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Uni Sydney comes lately
The university joins Universitas 21
U21 is a “ global network of research-intensive universities,” which uses “shared excellence, shared knowledge and shared experiences” to , “collaborate across borders and nurture international knowledge exchange. ”It was founded at the University of Melbourne 25 years ago and has grown from 11 to 27, now 28 members. The existing locals are Uni Queensland, UNSW and Uni Melbourne – which raises a question – give its great rivals are members why was Uni Sydney outside for so long.
There’s more in the Mail
In Features this morning
Ranking season starts this week, so Angel Calderon (RMIT) explains what’s in the big ones and suggests how Aus unis will do this year. Love them or loathe them, unis use rankings for selling and strategising and the astute Angel delivers the detail to make sense of the spin.
plus Paulomi Burey (Uni Southern Queensland) on the case for HASSing STEM. “Perhaps there is value in a renaissance approach to learning, where development of wider interests and expertise are encouraged,” she suggest. Hers is this week’s contribution in Commissioning Editor Sally Kift’s celebrated series, Needed now in teaching and learning.
What’s not in the India trade deal
As the Government talks up an interim agreement with India, scholars have resigned fellowships with the Uni Melbourne based Australia-India Institute, “the principal convener of strategic dialogue between our two nations”
In December 2020 some 24 academic fellows from a wide range of Australia universities wrote to the university’s PVC India, Michael Wesley stating that the Indian Government is curtailing free speech and moving universities there “toward nativist cultural-nationalist agendas.”
“The Indian government has also demonstrated a keen interest in the activities of AII, other India studies institutes and departments, as well as in scholars of India in Australia,” Devleena Ghosh (UTS) and the other signatories warned.
Their letter claimed “AII fellows have been discouraged from including their AII affiliation in opinion articles that are critical of the Indian government.”
Uni Melbourne now confirms that academic fellows have resigned and says it “respects” their decisions. The university refuses to specify who or how many have gone, however around half the 24 signatories to the original letter are believed to have subsequently ended their AII affiliation.
The origins of the fellows’ concern pre-dates the appointment of former Labor senator Lisa Singh as AII director.
Trade deal includes education, just
The new trade agreement, establishes a basis for recognition of professional qualifications and extends to three years the post-graduation Australia stay for Indians with first class honours STEM degrees.
But Aus HE and VET providers who have waited for a chance to set-up under their own brands in for India, can keep waiting.
The agreement ensure Australian suppliers of HE and adult education, “will always receive India’s best market access given in the future to any country. Trade Minister Dan Tehan and Acting Education Minister Stuart Robert say.
Dolt of the day
Is CMM – who had one of the next Whitlam-Fraser Harvard professors wrong. Katie Holmes from La Trobe U is correct.
ANU alumni “disturbed and distressed” by sexual assault rates on campus
Former ANU student leaders and activist alumni demand university management “take meaningful and urgent action to end sexual harassment and assault”
Their call follows the second National Student Safety survey, released in March (CMM March 24).
Alyssa Shaw, an ANU double graduate and former council member, and colleagues tell the university, the survey results, “left many of us feeling disturbed and distressed.”
“It is clear that insufficient progress has been towards ending sexual harassment and sexual assault at the ANU.”
In a message to the university community las month, VC Brian Schmidt acknowledged “higher per centage(s) of ANU students than the national average were sexually assaulted or harassed in the last year,” which he said is “unacceptable” “Every member of our community deserves to feel safe and respected,” he said in announcing a new “student safety and wellbeing plan” based on “best-practice advice and evidence” from experts and “buy-in from student leaders.”
However while the alumni statement acknowledges “ANU has taken some important steps” it adds the new plans are not enough. They call for “a comprehensive update” on how the university is acting to end sexual harassment and sexual assault.
Colin Simpson’s ed tech reads of the week
This week’s must reads in education technology
Zoom and Room: Hidden labour from Lawrie : converged
Sometimes the problem with doing a job well is that few people see how much effort is put in behind the scenes. This reflection from Lawrie Phipps, a UK based education technologist describes some of his experiences in the early stages of hybrid/hyflex teaching – or as he calls it “Zoom and room”. While leaders will say to skittish academics, ‘just turn up, do your lecture, some students will be in person and some will be on-line’, students on-line need to be supported, audio feedback in venue must be dealt with and recordings captioned and put online.
Why has higher education decided on Zoom? From Bryan Alexander
The education futurist posed a simple but revealing question on Twitter last week – why has so much of Higher Ed moved to Zoom for teaching? After all, Zoom isn’t a conventional education technology and there are many options in the marketplace. From myriad responses, he has crafted this summary post. Some of the key reasons identified included reliability/stability, familiarity, cost and ease of use. But there are many more. He digs into the pedagogical side of Zoom’s success as well in this thought-provoking piece.
Short and sweet: the educational benefits of microlectures and active learning from Educause
While we are thinking about the use of video in learning and teaching, the continuing shift to recorded content has created opportunities to reimagine the timing of learning and teaching activities. Freed from synchronous time, the trend towards chunking ideas and content does appear to be providing more effective educational experiences. This piece from Hua Zheng describes such a scenario and offers some valuable guidance for doing it well.
AI art and copyright from Kate Crawford (Twitter)
I’ve shared my fascination with AI generated art here previously and this Twitter thread uncovers some of the interesting issues emerging in terms of where AI generated content sits in terms of IP law. (In a nutshell, without a human element, it can not be copyrighted). With AI flourishing in the text generation space as well and contract cheating services increasingly adding this to their bill of fare, this is an area to keep an eye on.
Libertas Veritas: Freedom and Truth from Luke Watsford (Deakin Uni)
Twine is a beautifully simple yet powerful free tool that can be used to build interactive decision tree type text games. Luke Watsford, the copyright officer at Deakin, has used it well to create an engaging simulation where you are tasked to lead the misinformation/propaganda unit for a foreboding totalitarian regime. Shift public opinion and keep the glorious leader happy as you explore key ideas in information and media literacy.
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
Unchanged on campus safety
Acting Education Minister Stuart Robert has written to universities, asking them to “sustain and increase” efforts to improve student safety on campus
This follows the Universities Australia survey of incidences of sexual assault/harassment.
Which is like what then education minister Simon Birmingham did following the first report, in 2017.
Senator Birmingham asked universities to advise regulator TEQSA, “their clear response to these findings, the actions they are taking, how they are upholding those standards.”
The minister added, “I expect the regulator to enforce the standards properly at every Australian university,” (CMM August 3 2017).
While different methodologies prevent comparing stats in the two, qualitative findings are similar.
People sexually assaulted/harassed “face a range of barriers, both structural and attitudinal, to reporting or seeking support following sexual assault or sexual harassment. In addition, students who did report were often unsatisfied with the response of their university,” (UA report 2017 – CMM August 2 2017).
“For many, the trauma of the original incident of sexual harassment and/or sexual assault was compounded by their university’s mishandling of their report, discouraging victims/survivors from pursuing the reporting process to it its conclusion” (UA report 2022, CMM March 24).
Appointments, achievement
Ian Fry (ANU) is the UN’s inaugural Special Rapporteur on human rights and climate change.
Michael Green is in-coming CEO at Uni Sydney’s United States Studies Centre. He moves from the Centre for Strategic and International Studies in Washington.
Catherine Grummer joins Charles Sturt U as COO. She moves from corporate services head at TAFE NSW.
Lucy Johnston joins Uni Canberra as DVC Research and Enterprise. She moves from PVC in a similar role at Murdoch U
Vanessa McDonald (Uni Newcastle) receives the Thoracic Society of ANZ’s 50th anniversary medal for education and training.
Sebastion Marx returns to Uni Sunshine Coast as Manager, Future Students.
Julie Quinlivan becomes Curtin U’s Dean of Medicine. She is now an adjunct professor at Uni Notre Dame Australia and chair of the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Obstetrics and Gynaecology ACT Committee.