Recent months have seen heated debates in Russia about the limits of faculty and students’ rights to undertake public speaking and engage in political activism. Lecturers at the prestigious Higher School of Economics (HSE), once considered Russia’s most liberal university, have spent the summer worrying that their criticisms of the political status quo might put an end to […] … learn more→

After a year of unprecedented disruptions and change, it is clear that, as the new semester approaches, students need better experiences, universities need better business models and staff need better workloads. I split my career between industry and academia, encountering the academic world at many levels and locations and learning pedagogy from scratch at 41. […] … 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→

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→

The big idea Over four years of college, students develop positive attitudes for political liberals but not conservatives. Why it matters Higher education needs support from conservatives – lawmakers as well as taxpayers. But conservative critics continue to fault higher education for making students more liberal. The central argument is that higher education does not value politically conservative perspectives. As […] … learn more→

Universities worldwide are a growing target for hackers. A July 2020 report by cybersecurity company Redscan found more than 50% of UK universities recorded a data breach in the previous 12 months. More recently, a data breach has affected 444,000 users of ProctorU. Universities, including several Australian ones, use this online tool to supervise students sitting exams from […] … learn more→