HEDx

Professor Kris Ryan DVCA of The University of Queensland introduces and reflects on the most recent HEDx event on Our Commitments to Students in the Age of AI. He does so by celebrating our adoption of the student voice in our work and the need to commit to it continuously in the future. We saw that in our most recent conference close up. And we saw how vulnerable all of us are and how that is som...

Professor Kylie Readman DVC of UTS leads a panel of Australian experts in online learning in a discussion of the needs of this special group of lifelong learners. Professor Dominique Parrish of Torrens University Australia, Tom Steer of University of Adelaide, Catherine Reynolds of OUA and Erin Jancauskus of OES share experiences from leaders of online education. They dissect how AI is impacting t...

George Williams of Western Sydney University launches a seminal essay on the crisis of social license in our universities and what we have to do about it. As a publication of The Australia Institute, George shares thoughts on why the essay was written and what is contribution will be with Alice Grundy of The Australia Institute Press. The session is a response to the conversation between Alphia Po...

Simon Biggs VC of JCU recently visited TEDI-London as an exemplar of learning innovation and of how AI can democratise education for disadvantaged learners. Little did Simon and I know that he was meeting Professor Lisa Brodie TED-London Dean shortly before she would be able to be public about it transitioning into ASU London. As its foundation Dean, she joins Simon and I to reflect on their meeti...

Bill Shorten, Pascale Quester, Sharan Burrow and Simon Biggs answer this and other questions posed by Dionne Higgins of KordaMentha. "Nothing about us, without us" is the essence of the call for action that Kelly Matthews of UQ a nd I hear clearly and will return to in future episodes in 2026. Never was the student voice more clearly made, head and accepted for action.

Sir Chris Husbands former VC of Sheffield Hallam University and founding chair of the UK Teaching Excellence Framework joins Professor Helen Bartlett VC of University of the Sunshine Coast. They were on stage at HEDx at UQ for an opening keynote and fireside chat that dissects the global issues facing higher education. They argue the clear need to identify purpose, implement that purpose clearly a...

Ian Oppermann is Chair of Data Standards for the Commonwealth and Industry Professor at UTS. From a lifetime in AI and driving technology to serve the needs of consumers and their data rights, he is partnering with Charlsey Pearce of the Mortar CAP data standard. They led a sector workshop at AWS in Sydney recently of sector representatives jointly crafting a white paper to guide improved data sta...

This episode gives voice to 34 students from 8 different HEDx member universities and partners in UQ, Adelaide, Swinburne, OES, OUA, Torrens, UniSC, and Canberra. We asked each 9 questions about what they thought of higher education, what they would change, and how they felt about AI and the future of work. Their answers might surprise you. Professors Suzanne Le Mire and Kelly Matthews of UQ helpe...

Danny Liu and Adam Bridgeman at the University of Sydney have pioneered the development of AI and a two-lane strategy for its use and assessment. In this episode they convene a diverse panel of their staff and student colleagues to discuss how the strategy works and can be implemented. As an exemplar of staff and students working as partners it illustrates an excellent approach to working through...

Professor Suzanne Le Mire as PVC of Education and the Student Experience at The University of Queensland brings a student panel to the podcast. The panel is from the recent summit of The Queensland Commitment at UQ and saw 4 diverse UQ students comment on what they loved about their experience, what they thought could be better, and what they would do if they were Vice-Chancellor for a day. A grea...

Professor Amanda Broderick is Vice-Chancellor and President of the University of East London. UEL in 2018 was heavily in debt and rated the UK university most likely to fail. After 7 years of adverse policy settings it has the UK's fastest and most diversified income growth, no debt and is implementing a 300m pound investment programme. It has doubled in size by focusing on a mantra of creatin...

Alex Elibank-Murray and Rania Shibl of the University of the Sunshine Coast share experiences of industry partnerships to give work experience to students in fast changing fields. Partnerships with industry partners that include Microsoft, are used to co-design learning experiences that combine certificated and non-certificated university courses with practical skill achievements. In an episode co...

Professor Kylie Readman as DVC Education and Students at University of Technology Sydney outlines a new venture in global online education. Launching new Mandarin-language online postgraduate education courses to global student markets as a trans-national education strategy is a bold and unique step for an Australian university. In a partnership with Cinlearn, this is distinct and differentiated f...

HEDx launched its first podcast on September 9 2020. Since then over 183 episodes, more than 200 global leaders have shared thoughts on the future higher education landscape and how it can achieve equity goals though strategy, leadership, culture, technology and partnerships. This episode looks back over 5 years with Sue Kokonis of foundation and continuing lead sponsor at OES helping us consider...

John Dewar and Dionne Higgins are experienced leaders of Australian universities now leading a higher education consulting practice at Korda Mentha. They have recently published an annual report showing Australian universities under significant financial pressure to be able to invest in the digital transformation they desperately need. They see it as a time for courageous leadership to cut through...

Professor Kristian Widen is Deputy Vice-Chancellor of Cooperation and Innovation at Sweden's industry-engaged Halmstad University, after a distinguished career at its leading research university in Lund. In describing the diverse landscape of a well-funded and stable Swedish university system, he observes that many if its staff and students are happy and calm, including regulators. With little...

Simon Biggs as Vice-Chancellor of James Cook University sees great opportunity in AI enhancing personalisation in tertiary learning and becoming a disruptor of global universities. He sees positive impacts in fulfilling his vision and mission to serve remote communities in opening access to education to more learners. And he is clear that AI will free people up from jobs they no longer need to do,...

The Honourable Bill Shorten transitioned at the start of the year from cabinet to Vice-Chancellor and President of the University of Canberra. His fresh eyes on the sector make him acutely aware of the need to embrace the needs of a broader range of generations in lifelong learning. He sees a greater role for technology for the learning of more diverse students through a wider array of skills-base...

Luke Sheehy of Universities Australia, Verity Firth of Engagement Australia and Georgina Downer of the Robert Menzies Institute were a formidable opening panel at the Engagement Australia annual conference at UQ on July 22nd. Following an excellent keynote provocation from host Vice-Chancellor Debbie Terry, they considered the global issue of social licence of universities. Why have universities l...

Kelly Palmer led global corporate learning at LinkedIn, Degreed, Yahoo and Sun Microsystems. Inspired by the audacious gaols of Silicon Valley, her mission is to change the way the world learns. She has spent a career pursuing that mission in corporate learning settings before bringing the expertise to bear as Chief Strategy Officer at Southern New Hampshire University. She coined the term The Exp...

Soon Joo Gog, Tracey Donnery, Patrick Kidd, and May Sok Mui Lim join the podcast. Skills Future Singapore, SkillsNet Ireland and FSO in Australia are skills initiatives within national tertiary education systems. Ireland has the world's highest productivity and Singapore ranks second in global competitiveness. As Australia's competitiveness is challenged by national economic productivity being unc...

Sarah DeMark is an assessment expert leading education and workforce outcomes as Vice Provost at Western Governors University. This is the worlds largest university, is online, and soon turns 30 years old. Its education model is competency-based, equity-oriented, and based in Utah. It pioneers recording and demonstrating the future-work skills of its learners through an achievement wallet. It is i...

Professor Duncan Ivison is the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Manchester where staff members including Alan Turing defined the concepts of algorithmic and computational automation. Duncan draws on his global experience from Canada, the US, Australia and the UK to revisit the purpose and future of universities in the fastest period of computational advancement to date. How has the global land...

Verity Firth as Chair of Engagement Australia and Vice-President of Societal Impact, Equity and Engagement at UNSW joins with guest host Alphia Possamai-Inesedy PVC of Student Success of WSU. They discuss the challenges universities face in maintaining or seeking to regain social licence and to serve community needs. They explore how the Accord considered this issue and how the new ATEC will be a...

An episode from a HEDx study tour of the UK and from the foyer of the HEPI Conference in London. Sally Curtain of Bendigo Kangan Institute, Andrea Burrows of OES and Caroline Dunne are among the HEDx tour party and Tash Stoeckel one of the hosts along with Tim Dunne of Surrey and Lisa Brodie of TEDI London. The episode gives insights into the plight of tertiary education in the two countries and h...