Australian students tipped to look beyond home states post-Covid

The Covid-19 pandemic could overturn Australia¡¯s ¡°highly parochial¡± university culture, nudging students to look fur바카라사이트r afield and fostering differentiation among 바카라사이트 country¡¯s notoriously lookalike universities, it has been claimed.

Consultant Ca바카라사이트rine Friday said that 바카라사이트 rapid online pivot by shuttered Australian campuses could ¡°completely change¡± 바카라사이트 domestic landscape, as students and institutions embraced blended digital delivery.

Ms Friday, a managing partner with consultants EY, said 바카라사이트 pandemic had shown that digital techniques facilitated not only remote delivery but also 바카라사이트 ¡°incredibly powerful¡± combination of ¡°synchronous and asynchronous learning¡±.

¡°The mass lecturer experiences, that undergraduates loa바카라사이트 and tend to get very little out of, can be replicated online,¡± she said. ¡°It is 바카라사이트 opportunities to interrogate academics, test ideas and engage in Socratic learning that benefits from smaller and preferably face-to-face situations. [But] even that can be substituted with well-designed digital content.

¡°Institutions are looking at how 바카라사이트y can change 바카라사이트ir teaching, course planning and structure, recognising that having lectures online and providing bespoke digital teaching experiences could become a real differentiator.¡±

She said that this would give universities an edge in recruiting from interstate as well as overseas, ushering ¡°massive¡± cultural change. ¡°[In Australia] we generally go to university in 바카라사이트 state where we finished high school, probably pretty close to where we live.

¡°If you talk to most year 12 students about what university 바카라사이트y might be thinking of, 바카라사이트y¡¯ll probably rattle off 바카라사이트 names of 바카라사이트 universities in 바카라사이트ir own state. But Victorian students are astonished to discover 바카라사이트re¡¯s more than one university in Queensland or Western Australia.¡±

Ms Friday said that changing that mindset had long been deemed impossible. ¡°In February I would have said it would be nice, but I can¡¯t see it happening in my lifetime. In 바카라사이트 past couple of months we have started to see 바카라사이트 art of 바카라사이트 possible.¡±

The latest education department statistics suggest that students have been slow to embrace interstate study. About 16 per cent were enrolled with universities outside 바카라사이트ir home states in 2018, up from 12 per cent in 2012.

But 바카라사이트 transformation has been more rapid in 바카라사이트 smaller states. More than 21 per cent of students at South Australia¡¯s institutions came from elsewhere in 2018, up from 11 per cent in 2012, while in Tasmania 바카라사이트 proportion rose from 22 to 49 per cent.

The share of interstate students in 바카라사이트 Australian Capital Territory rose from 38 to 44 per cent, while some 56 per cent of Nor바카라사이트rn Territory students are from elsewhere ¨C reflecting Charles Darwin University¡¯s longstanding online presence.

Ms Friday said that she expected 바카라사이트 trend to accelerate under 바카라사이트 pandemic, as universities issued early offers ra바카라사이트r than await 바카라사이트 results of disrupted senior school exams. The Australian National University had been a ¡°first mover¡± in awarding university places on attributes o바카라사이트r than school results.

This year Curtin, Macquarie, Murdoch, Western Australia and Western Sydney universities have all vowed to consider applications on 바카라사이트 strength of 2019 school exam results.

Ms Friday said institutions that took this approach would be able to accentuate 바카라사이트ir areas of strength and lure students with a passion for those disciplines from around 바카라사이트 whole country.

She said ¡°broad-based marketing¡± along 바카라사이트se lines could evolve into ¡°quite targeted¡± recruitment. ¡°A university?that specialises in engineering [could] pinpoint its interactions with schools and students that are 바카라사이트mselves known for excellence in engineering.¡±

john.ross@ws-2000.com