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.

Grant Robertson looks up and out 18 months in as Otago VC. As former Deputy PM of NZ he returns to where he studied and worked in research commercialisation, to lead change in a traditional research-intensive university. As a non-academic VC he reflects on his views as a past-President of the Otago Student Union and a 5 page letter he wrote of what was wrong with universities. He shares experience from the heart of government in how universities are perceived and what they need to do about it. And he reflects on his strategic focus of leading his colleagues to look up to a higher aspiration for students and communities, and out to broader global best practice, to both drive the change he sees is needed.

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.

CEO Margot McNeill and Chief Industry and Innovation Officer Georgia von Guttner host HEDx at the Canberra Institute of Technology to share insights into the new Woden campus at the heart of the tertiary harmonisation agenda. They outline its history, philosophy and strategy allowing a radical approach to skills development, AI mastery and giving voice to students as human capital is developed to be future-fit for a changing world of work. And Michelle Lincoln as Deputy Vice-Chancellor joins us in the foyer of the UA summit to comment on CIT and its success and outline the nature of its partnership with UC in the second episode in a HEDx tertiary harmonisation series.This episode explores the evolving landscape of the sector, offering insights, questions, and perspectives from those at the forefront of teaching and learning.

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.

Josh Nester MD of SEEK investments is joined by a group of the world’s most innovative EdTech companies. Nicola Cresp of OES, Joel di Trapani of Vygo, Sabih bin Wasi of Stellic and Trevor Fairweather of ReadyTech dissect issues of scaling student impact with AI. They explore the need all students have for human connection and how tech solutions need to add, not detract from it, in personalised ways at times and places where it can make a difference. And they identify the need for humans in the loop to include leaders who need to be bold and push beyond tentative pilots to really see technology make a difference to the student experience.

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.