The pre-pandemic education standards HE providers must meet are still fit for purpose but on-line delivery needs updating

The Department of Education commissioned a Uni Queensland team* to investigate what the move to mass on-line learning and teaching will mean for conforming to the Higher Education Standards Framework.

Their report addresses pressures on on-line delivery across the seven HESF domains, including;

* entry standards, student support and outcomes

* needs of equity-groups

* academic leadership and staffing, “for which there are currently no clear answers”

* academic integrity

* a “problematic” lack of a sector-wide approach to innovation

Overall, they find practise is in front of policy;

“the discussion and language used to describe modes of delivery in Australian higher education remains too crude to capture the evolution of hybrid modes and other modes of delivery that are emerging. The discussion and policies still largely reflect an internal vs. external/online model that no longer reflects the reality for higher education staff and students.”

* Jason Lodge, Kelly Matthews, Matthias Kubler, Melissa Johnstone, Modes of Delivery in Higher Education