Renee Morrison

Generative-artificial intelligence (Gen-AI) has the capacity to alter knowledge production and sense-making behaviours, arguably the core business of education. This, coupled with their rapid development means considerable media attention has been devoted to Gen-AI systems. This chapter presents a critical discourse analysis (CDA) of Australian newspaper articles covering Gen-AI in education during 2023. Newspapers have long influenced the discursive making of educational realities, but regarding new technology, often rely upon reductionist and dichotomous discourses. Following Fairclough, I analyse how certain textual features—namely metaphor and modality—draw upon and strengthen these discourses, and naturalise particular constructions of Gen-AI and educational stakeholders. The utility of Cohen’s moral panic for understanding this patterned response is also considered. I identify four root metaphors and problematise their reliance upon habitual framings for representing new technology. While both utopic and dystopic visions are found in metaphor, analyses point to a predominantly favourable stance of Gen-AI. I show how this stance is further strengthened via modal tendencies which draw upon deterministic discourses to validate the powers of Gen-AI. These findings are discussed as further evidence of the complex co-option of discourses surrounding edtech towards particular ideological and economic landscapes. I discuss why limited discursive representations of Gen-AI are problematic in education, demonstrating the capacity for CDA to help map and deepen these representations.

The intensification of research agendas and growing performativity demands in higher education have reshaped academic work, with a focus on narrowly defined research outputs, competition, rankings, and “excellence”. This study explores how universities and their workers respond to these pressures. Using an adapted version of Laurent Berlant’s 100s technique, we reflect on our experiences writing for publication within an audit culture. Drawing on our participation in an 18-month “Shut Up and Write!” program at an Australian university, we employ a collaborative autoethnographic approach to analyse our engagement. Initially aiming to create space for meaningful work, we realised that our efforts were entangled in dominant performative cultures. In our writing, we consider alternatives, acknowledging the risk of reinforcing audit narratives while asserting our identities as authentic scholars. Our findings aim to contribute to fostering a collegial and responsible research culture that enables academics to navigate professional expectations in safer, rewarding ways.

Home educated students are Australia's fastest growing educational demographic. This growth may be due to the ubiquitous availability of resources made possible by the internet. This chapter considers several enablers and barriers to internet use in home education, using search engines as a case study. Search engine use is associated with several benefits and is the most prolific online activity conducted in home education. The chapter reports on a study into whether or not the search engine use of home educated students' (so-called digital natives) is stronger than that of their parent-educators (so-called digital immigrants). The study involved a survey of 60 parent-educators and observations, tests and interviews with five families. Irrespective of age, all searchers were found to use search engines in superficial ways. Findings can assist the growing number of Australians educating at home to maximise enablers while minimising any barriers to effective search engine use. Future research directions and the practicalities of existing literature for home-educators and students are also discussed.