So, it's university open day season in Brisbane, and given that I have a daughter approaching the end of high school, we once again went out to a university to listen to a couple of talks and view the facilities.
Yesterday, it was QUT, but we went to the Kelvin Grove campus, which does education and creative industries. The education building is pretty new, and as with most new university buildings these days, is pretty flash. Of some particular amusement, though, is the huge feature of a glowing central sphere in the centre of the building, the exact point of which was not made clear. Some of the changes it undergoes in the projected pattern look vaguely like neurons firing; at other times the convolutions look a bit too much like intestines. (I assume the former association is intentional; the latter, not so much.) Here it is in action:
There was mention that people doing something on the interactive screen on the wall would influence what the Sphere of Educational Destiny, or whatever it's called, shows.
Anyway, it's certainly eye catching, and seems ready made to be used in a science fiction film; but I do wonder if it has much point.
As for the open day itself: as usual, it was full of optimism about the courses; how students can do some of it overseas; and how easily they will find getting a job. (The teachers course in particular put up a figure of 97% employment for graduates soon after completing the course - I guess they didn't say that all of the jobs were as teachers, but I assume that would be case.)
They told us that there is a shortage of teachers not only in Australia, but world wide, and that Australian teachers are well regarded internationally. Apparently, if you stick it living out in a remote community, you can make principal barely a couple of years from graduation.
All very positive vibes, as they usually are at these open days, and modern universities are such nice built environments, I really enjoy the open days. More than my children do...
3 comments:
It's like the Big Black Sphere of the Apocalypse in Netflix's second season of Dark - don't know if you've seen it?
No, I haven't. Worth watching? Only watching two series on Netflix atm - am looking for more worthwhile ones to start.
I find it very good - but it's giving me an opportunity to keep practicing my German. I think the series makers have overcome the 'second series' problem, basically because they started out with a fixed idea (by contrast, 'Stranger Things' series two was awful). It all seems to hang together in a quite rigorous German way. Though this also means the individual episodes can seem very formulaic - when everything depends on the overarching plot, the mini-plot of individual episodes can get sacrificed.
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