9 mind maps from APAIE 2024
Last week saw around 2,000 delegates from universities and higher education organisations around the world gather in Perth, Western Australia for the annual APAIE conference (Asia Pacific Association for International Education). It was a huge week, from the pre-conference workshops on Monday, through to three packed days of talks, panels and roundtables.
As always, I took my digital notepad and mapped whatever I could at each session; the outputs are not pretty, but they work for me! As I review the sessions, these visual notes take me back to a delightful menu of thought-provoking themes, from learning loss and international student employability to enquiry tracking, student experience and all kinds of transnational collaborations and partnerships for sustainable futures.
What the notes can’t capture are the friendly faces and wonderfully warm interactions that made a huge conference feel collegial and welcoming from start to finish. To everyone I met, thanks for some great chats - and a final, massive thanks to my workshop co-presenter and conference co-pilot Peta Bollen. Everyone should have a Peta to partner with at conferences!
Maps 1-3: Inclusive education, learning loss, employability
“The proud mission of those who have been able to receive education must be to serve, in seen and unseen ways, the lives of those who have not had this opportunity”
These sessions included:
Insightful analysis from Jon Chew (Navitas) looking at learning loss and its impacts across the globe;
A re-framing of inclusivity from the Institute of International Education in Myanmar, Indonesia and India;
Innovative approaches to employment for international students where skills are needed most (a Study NSW funded project featuring Charles Sturt and Wollongong universities, and a tech platform from Global Study Partners).
Maps 4-6: Enquiry tracking, study decisions and student experience
“Students still like talking to people, not just chatbots”
These sessions included:
Insights from Edified’s Enquiry Experience Tracker, comparing how institutions around the world handle student enquiries (short answer: not very well!);
More insights on student experience, this time from Varsha Devi Balakrishnan’s The Social Source, sharing real-time trends from the SE Asia diaspora;
Speakers from The PIE, The Ambassador Platform and digital marketing specialists UMS digging into student community, including extended communities of parents, peers, and social media platforms.
Maps 7-9: Using data, impact of TNE, harnessing partnerships
“You have to be intentional about the data you gather and analyse - understanding WHY you’re doing it is so important”
These sessions included:
Vedika Taunk (Humber College, Canada) and Jennifer Wilkinson (London Metropolitan University, UK) sharing how they do - and don’t - use data to understand recruitment needs and implement change;
Transnational campuses in Mauritius (Curtin University), Malaysia (University of Nottingham), and Singapore (Newcastle University) sharing impacts of overseas campuses on local community and innovation;
Members of the Universitas 21 network sharing insights into what makes a strategic partnership and global network sustainable and rewarding for all.
Explore these sessions and many, many more on the APAIE conference website. Peta and I will be back soon with the details from our own workshop on international student support for anyone who couldn’t attend!