Podcast

Data Scientist Stephen Shaw founded birthgap.org following his work surfacing the growing global gaps in birth rates from that required to sustain populations. He has found that all countries will see a dramatic fall in future populations due to births falling below a replacement rate of 2.1. He joins the HEDx podcast along with Professor Selena Bartlett, Professor of Neuroscience at QUT, to discuss how this phenomena impacts the future of universities and how it creates a structural shift from school leaver university populations toward lifelong learning needs and the opportunities this creates for global universities.

Professor KC Chua is President of Singapore Institute of Technology where he leads a differentiated institution of applied learning. In a system with two top 50 comprehensive research universities SIT pursues a different mission focused on skills, jobs and the needs of business and industry. And no one cares about its place in rankings. Does Australia need more places like SIT?

This episode has a report from the recent ASU+GSV summit where global innovators explored the brave new world of higher Ed technology. Hear from Michael Moe of GSV, Paul LeBlanc of SNHU, Ethan Mollick of U Penn and Laura Ipsen of Ellucian about how universities, tech companies and investors are collaborating to disrupt the future of higher Ed. And learn how you can get involved

Professor Sanjay Sarma reflects on his experience as Vice President of Online Learning at MIT with empathy for students developed in his own time as an IIT student in India. He describes the background to and ideas in a landmark MIT white paper for a new kind of college where professors spend 80% of their time on teaching. What is it, what problem does it seek to solve, and where is this idea heading?

Scott Pulsipher President of the world’s largest fully online university in Western Governors University (WGU) shares the story of a unique purpose and business model. He outlines a relentless focus on outcomes for students as the big idea that emerged from WGU governors asking what if questions when it was formed. These questions were about the purpose, goal and design of education programs and its pathways to opportunity to serve societal and economic need.
Outlining the use of technology, partnerships and new business models, the episode illustrates how even our most established and reputed institutions can also pursue radical change and innovation in taking a legacy higher education brand into the new world of lifelong learning.

Professor Caron Beaton-Wells the Dean (internal) at Melbourne Business School joins the HEDx podcast to share lessons of how one of our most prestigious institutions is pursuing innovation in the higher education market.

Outlining the use of technology, partnerships and new business models, the episode illustrates how even our most established and reputed institutions can also pursue radical change and innovation in taking a legacy higher education brand into the new world of lifelong learning.

Paul LeBlanc, the President of Southern New Hampshire University in the US, joins the HEDx podcast for a second part of his interview. He talks about his radical model of scalable higher education delivered by his staff who focus on the personal needs of their students. He draws from his recent book “Broken” to demonstrate the importance of his students and staff being seen and feeling they mattered.

Professor Paul Le Blanc is the President of Southern New Hampshire University and joins the HEDx podcast for the first episode of 2023. He outlines a philosophy that’s driven his institution and is influencing the sector to be truly distinctive by putting “Students First” which is the title of one of his two acclaimed books.

Professor Andrew Parfitt as Vice Chancellor of UTS shares his vision for the research and innovation ecosystem and the unanswered questions facing us all about lifelong learning as a Universities Accord and ARC Review process get underway.