by Virtual College (UK)
The development of online learning in Australia faces obstruction from traditional educational practices, according to one vice-chancellor. Jim Barber from the University of New England (UNE) in Australia has challenged the Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency (TEQSA), criticising its implementation of a “uniform and now outdated model of education”, the Australian reports. At a broadband and higher education conference in Melbourne, he said the country may be at risk of surrendering its domestic market to international online providers if quality and teaching is not “urgently modernised”. Smartphones and other devices have contributed to widening student access to open-source, high-quality content and encourage a shift away from traditional exchanges between teachers and pupils. At the conference, Professor Barber called for an investigation into the role of broadband in the future of higher education. He noted certain “risk indicators” that would counter the emerging trends in online learning and enforce a backwards-looking view of higher education.
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