With in-person instruction becoming the exception rather than the norm, 54% of parents with school-age children expressed concern that their children could fall behind academically, according to a poll conducted over the summer of 2020. Initial projections from the Northwest Evaluation Association, which conducts research and creates commonly used standardized tests, suggest that these fears are well-grounded, especially […] … learn more→

Mental health issues among children are on the rise due to the impacts of the COVID pandemic, including lockdowns. Recent reports show there has been a 28% spike in calls to the phone counselling service Kids Helpline between March and July 2020 compared with the same period last year in Victoria, which is under stage 3 and 4 restrictions. […] … learn more→

A proposed law would give the federal government power to cancel arrangements between foreign governments and Australian states, territories, local councils and public universities. At first glance, it’s not meant to cover universities’ arrangements with all foreign universities. However, the practical reality is that it could impact all sorts of Australian university arrangements with foreign entities, including […] … learn more→

With schools reopening after COVID-19 closures, concerns about the safety and certainty of public schooling have driven some parents to consider alternatives to sending kids back to brick-and-mortar classrooms. One option making headlines is the formation of “learning pods” also known as “pandemic pods.” Pandemic pods are small groups of children from different families who learn together outside of […] … learn more→

Contrary to what the title of his book The Postmodern Explained to Children (1986) suggests , Jean ‑ François Lyotard’s thinking is not the most accessible, a fortiori for our dear blond heads. A philosopher commonly associated with the motley and questionable movement that is French theory , he seems to have been eclipsed within it by the thoughts of Foucault, Deleuze or Derrida, whose […] … learn more→

When they first appeared in the 2010s, MOOCs raised a lot of hopes. From there to constituting a revolution in teaching, there is a step that has not been taken as already noted in 2018 in these columns Mathieu Cisel, teacher at CY University. But containment has brought these tools back to light, reminding us of how beneficial […] … learn more→

It may not be poetry, but the neologism “phygital” captures the balancing act required as organisations dip their toes back into physical interaction, without abandoning hard-won digital capabilities. This is one of a handful of buzzwords that have emerged out of a series of educational webinars, called The McMaster Collaboratorium, that has taken a diverse […] … learn more→

The COVID-19 pandemic has driven a rapid shift to online learning at all Australian universities. This presents unique opportunities for both educators and students, but also new challenges. Recent media reports suggest online learning might not be meeting the needs of all students. In particular, university students with disabilities report they are struggling with online learning that […] … learn more→

In March 2019, the world of journalism was shaken by a case of plagiarism  : the former editor-in-chief of the New York Times was accused of having used passages from existing sources for her book  Merchants of Truth . A year later, it was the turn of the French academic world to be shaken by a scandal: faced with proven evidence of […] … learn more→

“Cultural Marxism” is a term favoured by those on the right who argue the humanities are hopelessly out of touch with ordinary Australia. The criticism is that radical voices have captured the humanities, stifling free speech on campuses. The term has been used widely over the past decade. Most infamously, in former senator Fraser Anning’s 2018 “final solution” speech to parliament […] … learn more→