Copyright Agency attends 2024 ITECA Conference on the Gold Coast
June 14, 2024
Last week the 2024 ITECA Conference (ITEC24) was held at the QT Hotel Gold Coast from 5-7 June. Copyright Agency exhibited at the event, alongside approximately 20 other organisations. There were more than 200 delegates at the conference, primarily representing independent higher education providers and RTOs.
The conference brings together industry leaders, educators and policymakers in tertiary education to discuss the elements needed to deliver exceptional outcomes for students in both the skills training and higher education sectors.
The 2024 conference had a specialist focus on critical tertiary education issues. A recurrent topic was the recent government regulation changes and their impact on international education.
Day one was the International Education Symposium – a series of targeted workshops and breakout sessions that focused on international education. A particularly popular session focused on the implementation of the migration strategy was delivered by Andy Dwyer from the Department of Home Affairs. Andy provided insights into the Department’s thinking when developing their recently released migration strategy and delivered some best practice tips to assist providers in limiting their admission of ‘non-genuine’ students to maintain a high rating.
The reduction in student visa approvals is anticipated by the sector to result in up to 100,000 job losses across the country. In the Q&A that followed, session attendees made clear that the recent immigration policy changes will present them with unprecedented business challenges.
The key takeaways from the session included the Department’s recommendations that where possible, providers:
- Bring all student application assessments inhouse rather than relying on external agents to conduct background checks.
- Be cognisant of changing political situations in certain ‘higher risk’ countries as this may impact non-genuine student application trends.
- Keep a laser focus on potentially fraudulent activities within student applications including discrepancies, errors and non-sensical visa applications/withdrawals.
The second and third days were the official conference days which offered multiple networking opportunities, keynote speeches and robust panel discussions covering a variety of hot topics.
Artificial intelligence was a recurrent theme that was explored in depth as part of A Twenty First Century Education System panel discussion. As the industry continues to grapple with the possibilities and challenges associated with this remarkable new technology, the panel agreed that the current assessment methodologies need to change – online quizzes and take-home essays are no longer adequate proof of students’ comprehension and learning.
The conference concluded with closing remarks from ITECA’s Chief Executive Officer Troy who thanked the delegates for their participation and reiterated the association’s commitment to supporting the independent education sector in these particularly challenging times.
ITEC24 was a resounding success, offering valuable insights from industry experts, practical tools and opportunities for collaboration. Events like this effectively demonstrate how the sector is banding together to continue to deliver quality education and training to the domestic and international community whilst rapidly adapting to the new and emerging technology tools that are at its disposal.