HEDx

Manuela Franceschini of Adobe joins a discussion involving Theo Farrell of University of Wollongong, Tiffany Wright and Rachel Bondi of Microsoft, Matt Kuperholz of Deakin and Sherman Young of RMIT about the missing focus on technology and generative AI in the interim report. How do we best realise a vision of "growth for skills through greater equity" when we are experiencing the equiva...

Teri Cannon as Founding President of Minerva University reflects on the journey to build a different type of university that is intentionally global.  After 10 years of helping students from 130 countries learn in a rotation through 7 global locations in North and South America, Europe and Asia, Minerva as a private university has been named the world's most innovative university for the secon...

VCs Bruce Dowton, Andrew Parfitt and Alex Zelinsky and DVCs and VPs Clare Pollock, Theo Farrell, Merlin Crossley and Michelle Bellingan, as panellists at the HEDx conference in Sydney share "pithy" reactions to the interim report the day after its launch in Canberra. Something for everyone in a shift from a market-led to a centrally-led combination of collaboration and competition. Dr An...

Professor Mary O'Kane Chair of the Accord Review Panel joins the HEDx podcast for a second time through an interview with research partner HERDSA at a keynote plenary panel session at their annual conference in Brisbane last week.  In an interview by co-hosts Martin Betts and Christy Collis from the HERDSA Executive, Mary outlines her thoughts about submissions received, where her report is up...

Professor Sherman Young DVC at RMIT joins pedagogical evangelist Manuela Franceschini from Adobe to discuss digital adeptness and fluency. As technology moves so fast, the big questions appear to be posed by students and staff becoming unsure of what the boundaries and rules are anymore as we all seek new paradigms with new technology. What will learning look like as we all become cyborgs?

Tiffany Wright as Director of Education for Microsoft ANZ outlines how tech companies offer opportunities for partnership in the global mission to make education available to all.  The future of work is being increasingly influenced by and disrupted by technology and digital skills are becoming more important. Partnerships like that Microsoft has with UTS, Macquarie and TAFE NSW illustrate how a m...

Ginny Barbour as VIce-Chair of the Declaration On Research Assessment has led global efforts to find new ways to assess research quality. The aim has been to moderate commercially motivated efforts of commercial publishers to exploit science and publishing for their own commercial purposes. She shares her insights into the limitations of journal impact factors for diverse disciplines and how the u...

Michael Fung as Director of the Institute for the Future of Education at Tecnologico de Monterrey in Mexico, is the architect of the Skills Future lifelong learning strategy in Singapore.  He shares thoughts on the global move towards lifelong learning and a competency based approach to the future of higher education and its relevance to the Australian Universities Accord. He shares lessons that a...

Professor Vivek Goel as President of Waterloo University in Canada is leading an exercise to generate a vision for what Waterloo will look like at 100.  This 35 year future planning horizon is unheralded in global universities and generates a unique perspective on risk, culture, vision, mission and change. He outlines the opportunities this creates for differentiation and cultural change and the i...

Data Scientist Stephen Shaw founded  birthgap.org  following his work surfacing the growing global gaps in birth rates from that required to sustain populations.  He has found that all countries will see a dramatic fall in future populations due to births falling below a replacement rate of 2.1. He joins the HEDx podcast along with Professor Selena Bartlett, Professor of Neuroscience at QUT, to di...

Professor KC Chua is President of Singapore Institute of Technology where he leads a differentiated institution of applied learning. In a system with two top 50 comprehensive research universities SIT pursues a different mission focused on skills, jobs and the needs of business and industry. And no one cares about its place in rankings. Does Australia need more places like SIT?

This episode has a report from the recent ASU+GSV summit where global innovators explored the brave new world of higher Ed technology. Hear from Michael Moe of GSV, Paul LeBlanc of SNHU, Ethan Mollick of U Penn and Laura Ipsen of Ellucian about how universities, tech companies and investors are collaborating to disrupt the future of higher Ed. And learn how you can get involved 

Professor Sanjay Sarma reflects on his experience as Vice President of Online Learning at MIT with empathy for students developed in his own time as an IIT student in India. He describes the background to and ideas in a landmark MIT white paper for a new kind of college where professors spend 80% of their time on teaching. What is it, what problem does it seek to solve, and where is this idea head...

Scott Pulsipher President of the world’s largest fully online university in Western Governors University (WGU) shares the story of a unique purpose and business model. He outlines a relentless focus on outcomes for students as the big idea that emerged from WGU governors asking what if questions when it was formed. These questions were about the purpose, goal and design of education programs and i...

Professor Caron Beaton-Wells the Dean (internal) at Melbourne Business School joins the HEDx podcast to share lessons of how one of our most prestigious institutions is pursuing innovation in the higher education market. Outlining the use of technology, partnerships and new business models, the episode illustrates how even our most established and reputed institutions can also pursue radical chang...

Professor Mary O'Kane in leading the University Accord invites HEDx to be a facilitator and provocateur of big ideas into the biggest review of our higher education system for a generation. Immediately after the launch of the issues paper and an initial 6 week consultation period at the UA conference, Mary joins the HEDx podcast to invite its members and audience to articulate big i...

Paul LeBlanc, the President of Southern New Hampshire University in the US, joins the HEDx podcast for a second part of his interview. He talks about his radical model of scalable higher education delivered by his staff who focus on the personal needs of their students. He draws from his recent book "Broken" to demonstrate the importance of his students and staff being seen and feeling they m...

Professor Paul Le Blanc is the President of Southern New Hampshire University and joins the HEDx podcast for the first episode of 2023.  He outlines a philosophy that's driven his institution and is influencing the sector to be truly distinctive by putting "Students First" which is the title of one of his two acclaimed books.

Professor Andrew Parfitt as Vice Chancellor of UTS shares his vision for the research and innovation ecosystem and the unanswered questions facing us all about lifelong learning as a Universities Accord and ARC Review process get underway.

Professor Nick Klomp VC of CQU and President of the Regional University Network tells the story of the development of the only dual-sector institution in Queensland from a regional base in Rockhampton with a physical and virtual footprint around Australia and beyond.  He argues passionately for the importance of teaching students in the region to stay in the region and abo...

Associate Professor Jack Wang of UQ was Australian University Teacher of the Year in 2020. He outlines 7 phases of teaching innovation in Australian universities that he believes have left us in "no mans land" as students decline to join staff in empty lecture theatres. He shares the lessons of being a student and teacher in those 20 years for those facing the hybrid learning future.

Ian Dunn as Provost of Coventry University shares the secrets of success of the UK's top younger university for graduate career prospects. He outlines how a UK university has gained a global reputation for innovation and creativity with a focus on student inclusion and success. He describes how it was achieved through innovative and strategic use of EdTech and a clear strategy to ensure students s...

Duncan Maskell VC of Melbourne University shares his passion for the public good purpose of our universities and his thanks for the commitment of his staff to keeping the university going as he enters the fifth year of his tenure at Parkville. He outlines how the university is reconsidering what shape and size it wants to be in the future rather than passively responding to market demand...

University of Surrey, UK Vice Chancellor and President Max Lu shares his experiences of putting in place a transitionary 3-year strategy to traverse the combination of Brexit and pandemic recovery to address the student experience, increase research impact and build an operational platform for future growth, together with launching a focussed philanthropic campaign to raise funds to support equita...

Professor Renee Leon reflects on her first year as Vice Chancellor at Charles Sturt University by contrasting leadership practices and culture between universities and the public service.  She reflects on how what she has learnt from the public service can be applied to improve culture and leadership in universities and how she has brought this to bear on the turnaround of her unive...