GUEST RESEARCH: New Instructure research finds three in four Australian educators see helping graduates adapt to changing careers as essential, but fewer than half feel confident their institution’s pathways deliver on it.
Hundreds of educators, learning and technology leaders, partners and members of the Instructure community will gather today in Sydney for CanvasCon ANZ 2026, hosted by Instructure, the maker of Canvas LMS.
Held at ILUMINA under the theme “Shaping Readiness, Together”, for the next two days CanvasCon ANZ 2026 will explore how education institutions are responding to AI, evolving student expectations, skills development and the growing demand for lifelong learning, with a focus on shared insight, practical action and learning from peers.
The programme features participants from UNSW Sydney, the University of Melbourne, the University of Sydney, RMIT University, Griffith University, Adelaide University, the University of Newcastle, Swinburne University of Technology and the University of Auckland, alongside schools, vocational education and training providers and other education organisations.
Preliminary Australian research reveals gaps in readiness
CanvasCon ANZ 2026 comes as preliminary findings from forthcoming Instructure research highlight a gap between Australian institutions’ ambitions for lifelong learning and AI and their confidence in delivering against them.
Conducted in June and July 2026, the survey included education professionals across primary, secondary and higher education and other education-related roles. It provides an early glimpse into how Australian institutions are approaching lifelong learning and flexible pathways, AI readiness, and AI access and equity. Preliminary Australian findings include:
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Australian institutions recognise the growing importance of lifelong learning, but confidence in their ability to deliver it remains lower. Three-quarters (75%) of Australian respondents rated supporting graduates to retrain as their careers change as important or very important. The same proportion rated co-delivering ongoing workforce development with industry and reaching learners outside traditional enrolment as important or very important. Yet only 44% were quite or extremely confident that their institution’s current pathways matched their lifelong learning priorities.
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Curricula are adapting to changing skills needs, but definitions of graduate readiness are further behind. Half (50%) of Australian respondents said their curriculum reflected the skills students will need as work continues to change to a large or very large extent. Only 28% said their institution’s definition of graduate readiness had evolved to account for AI’s impact on careers to the same extent.
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Many institutions are still at an early stage of determining how AI fits into learning and lifelong learning pathways. More than a quarter (27%) of Australian education professionals said their institution was not yet using any of the listed AI tools or approaches to support learning and was still exploring options, while just 28% were quite or extremely confident their institution had a clear strategy for where AI fits within its lifelong learning pathways.
“Australian educators clearly see the need to prepare students for careers that will keep changing, but our preliminary findings show many institutions are still working out where AI fits,” said Darren Read, Managing Director, Asia Pacific at Instructure.
“CanvasCon is a chance to have a practical conversation about where education is heading. We’ll hear directly from universities, schools and training providers about what they’re seeing on the ground, what’s working and where the challenges remain, and, importantly, what students need to succeed.”
AI, learner engagement and lasting skills on the agenda
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Featured speakers will bring perspectives spanning artificial intelligence, neuroscience, education, technology and the future of skills to some of the questions facing educators in 2026.
Dr Toby Walsh, ARC Laureate Fellow and Scientia Professor of AI at UNSW Sydney, and Dr Lila Landowski, neuroscientist and senior lecturer at the University of Tasmania, will join Rachel Orston, Chief Customer Officer at Instructure, and education leader Martin Bean, Chief Executive Officer of The Bean Centre, on the main stage.
“I’m looking forward to two days of direct, honest conversation with the educators and institutions who use our products every day,” said Rachel Orston, Chief Customer Officer at Instructure. “Our customer community shapes where Instructure goes next, and gatherings like this are where that happens. We hear what’s working, what isn’t, and that feedback goes straight into how we build.”
Walsh, Chief Scientist of UNSW.AI, UNSW Sydney’s campus-wide AI institute, will deliver “Outthinking AI: Cognition, Assessment, and the Skills of the Future”, examining cognition, assessment and what students will need to succeed as AI capabilities advance. A Fellow of the Australian Academy of Science, Walsh has addressed the United Nations, heads of state and parliamentary bodies on AI.
Landowski will bring a brain science perspective to the future of learning. Known for making neuroscience accessible to broad audiences, her contribution will bring a learner-centred perspective to questions of readiness and engagement, including how an understanding of how people learn can help educators create more effective educational experiences.
Orston will open the event with a fireside chat alongside Bean, drawing on their experience across education and technology to explore how institutions can respond to changing learner expectations, emerging technologies, workforce needs and the growing need for flexible, lifelong learning.
University leaders will also explore how institutions can build skills, employability, flexible pathways and lifelong learning into their programmes. The University of Melbourne, University of Auckland and Griffith University will discuss options beyond the traditional degree, while representatives from RMIT University and Swinburne University of Technology will examine skills-based learning.
The University of Melbourne will share its experience modernising digital exam security, while a University of Sydney student will join a panel exploring AI and the learning experience.
CanvasCon ANZ 2026 takes place at ILUMINA, 1 Elizabeth Street, Sydney, 24–25 August 2026.
Register for CanvasCon ANZ 2026
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