Opinions

A weekly reflection on UK Vice-Chancellor visits and a new UK–Australia collaboration with Rose Luckin and EDUCATE Ventures Research, launching innovation coalitions to explore AI in higher education—enhancing student experience, pathways, and social licence.

A Podbite live from London where HEDx joins Rose Luckin of EVR and her colleagues in exploring AI innovation sandboxes. We visit Antony Finkelstein of City St Georges University, Paul Kett of London South Bank University, and Shan Wareing of Middlesex. Off the back of engagement with Duke University’s Future Universities Alliance, HEDx builds further global links in AI innovation best practice. We need this sharing to inform global HE investments in AI. These have to respond to lost social licence and demonstrate public value with a focus on improved student experiences.

Pierpaolo Limone is Rector of Pegaso University in Rome. He leads a privately-owned 100,000+ student online university. He is former Rector of the University of Foggia a traditional research university. He shows how a leader schooled in traditional academic environments facilitates disruption as a new entrant in a highly regulated system. He views research as a key differentiator for any university seeking to be competitive in a new disrupted higher education economy. He sees disrupting tech companies as likely dominant players in future higher education. Listen to Pierpaolo ahead of his speaking at the next HEDx conference on June 16th and 17th.

Timothy Burt from the Future Skills Organisation, Gail Bray from Victoria University, Colin Gniel from LinkedIn and Dr. Kathryn Blyth from the University of Queensland explore: why AI evolves faster than curriculum, systems and our ability to keep up, why coordination across sectors is fragmented, and why human skills in communication, judgement and creativity are rising in value. One line stayed with me:“AI is evolving faster than our people can build their skills…”The future isn’t AI vs humans. It’s AI-fluent, human-centred higher education professionals and institutions.What are you seeing in your institution and with your colleagues?

Professor Deborah Terry AC leads The University of Queensland and the Group of 8 universities. She outlines declining trust as the key issue facing the sector. She explains why and how it has happened and that doing something about it primarily calls for a return to purpose. She illustrates how that is being done at UQ through The Queensland Commitment. And she explains how that applies to the challenges with the emergence of AI in particular. This seminal episode is the start of a tipping point with the HEDx podcast as we move beyond what has got us here, and explore more fully what will get us where we need to be, including listening more to students and focussing on the student experience.

Charlsey Pearce as CEO of Mortar Caps Data Standard is a long term HEDx partner leading an innovation project around data standards for human capability records that support lifelong learning and tertiary harmonisation. In this episode she introduces, leads and comments on a HEDx webinar that led to the development of a White Paper recently submitted to ATEC, JSA and the Productivity Commission. This is a chance for Australia to jump from last to first in a global race for technology to support tertiary harmonisation and lifelong learners having records that set them up for life. Numerous HEDx partners join a conversation ending with views of a student of why this is so important.

Kivanch Oner is CIO of University of Nevada Las Vegas. He joins me and co-host Matt Cavallaro of Salesforce to discuss how change to serve changing student needs is achieved in a leading R1 US university. Our discussion traverses changes facing students and how they impact providers seeking to serve them. The place of technology as an enabler is analysed through the UNLV experience. The importance of partnerships and culture arising from trust is key to accelerating transformation and represents social capital for change. Insights from two technological pioneers of the cultural and human side of change that shines a light on transformation that is possible and needed by global providers in the sector.

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 something to celebrate as Manuela Franceschini of Adobe illustrates in a beautifully reflective poem written on the day at the event. And it all gives pointers to the community we build in doing this which Professor Kylie Readman of UTS celebrates in inviting us all to the next HEDx in the first week in June in Sydney.