Labor Senator Tony Sheldon is chair of the Senate Committee on Education and Employment. Picture: Martin Ollman
Australia’s vice-chancellors will be questioned about their pay packages, instances of wage underpayment, and the use of external consultants in a new parliamentary inquiry into the quality of university governance.
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University of Wollongong interim vice-chancellor John Dewar said ‘support arrangements are in place to ensure continuity in [students’] studies’. Picture: NCA Newswire
The University of Wollongong (UOW) has confirmed 91.6 full-time equivalent positions will be cut in a financial restructure, after revealing it offered redundancies to 137 staff in November 2024.
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Australian universities and TAFEs are embracing and combining emerging technologies like artificial intelligence (AI), virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR).
These innovations are reshaping the further and higher education sectors, offering more engaging, accessible, data-based learning experiences for students, educators and institutions alike.
As students and institutions seek value amidst economic and work-life challenges, these technologies are crucial in delivering sustainable and scalable skilling and workforce-development goals. Integrating AI, VR, and AR can provide more personalised and cost-effective learning pathways for students facing daily pressures, making education more accessible and financially viable.
The transformative role of AI in personalised learning
AI is becoming a game-changer in Australian education by enabling personalised learning and providing data-driven insights. AI-powered platforms can analyse the complex interplay of factors impacting student performance and customise immersive content delivery to improve persistence, resilience and success.
This integrated approach can serve personalised springboard content that matches students’ strengths, promotes growth in areas of weakness, and builds both capability and confidence.
In this way, AI is not just about student learning; it also directly benefits teachers and professional staff. It streamlines the development of educational materials, from video and interactive content to branched lessons and adaptive learning paths.
A few Australian higher and vocational education institutions have already demonstrated this by exploring the affordances of AI-driven platforms to offer personalised learning programs tailored to students’ career goals and development needs.
Researchers from the University of South Australia are proving how AI can enhance students’ learning outcomes, equip teachers with advanced education tools and overhaul the education sector for good.
At the University of Sydney, AI-driven learning platforms offer personalised learning experiences via the university’s generative AI platform, Cogniti, which shows that generative AI is a powerful way to support teachers and their teaching, not supplant them.
Immersive learning through VR
Virtual reality also continues to revolutionise Australian further and higher education, providing immersive learning environments that make complex subjects more accessible and engaging.
From medical schools to engineering programs and advanced manufacturing, VR allows students to engage with practical scenarios that realistically present workplace problems, assess skills application and assess complex tasks.
VR is a technology with tremendous promise in scaling high-quality and safe immersive learning by doing training at TAFE NSW.
Its Ultimo campus utilises a high-tech, remarkably lifelike canine mannequin to provide aspiring veterinary nurses with invaluable hands-on training.
Recently imported from the USA, this highly advanced model enables animal studies and veterinary nursing students to develop essential clinical skills, including intubation, CPR, bandaging and ear cleaning.
By implementing VR as a training tool, TAFE NSW Ultimo plumbing students can learn to recognise potential risk from return electrical current via copper pipes into a residence, which can cause serious, even fatal, electric shock, in a safe and protected environment.
Additionally, its welding students were able to identify and solve potentially hazardous scenarios when preparing for welding work.
AR brings practical training to life
AR is another immersive technology revolutionising Australian education by deepening the interaction between students and their learning materials. AR overlays digital content in the real world, making abstract concepts more tangible and understandable.
AR is broadly applicable across diverse fields such as healthcare, technical trades, and construction, allowing students to practice and refine their skills in a controlled, simulated environment.
At TAFE Queensland, welding students use AR to identify and solve potentially hazardous scenarios when preparing for welding work.
With a screen inside the helmet, students position their virtual welding torch, with sparks flying like in real life, against a plastic board and press the torch trigger to see the welds they have made.
The screen flashes red when they are incorrect and gives them a score at the end. Using AR in welding has reduced raw material wastage by 68 per cent at a time of scarcity.
TAFE Box Hill Institute’s Advanced Welder Training Centre is equipped with the latest augmented reality simulators, allowing students to use best-practice technology and quality systems in a hands-on environment.
It was developed in collaboration with Weld Australia, which represents Australian welding professionals, and will help address the current shortage of qualified and skilled welders in Australia.
Monash University’s Engineering Student Pilot Plant is designed to reflect real-world industrial environments and requirements.
AR experiences are being developed in Vuforia Studio using 3D CAD models of the pilot plant, enabling visualisation of proposed equipment before installation.
These AR interfaces will integrate with Internet of Things (IoT) devices, Digital Twin models and process simulations, creating an AR-based Human Machine Interface (HMI) that enhances on-site accessibility by providing remote, simultaneous interaction with the physical equipment and its Digital Twin.
The future of Australian further and higher education
The future of further and higher education in Australia will likely see these advanced digital technologies integrated further into the curriculum, offering new opportunities and skills for students to thrive in a competitive, tech-driven environment.
Australia’s educational institutions have a rich history of effectively using educational technology to further learning and teaching.
Assessing and leveraging rapidly evolving tools like AR and Gen AI will ensure they remain at the forefront of global education by providing students with the relevant and engaging learning experiences they need to succeed.
Tony Maguire is regional director of ANZ at global learning technology company D2L.
Professor Genevieve Bell is vice-chancellor and president of the Australian National University.
In this episode, she reflects on her journey as a scientist, engineer and humanist in the United States and Australia. The professor shares lessons learned in Silicon Valley and leading Australia’s national university.
Professor Bell also identifies short term challenges and the long term trajectory of higher education, specifically in relation to technology and AI.
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CEDA CEO Melinda Cilento interviewing Prime Minister Anthony Albanese in August last year. Picture: Irene Dowdy
The members who will sit on the council overseeing university governance and advising government on “universities being good employers” have been announced.
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Jason Clare implemented the direction after his Bill was downvoted by the Coalition and Greens. Picture: Brett Hartwig
Ministerial Direction 111 (MD111) is the new way of processing international student visa applications and has replaced Ministerial Direction 107. It came into effect on December 19, 2024.
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University of Melbourne interim vice-chancellor Nicola Phillips said the university will continue its leadership role in employment compliance. Picture: NCA NewsWire/Martin Ollman
The University of Melbourne will fork out a total of $72m to cover the underpayments of 25,000 staff, after investigations into wage theft claims found the institution had failed to properly pay employees over a 10-year period.
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Professor Lu when he won a Queensland Great award in 2013. Picture: Mark Calleja
Professor Max Lu will move to Australia to be the University of Wollongong’s (UOW) sixth vice-chancellor in May next year.
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The admissions centre that handles university applications in NSW and the ACT has said students applying for equity scholarships has surged more than 35 per cent this year.
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The new independent National Student Ombudsman will be led by Sarah Bendall (L), pictured with Jason Clare, in an image posted to social media on November 29, 2024. Picture: Facebook
A highly experienced lawyer has been appointed to lead the anticipated university watchdog and complaints function, after the legislation passed in the last sitting week of parliament.
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