Brave new worlds: reflections on the automation of education

Drew Mayhills examines the 'for' and 'against' arguments

The case for automation
Challenged by an ever-expanding workload and increasing levels of public accountability, the continued commitment of teachers and school leaders to exploring ways of optimising efficiencies within core business has never been more important. In this regard, further exploration of automation is an understandable and rational response towards addressing some of the identified systemic inefficiencies that exist throughout Australia’s educational institutions.

In and of itself, the process of ‘automation’ is nothing new. George Veletsianos, Canada Research Chair and Associate Professor of Royal Roads University, points to the work of American psychologist Sidney Pressey during the 1920s and 1930s, who recognised a future where machines would eliminate ‘the grossly inefficient and clumsy procedure of conventional education.’ Read More

Automarking 'methodologically flawed and massively incomplete'

The NSW Teachers Federation claims that ACARA is rushing through with plans to have robots mark next year’s NAPLAN tests despite their justifications being discredited by world-leading research. A report by Dr Les Perelman from Massachusetts Institute of Technology decribes the plan as 'methodologically flawed and massively incomplete'. Read More

CIS urges better targeting for $23.5b Gonski 2.0 money

Australian schools should use the extra Gonski 2.0 funding to improve early literacy and numeracy, give teachers fewer classes and more time outside the classroom, and provide classroom management training for teachers, new research from the Centre for Independent Studies finds.

In Getting the most out of Gonski 2.0: The evidence base for school investments, education policy analyst Blaise Joseph has outlined the importance of school investments being evidence-based and cost-effective. He proposes three investments with the potential to significantly improve lagging student literacy and numeracy results
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Trained literacy leaders to boost student performance in Victoria

Literacy Leader Induction Workshops will be set up in 44 centres across Victoria. Delivered by the Bastow Institute of Education Leadership, the workshops will help principals and teachers boost the performance of students in reading and writing including those at risk of falling behind.

The workshops will commence in Wantirna South on 17 October and conclude with the Moorabbin workshop Read More

Parents want more life skills to be taught in school

Parents want their children to have access to a ‘holistic education’, however cultural influences, location and income all play a role in parental expectations of their child’s academic success, a new study from ASG and Monash University has revealed. The ASG Parents Report Card is the only report of its kind to investigate the state of education in Australia from parents’ perspective. Read More

Trade training can pay off with higher income than uni

School leavers are going to university based on the idea that this is the only way to a secure future. But more times than not, they would be better suited to doing something they’re truly interested in, earning while they learn, and with little or no debt at the end of their training. Read More

Tertiary degrees not translating to jobs

The 2018 edition of The Good Universities Guide reveals that while universities around the country are providing a high-quality experience for students, it’s not translating to graduate jobs... when it comes to life after university, the employment outcomes are not as positive; the news isn’t so rosy once students attempt to enter the workforce. Read More

Monash Children’s Hospital School opens

Sick children in Melbourne’s south-east now have access to a world class education while continuing life-saving medical treatment, with the official opening of the state-of-the-art Monash Children’s Hospital School. The $6.8 million school has capacity to provide an education to about 170 students – children and young people with chronic medical or mental health issues who are at-risk of disengaging from education, or unable to attend their regular school. Read More