HSCStudyLab innovates way to award
NEWS campusreview. com. au
Reform unlikely with new Senate
Norton doubts broad reforms will come under new upper house.
Don’ t expect any significant changes to higher-education policy from the incoming Parliament. That’ s the message from Andrew Norton, tertiary education expert at think tank The Grattan Institute.
Because of the unwieldy nature of the new Senate, any meaningful changes to higher education, specifically financial changes affecting universities, would be virtually impossible to legislate.
“ I don’ t think much of what the Coalition wants to do could get through a Senate like this,” Norton told Campus Review.
“ The only things they probably can do are things that do not require Senate approval. And the biggest thing they can do without Senate approval is negotiate university funding agreements in the second half of this year. Those funding agreements could be used to control or cap expenditure on higher education, to put some control on how much universities are spending on those students who are Commonwealth-supported.
“ I’ m not saying it’ s what is going to happen, but it is one of the few options left.”
Norton demurred from reading too much into some of the major proponents of the National Science and Innovation Agenda( NISA), such as freshman MP Wyatt Roy, being unseated. He said voters in those electorates were unlikely to have had any idea that these representatives were involved in that initiative.
The Coalition and Malcolm Turnbull have won the election with a slim majority. However, in the Senate, no one has secured the 39 seats required for a majority. An assortment of Greens and Nick Xenophon Team members have joined perennial candidate Pauline Hanson, shock jock Derryn Hinch and ex-Palmer United Party Senator Jacqui Lambie in the new-look upper house. ■
HSCStudyLab innovates way to award
Winners from the NSW AIIA iAwards 2016. Photo: AIIA
Macquarie U. study module takes home information industry honours.
Macquarie University review module HSCStudyLab has been honoured with a gong at the NSW edition of the 2016 Australian Information Industry Association( AIIA) iAwards for achievement in innovation in the digital economy. HSCStudyLab won its prize in the Community Services category.
The iAwards organisers called the event a chance for students, researchers, governments, small-to-medium-sized enterprises and large businesses to showcase innovative ideas and projects to the nation and be recognised and rewarded for making a positive impact on the community.
“ We recognised a need for a quality online learning resource for high school students in their senior years, especially in the science fields,” HSCStudyLab product manager Eeva Liinamo-Liukku said.“ The need for a trustworthy learning and revision tool is greater in rural and remote areas of the state, due to limited access to appropriate facilities and teaching support, such as tutors. In order to support Macquarie University in its STEM focus, the first subjects developed were preliminary and HSC biology, chemistry and physics.”
The content was written by teachers based on the NSW Curriculum and then transformed into an interactive product by a team consisting of eLearning developers, coders, animators, marketers and a video crew.
“ The award means recognition of the hard work put into the development of the courses, the platform and the brand. I couldn’ t be happier for the team,” Liinamo-Liukku continued.“ So much hard work has gone into creating HSCStudyLab. The journey hasn’ t always been easy and we’ ve got a long way to go still, but everyone’ s focus has always remained clear, in that we wanted to create a high-quality online learning resource.
“ Our aim is to raise the interest and knowledge in sciences in high school students and ultimately increase the size of the population that applies to study and pursue a career in science. ■
2