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Another change agent
There’s a new student recruitment campaign, pitched at prospective students who want to be “changemakers”
No it is not yet another iteration of Monash U’s “Change It,” which launched new creative last month. This one is new from CQU, which uses TVCs and social media to present as a university for changemakers for social good. “It’s not just part of our culture but our curriculum … we’re equipping minds with the capability to see and design solutions today and tomorrow.”
Different student markets, different creative but similar pitch.
There’s more in the Mail
In Features this morning
James Guthrie (Macquarie U) on what MU’s annual report reveals, a lack of cash and a reliance on debt.
plus Ryan Naylor (Uni Sydney) on student transition. Universities focus on transitioning into, and even out of, study. But what about undergrads who need help post (fingers crossed) COVID transitioning back to on-campus study? This week’s addition to Commissioning Editor Sally Kift’s celebrated series, Needed now in teaching and learning.
with Merlin Crossley (UNSW) celebrates the election process and outcome. “When the whole world is investing in knowledge in science, developing understanding via the humanities and social sciences, how on earth did our past government appear to think the biggest issues at Australian universities are free speech and foreign interference, not teaching and research?”
Desirable digs in Adelaide
There is flash new accommodation for 725 students
Premier Malinauskas opened Yugo Adelaide City yesterday, a 36 story tower block near Uni Adelaide, Uni SA and the Lot Fourteen innovation hub.
And very flash it is too, in an undergraduate kind of way. Two bed share apartments start at $294 a week. The one and five bed shares are sold out. The project is pitched to the domestic and international markets.
Sussan Ley leads for Opposition
Signalling the Opposition will focus on skills and training, Deputy Leader Sussan Ley (member for the regional NSW seat of Farrer) takes that portfolio, shadowing Brendan O’Connor
She also shadows Ed Husic as industry minister.
Paul Fletcher will shadow Mr Husic when the minister is wearing his science hat.
Alan Tudge is the Opposition education shadow, with Nola Marino assistant shadow and Andrew Gee returning to the regional education role he had at one stage in government.
James Paterson is promoted, to shadow Cyber Security Minister Clare O’Neil. In the last parliament Senator Paterson chaired the Joint Parliamentary Committee on Intelligence and Security, which produced a comprehensive report on foreign interference in universities, (CMM March 28).
Strike at Western Sydney U – there’s more to it than money
National Tertiary Education Union members at WSU are out today
They are out over enterprise bargaining, including management not moving on its 2 per annum for three years cent pay offer – management’s original 1.6 per cent was on the table before inflation accelerated and the NTEU national leadership increased its all universities pay demand from four to five per cent per annum for three years.
However the strike also involves a proposal to convert numerous WSU casual positions into 150 continuing jobs, funded by non-staff cost cuts and staff accepting a marginally lower pay rise. This has been discussed for a while and if it happened would be a big deal indeed, giving WSU casuals no more money but the security of continuing employment (CMM May 20). It would also set a precedent for universities across the country – if WSU did it, why not universities way richer?
But it now appears any such deal is delayed, at best. NTEU branch president David Burchell says, “we had been negotiating for what would be a sector leading casual conversion scheme, but management has taken this hostage to the pay negotiations.”
Help for researchers by the book
Sticking to the rules on conduct advice
The ARC, NHMRC and Universities Australia have produced a guide on the research conduct code for integrity advisors. Think it’s straightforward? Think again, as the guide makes clear.
When everyone’s a critic
Writing peer review reports is often self-taught so Sin Wang Chong (Queen’s U Belfast) and Shannon Mason (Nagasaki and Murdoch Us) have written a how-to. There’s a bunch of detail on how it is done and one briefly stated goal, reviews should be “constructive yet compassionate.”
A cracking pace to enrol at Flinders U
The university is piloting a five-week foundation studies programme for mid-year entry to 30 degrees
This is a uni-prep project for people who need help with the basics of undergraduate education – essay writing, study skills, digital literacy, critical thinking and the like.
It’s a six-hour a day intensive version of an existing four-month programme. Places are Commonwealth funded.
Colin Simpson’s edtech must reads for the week
Is information power? Exploring the potential of data and analytics for student representatives from International Journal for Students as Partners
The Students as Partners movement seeks to engage learners in meaningful ways as co-creators of their learning experience. Academics like Kelly Matthews and Mollie Dollinger (among others) have worked tirelessly in support of these more equitable approaches. This paper from Rates and Gašević makes a strong case that giving student representatives in this process access to the rapidly expanding pool of learning analytic data in universities offers great opportunities for even more meaningful contributions.
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The problematic metaphor of the environment in online learning from Jon Dron.
The upcoming paper stood out because it relates directly to a piece of work that I am currently engaged in. How exactly do we conceptualise the entangled network of technologies, systems and processes that sit behind learning and teaching to best understand it? The environment or ecosystem metaphor (Ellis & Goodyear, 2019) has been popular but Dron argues here that this way of thinking may lead to simply replicating the problems of the physical world in the on-line. I don’t necessarily agree but it is a thoughtful piece.
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Understanding Group Behavior in Virtual Reality: A Large-Scale, Longitudinal Study in the Metaverse from 72nd International Communication Association Conference
This paper from ICAC (not that ICAC) explores some of the practical aspects of teaching in virtual reality environments over a period of time in terms of presence and engagement. Interestingly, providing learners with the ability to customise their avatars increased their sense of self-presence in the space but decreased their enjoyment.
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Having fun with Twine from Laura Gibbs
Twine is a delightful open-source tool for creating branching stories – think “choose your own adventure” books. This slide deck from Laura Gibbs provides a basic overview of the tool and then a rich set of exemplars of creative ways that Twine has been used to create interactive fiction.
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All these images were generated by Google’s latest text-to-image AI from The Verge
The AI-based text-to-image goldrush continues as Google plants its stake in the ground. They have announced (but not yet made available) their tool for creating images from simple text prompts called Imagen. Clearly, they have cherry-picked the most outstanding results but this quirky selection sends a clear message that the days of believing what we can see are long behind us.
Colin Simpson has worked in education technology, teaching, learning design and academic development in the tertiary sector since 2003 and is employed by Monash University’s Education Innovation team. He is also one of the leaders of the TELedvisors Network. For more from Colin, follow him on Twitter @gamerlearner
Appointment
Bronwyn Parry will join ANU as dean of Arts and Social Sciences. She moves from Kings College, London. She will replace Rae Frances, dean since 2017.