By DAVID MYTON Much of the higher education discourse today is centred on the need for students to study “practical” subjects ranging from STEM to those such as accounting, commerce and business-related topics that segue into the needs and demands of employers. And why wouldn’t it be...
By DAVID MYTON Australia’s universities will be extra busy these next few months as they get down to work on developing new transparent and consistent student admissions requirements due to be put in place and operating from August onwards. They will be working from a new admissions transparency...
By DAVID MYTON Some of England’s elite universities found themselves in an unusually awkward position recently having flunked out badly in a new ranking system that seeks to measure teaching excellence. University executives, hitherto used to modestly accepting the acclaims of greatness and prestige bestowed upon them...
By DAVID MYTON A new study has opened a window into the thinking of Australia’s higher education leaders. It shows that while university bosses and their teams generally are upbeat and optimistic about the future they do have some concerns about where the sector might be heading. Their...
By DAVID MYTON Universities are being urged to demonstrate digital leadership - and if ever there was a good time to do so it is right now. As KPMG’s Stephen Parker wrote this week, current education systems are preparing students for forms of work that are disappearing. “We...
By DAVID MYTON The good people at LinkedIn have crunched the numbers - some “billions of data points” - and have come up with the top 10 skills that will help you to get a job this year. They include cloud and distributed computing, statistical analysis and...
By DAVID MYTON A lone rower sculls across the placid surface of Canberra’s Lake Burley Griffin, the passage of his craft marked by the ripples and eddies stirred by the vessel and the rhythmic lapping of the oars. Emeritus Professor Barry Ninham AO is taking his...
By David Myton Some months ago Thomson Reuters announced we are now living in the most innovative age in human history. Analysing global intellectual property data and tracking global scientific literature publications, TR found that overall levels of innovation had sped on at record pace, with global...
By DAVID MYTON A quiet revolution has been taking place organised by dedicated teams in the backrooms of universities across Australia and New Zealand. Largely unnoticed, its impact nevertheless will be deep and lasting. It is the My eQuals project: a new online platform that gives Australian...
By DAVID MYTON Professor Ellen Hazelkorn’s argument that many higher education institutions have disengaged themselves from their local communities (see my previous HECG Trendwatch) has been challenged this week by Universities Australia. In its latest newsletter UA says Australia’s higher education sector is globally oriented but also has...