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Uni mergers without McGowan
The WA premier is leaving – which means what for the inquiry he commissioned into merging the state’s public universities?
CMM has no clue what either of his suggested replacements think, Deputy Premier Roger Cook and Health Minister Amber-Jade Sanderson. Although, Mr Cook made positive noises about uni-government cooperation at UWA in December.
No matter, Chief Scientist Peter Klinken may mention the benefits of a merger when he meets the new premier. (CMM November 16 2021).
There’s more in the Mail
In Features this morning
Kevin Ashford-Rowe (QUT) on meeting the micro-credentials teaching challenge. New in Commissioning Editor Sally Kift’s celebrated series, Needed now in learning and teaching
plus Peter Woelert (Uni Melbourne) laments the assembly-line approach to research publishing – more is not better
with Merlin Crossley (UNSW) visits the Francis Crick Institute – it’s a UK research .model that Australian can learn from
and Joseph Crawford (U Tas) making the case for open access in the scholarship of teaching and learning -it’s another Sally selection.
ID outage
The Office of the Unique Student Identifier (all 14m of them) issued an “outage alert” yesterday
It reported “issues with our Contact Centre” at 2pm, with no update by CMM deadline.
So was it hacked? CMM asked by email but received no reply.
However USI states it does not hold documents used to create a USI and information is only released with an ID holder’s permission.
Feds respond to risks caused by international agents
Officials were investigating updating the education services for overseas students legislation – now the scope is way wider
The Department of Education is asking the international ed sector how, “to remain internationally competitive and provide a quality student experience.”
To bring up to speed providers focused on building their business on Mars, the DoE spells what the industry wants addressed, unscrupulous practices associated with education agents … if unchecked, this behaviour could damage students and providers and threaten Australia’s reputation.
And so officials are asking;
* “what guidance or requirements for providers would be appropriate or helpful in managing the education agents from whom they accept students”
* how to keep agent commissions “at manageable levels”
* for ways to hold agents “accountable for unscrupulous behaviour”
* and “guidance and requirements” for HE providers so that agreements with international students are “fair, equitable and compliant” with Australian law. (The Commonwealth Ombudsman has (quite) a bit to say about this.
Last year consultants Nous suggested the Tuition Protection Service did ok for international students but could do with admin updates (they added locals did not need it), (CMM April 21 2022).
Now DoE says any admin changes to the ESOS framework are “currently under consideration” but what was a biggish deal then seems less so now, with way bigger problems with education agents on the agenda.
There are webinars on ESOS reform are on today and tomorrow.
The use of “requirements” might alarm providers who feel plenty-put upon by bureaucracy.
Coastwatchers call for kit
But rather than special-pleading they are asking all sorts of users who needs what and why
There is a open-access survey that covers the purpose of research, types of tech needed, data delivery and what are priority problems in coastal environments
It’s for a case to be made to the national keeper of big data analysis, the National Collaborative Research Infrastructure.
Smart stuff – way better to make a case on the basis of what scientists actually will use rather than a generic warning that only more funding will save us from generalised disaster.
Colin Simpson’s ed tech must-reads of the week
Learning to work with the black box: Pedagogy for a world with artificial intelligence from British Journal of Educational Technology
Margaret Bearman and Rola Ajjawi (Deakin) make a strong case for embracing uncertainty when it comes to the use of Gen AI tools in learning and teaching, given that the technology is largely an unknowable “black box.” Instead of focusing our efforts on trying to understand these tools, they suggest orienting students to quality standards surrounding AIs and creating meaning opportunities to engage with the tools.
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Minute Papers: the ultimate teaching tool for busy educators from Teche
Reflection in learning is often paid lip service but its value in embedding understanding of concepts is often sadly underutilised. Karina Luzia from Macquarie Uni discusses a highly effective and easy to deliver teaching activity in the form of the Minute paper. (60 seconds, not tiny). This asks students to ask a couple of quick questions at the end of a class about what they feel they have learnt in the session and what they are still struggling with. In addition to allowing learners to contextualise the material with the rest of their understanding, overall student progress is very quickly on display to the educator.
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Cameras Optional? Examining Student Camera Use from a Learner-Centered Perspective from TechTrends
It’s been a little while since the vexed question of whether educators should/could require students to keep cameras on in Zoom sessions but it is nice to see some tangible evidence instead of feelpinions. Trust & Goodman (Uni Massachusetts) apply psychological principles to find that there can be very valid reasons for students to struggle with being on camera that impact their learning. The authors do offer suggestions on working with learners to find a balance that comes closer to meeting the needs of everyone.
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US Sues Online Learning Company Over Students’ Data Privacy from Human Rights Watch
This is a US story but concerns about Big Tech misusing personal data are universal. In this rather egregious example, Edmodo is being sued by the US Govt for using school students’ data to deliver targeted ads to them during the shift to on-line learning in the pandemic.
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Education and Learning: a helpful distinction from Third Space Perspectives – Exploring Integrated Practice.
If there is one thing I have noticed in HE it is the love that many people have for a robust debate about the best terminology to use in a given situation. I throw my hat into the ring here, making a case that we can add clarity to the purpose and activities of Third Space staff (learning designers, education technologists etc) with judicious use of the terms “learning” and “education”.
Colin Simpson has worked in education technology, teaching, learning design and academic development in the tertiary sector since 2003 at CIT, ANU, Swinburne University and Monash University. He is also one of the leaders of the ASCILITE TELedvisors Network. For more from Colin, follow him on Twitter @gamerlearner (or @[email protected] on Mastodon)
Good for AI
A House of Reps committee is inquiring into AI in education – here’s a positive idea they may want to consider
“Human tutoring is very expensive, and it is hard to find enough high-quality human tutors. With regard to large-scale needs, if it is possible for an (Intelligent Tutoring System) to supplement what human tutors do, it might be possible to extend beyond the amount of tutoring that people can provide to students.”
US Office of Education Technology, Artificial Intelligence and the Future for Teaching and Learning, https://www2.ed.gov/documents/ai-report/ai-report.pdf HERE
Perhaps like the Khan Academy is working on with its Khanmigo AI tutor.
Appointments, achievements
DVC E Nicki Lee will leave La Trobe U at June end and her teams will be combined with Jessica Vanderlelie’s Students portfolio. Professor Vanderlelie will become DVC Academic.
Adam Mooney is appointed director of Swinburne U’s National Centre for Reconciliation Practice.
Zephanie Tyack (QUT) receives the Everett Idris Evans Memorial Lecture Award from the American Burns Association.
Uni Wollongong materials scientist Gordon Wallace is admitted to the Royal Irish Academy.