DEHub/Research Network/Southern Skies

Southern Skies: Distance Education Academic Exchange

The overall long-term goals of the Southern Skies: Distance Education Academic Exchange project are to improve distance education practices and quality, enhance access to best practices in distance education and provide a more socially inclusive and accessible educational atmosphere within the Australian and Latin American higher education sectors.

The flow-on effect will be improved career prospects for distance education graduates across a broad demographic profile. Our primary immediate objective is to establish inter-institutional links that will foster direct, mutually beneficial exchange of knowledge, systems and practices between distance education providers in the higher education sectors in Australia and Latin America. This cross-continental academic exchange will provide the foundation for a supportive network of distance education providers and highlight potential opportunities for future collaborations between the two regions. Without impinging upon individual institutions’ strategic goals, the project will build capacity within the participating universities, so as to empower academics to effectively lead and initiate practical and positive change within their respective educational environments as appropriate.