University

RMIT University is using new technology to give academics and students more time for face-to-face, interactive learning.

Under stage one of RMIT’s E-learning Advancement Program (REAP), all Australia-based programs became available to students through the Blackboard online system.

University teaching courses will be required to meet tough new national standards under a landmark agreement by state and federal governments to boost the quality of teachers in schools.

Education ministers discussed the idea during a telephone conference yesterday, amid growing public concerns that too many teachers are graduating ill equipped to deal with life in the classroom.

Universities students will no longer be able to buy their way into prestige courses under changes introduced by the Labor Government, but universities say the end to full fee-paying places will force them to recruit more international students.

Posgraduate students at the University of Sydney have lashed out at the university's administrators for applying double standards in its plagiarism policy in the wake of recent allegations involving Kim Walker, the dean of the Conservatorium of Music.

Academics from the University of Sydney and English teachers at Barker College are putting their heads together to improve the way Shakespeare is taught.

The project is being launched as more than 67,000 NSW students receive their HSC results by SMS or telephone on Wednesday. Students who topped individual subjects will also be honoured at a ceremony at the Conservatorium of Music in Sydney.