By Professor Patsie Polly, Associate Professor Helen Gibbon, Felipe Balotin Pinto (UNSW) and Professor Nalini Pather (University of Queensland, Adjunct Professor UNSW)
Published 16 September 2024
This article was initially published in ‘Needed Now in Learning and Teaching’ by Prof. Sally Kift, Vice Chancellor’s Fellow, Victoria University; Adjunct Professor JCU, QUT, La Trobe University.
From time to time, we experience real highs in our academic careers. These highs usually happen when we come together and create an atmosphere of social learning and sharing. Some may call it networking, but it’s more than that. It’s visceral. It’s a deep feeling of connection. It’s about sharing experience and insight happily, comfortably, respectfully and openly as a community.
Events like the NSW Higher Education (HE) Summit have enabled this. For us in HE, this is what community looks like. For two years now, the UNSW Scientia Education Academy (SEA) has hosted this event. It has been supported by our DVC (Academic Quality), DVC (Education & Student Experience) and the PVC (Education) Education Events Team who have shared vision and passion. So, it’s fair to say it takes a village to ‘raise’ an event like this. But somehow, it was effortless. This is because our speakers and panellists are generous. They were happy to share their time and experience and put their thinking ‘out there’.
Issues and emerging themes in the HE-sector
It started as a simple idea spinning out from the fast track that the pandemic set upon us. In 2023, ‘The Future is Now’ theme had already arrived in the Australian HE sector, so we needed a space to talk about it. With the norm of change and the Interim Report of the Australian Universities Accord looming – and then revealed – we created a place for academic conversation; up close, social and in-person for those available but also accessible for those joining online.
The event format was successfully repeated in 2024 with ‘AI and Assessment’ as the theme du jour. AI (artificial intelligence), the uncertainty and opportunity were central to shared brainstorming. Reflections by Helena Pacitti and Jason Lodge and Merlin Crossley summed up the event’s relational efficacy; raising issues too uncomfortable to handle as individuals but soothed when the collective consciousness works towards alleviating concerns and sense making. This is because conversation is important.
The magic of the NSW HE Summit is its format and atmosphere. While relaxed in atmosphere, it’s serious in its intent and permits open conversation.
The format
Two expert keynote speakers opened the Summit, providing overviews but also some controversial thinking to engage the audience. The intermission follows, deliberately designed to provoke academic discussion, discourse and the social networking of ‘old’.
A relaxed, but supremely focused, academic panel discussion followed to address the challenges facing the Australian HE sector today. Then another networking session to deliberate on the panel discussion further. We all move around the floor, coming together and greeting each other like old friends with familiarity and support in our mission – to think deeply and collaboratively to solve the controversial issues raised. What will the HE sector look like in the future? What does that actually mean?
Key underlying messages emerged:
- Stay foundational and true to teaching and learning;
- Understand what students, the discipline and profession need;
- Teach first principles, learn foundations, build knowledge, think and make meaning of this knowledge and its application – with or without tools, but acknowledge their use and usefulness;
- Make learning accessible and equitable;
- Enable deep learning and thinking so our students are adaptable and change-ready graduates of the future;
Stay true to our mission: design experiential, applicable learning environments that allow students to think critically, make good decisions and self-regulate their learning journey, while we progress our own teaching journey – ethically and authentically to our various disciplines
Dialogue and conversation
Both the 2023 and 2024 NSW HE Summits achieved their goals. These events brought together a diverse group of educators and stakeholders committed to dialogue and conversation, capturing and building on the keynote presentations and panel discussions in distinct ways. Networking instigated the idea of doing the future academic work together.
A unanimous understanding that institutions and educators must continually interact and learn from each other, rather than seek solutions in isolation, was evident. Participants recognised that disagreement is not only inevitable but also beneficial. All embraced the healthy, dynamic exchange of ideas; where differing perspectives were valued and an environment fostered that enabled innovative solutions to emerge from diverse viewpoints. Importantly, the conversation was student-centred. At the 2024 Summit, presenters spruiked that AI integration must involve continuous conversation with students. That understanding their needs, feelings, and current use of technology is crucial, as their experiences will shape the future application of AI in education.
Powerful, collective thinking
The power of dialogue and conversation to navigate the complexities of HE resonated across the Summit. In-person registrants pre-selected a thematic discussion topic to facilitate collegial interactions during the networking sessions. AI Pedagogy + AI Technology: working with the mix emerged as the most popular theme in 2024, capturing the interest of nearly half of all in-person registrants. This indicated a significant shift since the 2023 Summit, when the HE community was grappling with the emergence of generative AI in the wake of the pandemic. Twelve months later, amidst convivial networking and Summit-branded cupcakes, conversations are now more forward-looking. This shift in focus reflects our collective journey towards embracing, or at least conceding the existence of, technological advancements, preparing us for a future where generative AI is increasingly prevalent in everyday life.
The complexities of HE can’t be solved in one afternoon. However, annual events like the NSW HE Summit foster critical conversations and thought leadership, building collaboration and respectful disagreement, with the student experience at the core of what we do.
Acknowledgements
Prof. Merlin Crossley (UNSW DVCAQ), Prof. Sarah Maddison (UNSW DVCESE), UNSW PVCE - Education Engagement and Media and Immersive Technologies Teams.
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