was defaced with a Nazi swastika.
Maimonides was born in Córdoba in 1138 and became one of the greatest Jewish scholars, philosophers, and physicians in history.
He and his family were forced to flee Córdoba after the Almohad dynasty conquered the city, giving Jews the choice to convert to Islam, flee, or face death.
Nearly 900 years later, his memory and Jewish heritage were once again targeted.
An absolute outrage.
Robert O'Dowd retweeted
Beautiful from Bono ❤️
Sometimes I would wonder if Glen Hansard really existed….
Seriously, he was such an angelic presence… not otherworldly…in fact, very present this presence…
A smiling rascal if you needed him to be… this most musical and mischievous archangel of Ballymun… no airs, plenty of graces...
Of course, Glen was the shining star of the Christmas Eve busk… sometimes the only one reminding the rest of us that Christmas began with a refugee born in a manger, which is hardly a step from living on the street.
To be utterly yourself by being more interested in others - a clue for any of us trying out different personas. He really was who you thought he was. He could never walk by a person living rough without checking they were OK… and more than that, he worked very hard so that less people had to live on the streets in the first place.
When the crowds got bigger and for safety’s sake Glen had to agree to move the busk to a stage kindly provided outside The Gaiety Theatre, he would say 'we’ll give it our best but it’s not a busk if we’re not on the street!’ …because that’s who he was - a performer at eye level in any situation. The stage was a separation he wouldn’t recognize. Of all the grand and gigantic venues he and The Frames played, you sensed the street was his most favoured place to perform. And street people, his favourite audience.
Voice of the streets. A choir of angels in one man. The rest of us blessed to stand there beside our very own and very earthed Angel Gabriel… All of us welcome in his choir, whatever shape or form.
….and I’m telling myself this morning that if he never existed, then he can never cease to exist. For me, he will always be everywhere I see a coin spinning into an open guitar case.
May you rest in the peace you gave to so many.
Bono
So sad. RIP.
Remembering Glen Hansard (RIP)
youtu.be/dElsEEk1k7g?si=lmZl…
Robert O'Dowd retweeted
Told a guy about how we used to record music off the radio onto cassettes and he looked at me like I saw Lincoln get shot live
Robert O'Dowd retweeted
New publication alert! 🚨
Teaching controversial issues in an antagonistic age: the challenge of affective polarization for open classroom climate
By Fredrik Portin
tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.…
#HigherEducation #Polarization

ALT A screenshot of the first page of the article from the journal Teaching in Higher Education: Critical Perspectives titled: Teaching controversial issues in an antagonistic age: the challenge of affective polarization for open classroom climate by Fredrik Portin. The screenshot includes the abstract of the article (available via the link).
Robert O'Dowd retweeted
Ukraine should be a priority for Irish EU presidency open.substack.com/pub/larama…
Thanks to @deusto for inviting me recently to speak at their international week about #VirtualExchange and #BIPs. Short report here: deusto.es/es/inicio/vive/act…
Just completed this blended training for @utrechtnetwork on Virtual Exchange and Blended Mobility for Sustainability. University teachers were trained to develop #VirtualExchange and #BIP projects and then were brought together to plan their own projects: utrecht-network.org/educator…
Yes, easier ticket purchases but also more overnight trains through Europe please.
From Berlin to Barcelona by train.
Today cross-country journeys mean several bookings and risks if you miss a connection.
Let's change that.
With one ticket and full passenger rights all along your journey.
That‘s our new passenger package.
link.europa.eu/HGxmpv
Robert O'Dowd retweeted
It may be sometimes exasperating, unintelligible and slow-moving but no entity in history has helped create and maintain a zone of peace and cooperation like the European Union has these past seven decades.
It is worth celebrating and reflecting on this today, on Europe Day.
Robert O'Dowd retweeted
Ireland is such a bad country:
• Essential food has a VAT rate of 0%.
• Public transport for under-26s is 50% off.
• The minimum wage is one of the highest in the EU.
• If you rent, you can receive a €1,000 rent tax credit.
• The government regularly introduces supports for people, from energy credits to excise duty cuts on fuel, double welfare payments, and increases to the minimum wage.
• It is consistently ranked as one of the best countries in the EU for doing business.
• First-time buyers can receive up to €30,000 back on tax paid over the past four years through the Help to Buy scheme.
• People on low incomes can access social housing or cost rental housing.
• Low-income families receive tax-free payments to help with living costs.
• In recent years, the income threshold for the 40% tax rate has increased by over €10,000.
and more.
Robert O'Dowd retweeted
My new article, 'Virtual Exchange as an educational tool in contexts of conflict: potential and challenges', has just been published in Language and Intercultural Communication. There are 50 free copies of the article available here: tandfonline.com/eprint/48SFB… #VirtualExchange
Call for papers for a special issue of The Canadian Modern Language Review – Innovating with virtual exchange: Moving toward a paradigm shift. utppublishing.com/journals/c…
This is a major issue in Spanish universities- AI is going to be the end of the final year projects that are built into undergraduate and MA programmes....
The Only Real Solution to the A.I. Cheating Crisis. nytimes.com/2025/08/26/opini…


























