I’ve recently been reading a design manual – don’t ask – and came across the term feature creep. Designers define feature creep as “a continuous expansion or addition of new features”. And this feature creep is a problem. The term feature creep is often used in software development where the continued addition of new functions […] … learn more→
Monthly Archives: September 2019
The risk of research feature creep
Australia’s temporary graduate visa attracts international students, but many find it hard to get work in their field
The number of international students who stay in Australia after graduating on the temporary graduate visa – often referred to as the 485 visa – is growing fast. There were nearly 92,000 temporary graduate visa holders in Australia as of June, 2019. That’s up from from around 71,000 in June 2018 – a 29% increase. The 485 visa was […] … learn more→
We street-proof our kids. Why aren’t we data-proofing them?
Google recently agreed to pay a US$170 million fine for illegally gathering children’s personal data on YouTube without parental consent, which is a violation under the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA). The United States Federal Trade Commission and the New York State Attorney General — who together brought the case against Google — now require YouTube […] … learn more→
Harvard fired Weinstein’s lLawyer
It’s possible I’ve written about Harvard too many times in this blog—I realize very few of my readers are likely to ever set foot on the campus. That said, Harvard is influential, and what happens there can affect how other schools behave. They must be aware of their position, and really should make effort to […] … learn more→
Arrests of 6-year-olds shows the perils of putting police in primary schools
When states like Florida pass laws to put more police officers in schools, the idea is to keep kids safe. But as the arrest of two six-year-olds in a Florida school in October has shown, sometimes one threat to the students is the officers themselves. Instead of being protected, these very young students were placed in handcuffs and […] … learn more→
Paris Region PhD: supporting the digital transition by PhD
If the PhD degree is an international reference, its equivalent in France, the doctorate, does not yet have the aura it deserves on the French job market. Yet it is a potential vector of innovation and economic development. Its valorization thus constitutes a leitmotiv of the public policies of the French State. One of the recent acts of this […] … learn more→
MIT gives best return on investment, Art school worst
The student loan scam has driven the cost of tuition so high that “rate of return” is a critical consideration. You must make sure, when buying a college education with loan money, that the return you get on the education will exceed the interest you’re paying on the loan. Otherwise, it’s just a waste of […] … learn more→
University student mental health care is at the tipping point
As a new crop of students enter university, the sense of hope and promise is tangible. While students are at an exciting developmental stage, as a researcher and practising clinical consultant to university student health services, I know that for some students the associated stress and new pressures will become overwhelming. Several authoritative reports from Canada and […] … learn more→
Abolishing private schools is admirable, but won’t make choosing a state one any easier for parents
Labour have voted on plans to abolish private schools by removing their charitable status and redistributing their wealth to the state sector. At the party’s conference delegates approved a motion for this to be included in the party’s next general election manifesto. The idea behind the move is that it will ensure every child gets the best education and […] … learn more→
India is reforming education for the first time since 1986 – here’s why Australia should care
India released a Draft National Education Policy (DNEP) in June 2019. It’s the first comprehensive policy proposal on education in the country since 1986 and a major, game changing statement. Australia has a moral duty to engage with the global challenge of providing quality education to hundreds of millions of Indian youth. And by engaging […] … learn more→