Deakin staff grapple with IT cuts

08/11/2012 by
cloud

NTEU Newsroom 29 October 2012    |    Campus Review     |    6  November 2012 Staff at Deakin University are reporting that they have been left to struggle with computer problems and dealing with such technology as video-conferencing following a restructure of information technology services, as the university begins to launch itself into the digital learning “cloud”, making IT knowledge and skills even more critical. The National Tertiary Education Union says staff are reporting on a daily basis that IT support, including general professional development, consulting and advice, is “disappearing”. According to NTEU Victorian division secretary Dr Colin Long,   redundancies in the … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Deakin, MOOCs, National Tertiary Education Union Tagged With: , ,

Victoria lags on cheap travel for international students

08/11/2012 by
Tickets

The Age     |    6  November 2012 Victoria is now the only Australian state that does not offer public transport discounts for international students, raising concerns that New South Wales will secure a greater share of the multibillion-dollar education industry. In 2011, international students contributed $4.6 billion to the Victorian economy and about $5.6 billion to NSW The Victorian government has ruled out introducing travel discounts for international students, despite NSW announcing last week that foreign students will get up to 35% off fares.  A state government spokeswoman says Victoria's public transport prices for international students are ''significantly more … [Read more...]

Filed Under: ACPET, International students Tagged With: ,

Students, staff protest uni council changes

08/11/2012 by
Unis1

The Age    |    7 November 2012 Students and staff want universities to follow Melbourne University’s lead and condemn proposed laws that strip their right to a place on Victoian uiversity governing councils.   University councils and TAFE boards must include elected student and staff representatives under present rules. But Higher Education Minister Peter Hall says they will need to have the "necessary skills and experience" before they could sit on their institutes' governing bodies under the proposed rules. While Melbourne' s chancellor Elizabeth Alexander  has come out strongly against the change, other universities seemed to be not fussed or keen to embrace them. Monash … [Read more...]

Filed Under: La Trobe University, National Tertiary Education Union, universities, University of Ballarat, University reform, Victoria University Tagged With: , , ,

Copyright concerns over MOOCs

08/11/2012 by
MOOCs2

The Australian    |   7  November 2012 Universities keen to sign up to a massive open online course, or MOOC, may face serious copyright restrictions that the sector is only now starting to grapple with.   Under copyright law, the millions of dollars worth of third-party content that universities have paid licences for may only be able to be supplied to formally enrolled students.  That would likely exclude students signing up for a free course on a MOOC.  According to Derek Whitehead, director of information resources at Swinburne University and chair of the copyright advisory committee at the Council of Australian University Librarians This is a big deal if you want to do more than … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Deakin, MOOCs Tagged With: ,

ASQA launches “white card” blitz

08/11/2012 by
regulatory-jigsaw

The Australian    |     7  November 2012 The Australian Standards and Quality Agency (ASQA), the national VET regulator, says its "blitz" on mandatory safety training for construction workers signals the start of a new Tax Office-style approach of thematic audits. ASQA’s chief commissioner Chris Robinson says the “strategic review” of entry-level occupational health and safety training for people working on building sites – known as “white card” training – would be the first of three such blitzes this financial year.  The others are aged and community care training, which has attracted scathing criticism over fast-tracked courses – leading the Productivity Commission to call for a … [Read more...]

Filed Under: ASQA, Vocational education & training Tagged With:

Credit for MOOCs presents challenges in Australia

08/11/2012 by
MOOC Conv

The Conversation    |    7 November 2012 Major barriers still stand in the way of Australian universities giving students credit for completing Massive Open Online Courses say local analysts, despite Coursera signing up Los Angeles-based Antioch University under a for-credit licensing deal. The comments come as Deakin University told The Australian it would launch its own MOOC as an extension to its online strategy, which could include non-Deakin material and an international partner. Deakin joins the University of Melbourne, University of Queensland, University of Western Australia, La Trobe and the University of NSW in embracing open online courses. The deal signed between … [Read more...]

Filed Under: ANU, Deakin, Grattan Institute, MOOCs, Teaching & learnig Tagged With: , , , ,

Queensland’s blueprint for TAFE reform

08/11/2012 by
Qld TAFE

Final Report of the Queensland Skills and Training Taskforce      |     6 November 2012 The final report of the Queensland Skills and Training Taskforce, established in June to advise the government on reform of the VET sector, differs little from its interim report in September.   It recommends a radical overhaul of industrial arrangements, and the closure of 38 of the state's 82 TAFE campuses (without specifying which ones).  The final report does, however, propose a timetable for transition to full contestability for public funding, beginning 1 July 2013 on a limited basis, with full implementation from 1 July 2014.  The Taskforce recommends that the actual amount of contestable … [Read more...]

Filed Under: TAFE, Uncategorized, Vocational education & training Tagged With: , , , , , ,

ARC research grants announced

08/11/2012 by
Research2

Commonwealth Newsroom    |   5 November 2012                   The Australian    |    6 November  2012 Australian universities will receive almost $360 million in Australian Research Council funding for 1014 research programs.  Funding of $3,2 million is being provided to establish a National Indigenous Research and Knowledges at Queensland University of Technology (QUT), in partnership  with other Australian universities and the Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies (AIATSIS). The projects span a variety of topics - mapping the universe, reducing Indigenous incarceration, gravitational waves, energy efficient lighting, the role of mentoring, local and … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Australian Research Council, Research Tagged With: , , ,
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