New ‘Communiversity’ Launches in North-west Tasmania

Media release – University of Wynyard, 23 August 2022

New ‘Communiversity’ launches in north-west Tasmania

Residents across the coast of north-west Tasmania have additional opportunities to explore ideas and research topics of interest with the launch of a new educational platform, based in the Wynyard area.

The University of Wynyard, or UWYN, is a communiversity – a community based university that looks to link members of the community together for digital conversation, local events and project collaboration.

Founder, Codie Hutchison, with a background in education and working with young people, observed gaps between what’s offered in formal education settings locally, what young people are interested in, and how people learn.

“Young people want experiences, diversity, room to explore, and connection to people and ideas. TAFE and university courses are often a big commitment, financially, physically, and time wise, just to explore areas of interest. With the push towards online learning at many higher education institutions, there is often a loss in face to face connection. Not everyone wants to do an official course to learn about something of interest,” Hutchison said.

The solution is creating different points of connection to areas of interest, stating that “We can create many of the elements of a learning community, right here in our own backyard. We have the people, including many knowledgeable people and experts, plus those eager to learn more. We also have all the tools to communicate online with each other.”

The aim of UWYN, he says, his not just to break down barriers to higher education, but to simply connect the community – seeing the benefits of connecting teachers to learners, regardless of age or level of understanding.

“In my view, there is always an argument for strengthening relationships across generations in the local community, and what better ways to do this than through passions and potential interests?” Mr Hutchison said.

“We aim at all ages and abilities, from around 13 years of age to the senior members of our community – because we do use existing social media platforms that do have age requirements.”

The online portals went live yesterday, with interested community members encouraged to join the Facebook groups or Discord server to begin the journey. Membership is open and free, and any member can host events, activities, or workshops in partnership with or under the UWYN banner.

“It’s about creating flexibility and opening the door to interaction and opportunity – the focus is not just online, but equally it is not just about events & activities, rather seeing both components as necessary to create a 21st century learning community, that the community is empowered to manage and run.”

Hutchison says that he is not going to “sit in an ivory tower and hand out certificates of achievement,” explaining that there are no grades, no entry requirements, no course fees, no professor salaries, and no major organisational costs – just simple opportunities for locals to share information, learn what they can, and teach the community what they know.

It was also advised that events and activities run through UWYN will be at the discretion of the event organisers, so whilst there are no membership fees to be a part of the online community, specific educational events may from time to time, require a contribution.

“Many community organisations run great local activities and events, however, opening up the offerings in a community will further expand the culture of learning and experimentation, helping Wynyard to become a hub of ideas, innovation, and research.”

For more information, go to Facebook https://www.facebook.com/UniWyn or Discord https://discord.gg/zz7jNJKnWK