No. 107

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ANU joins edX

The Australian National University (ANU) has become the only Australian member of edX, the online learning enterprise founded by Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology that aims to provide education to one billion people worldwide within 10 years.  edX has announced an expansion of its membership to include ANU, Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands, Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne (EPFL) in Switzerland, McGill University and the University of Toronto in Canada, and Rice University in the United States….[READ MORE]…..

UNE launches its own MOOC

The University of New England’s plan to offer free online courses and link them to paid tutorials and exams is part of a global trend that is dismantling the idea of a stand-alone university, says vice-chancellor Jim Barber. Replacing it will be emerging offerings of course “units” and “nodes” of delivery involving cyberspace and institutional collaboration, he said.UNE has launched its UNE Open initiative, in which students can study free courses and then take a paid exam to get cut-price credit towards a degree.  Students can also choose to pay for online tutorials and student support…..[READ MORE]…..

Mass education – getting it right online

As higher education institutions around the world consider whether to develop massive open online courses, Open Universities Australia (OUA) shares its advice on how best to design subjects for mass online consumption.According to OUA, the key to success is not getting stuck on the massive component but instead focusing on designing, developing and delivering the highest standard of education with the online student in mind…. [READ MORE]…..

Holmesglen pinged on CSU dental hook up

The Commonwealth government has stepped in again to block a degree-franchising deal involving Holmesglen TAFE, this time a proposed deal with Charles Sturt University to deliver CSU degrees in dental therapy and hygiene. CSU vice-chancellor Andrew Vann said the decision late last year was “extremely disappointing” and he feared the university had been caught up in collateral damage from the inter-government funding fight. Holmesglen CEO Bruce Mackenzie described Commonwealth policy as “incoherent”….[READ MORE]…..

Student & staff must have a voice

While recent state legislation allows Victorian universities to cut student and staff members from their governing councils, they will need to ensure that they still have a voice.  Legal sources say that universities have  a legal duty to ensure their councils are responsive to student and staff concerns, just as corporations have responsibilities shareholders and that universities that don’t retain such representation on councils should consider setting up other formal bodies to provide a clear process of consultation.….[READ MORE]…..

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$s don’t add up on jobs & innovation plan

20 February 2013 | The government’s innovation and jobs package was launched this week despite warnings from the industry department and the tax office that the $1 billion saving at its heart might never eventuate. It was funded by the axing of accelerated research and development tax breaks for about 20 mining, financial services and retail companies with turnovers above $20 billion, a move forecast to raise $1 billion over four years….[READ MORE]…..

Staff vote for industrial action at Sydney uni

19 February 2013 | National Tertiary Education Union (NTEU) members at the University of Sydney have voted overwhelmingly in favour of taking industrial action over their claims for a new Enterprise Agreement. With over 1000 NTEU members participating in the ballot for protected industrial action, more than 900 voted in support of one hour and twenty four hour stoppages and almost 800 members voted for indefinite stoppages….[READ MORE]…..

Innovation precincts will strengthen industry research – UA

19 February 2013 | The government’s industry and innovation statement – A Plan for Australian Jobs – has the potential to unleash research and innovation as the key drivers of national productivity, according to Universities Australia (UA)….[READ MORE]…..

Benefits of precincts ‘a mystery’

19 February 2013 | The Commonwealth government’s plan to develop innovation precincts is a great idea but whether it will work is a mystery, says one of Australia’s foremost innovation authorities, Terry Cutler (he chaired the government’s review of innovation in 2008). Cutler said the initiative is great in theory, but it’s a strategy without an implementation plan….[READ MORE]…..

Unis may need to rein in growth

18 February 2013 | Chairman of the Australian Technology Network Peter Coaldrake has echoed his counterpart in the Innovative Research Universities Barney Glover that, in the absence of an increase in base funding, universities may need to rein in the growth of student numbers in order to maintain quality….[READ MORE]…..

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International

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International HE on the uptick

Prospects for international higher education are positive despite last year’s downturn, according to Ian Watt, head of international operations and student recruitment at the Australian National University, who says student enquiry rates are much healthier than enrolment figures suggest.

ACPET: extend visa arrangements

The Australian Council of Private Education and Training has called on the government to extend the streamlined visa arrangements granted to universities in April 2012, the VET sector, saying that an industry that can positively contribute to Australia’s economy and create jobs is being left to decline.

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The weeklies

A compilation of leading items from the weekly education press.

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Why the feds should stay out of schools

Only the states have any hope of driving improvements in Australia’s schools, writes Ben Jensen, School Education Program Director, Grattan Institute.

In 2011 the Gillard government announced it would pay high-performing teachers a bonus. From next year, the scheme will pay up to 8000 teachers one-off bonuses of $7500 or $10,000.

It sounds like a good idea to reward teachers who perform well but are often paid poorly. It isn’t. The policy is one of a host of federal government interventions in school education that are not only ineffective, they are doing damage to much-needed reform.

In Australia, the states and the non-government systems run schools. The commonwealth’s scheme therefore pays a bonus to state government employees. This breaks a fundamental rule of good governance and management: it gives employees two bosses. Should teachers follow the instructions of their state employer, or should they try to work in a way that nets them a federal payout?

The program is confusing for schools and teachers. It was no surprise that when teachers protested against the federal bonus scheme most blamed their state employers, not the federal government.

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