Learning Innovation Festival 2021

The Learning Innovation Festival (LIFE) 2021 brings together speakers, faculty members, and staff members to explore educational issues and challenges, and provides opportunities for faculty members to showcase their innovative teaching practices.

Our Speakers

Professor Venky Shankararaman
Vice Provost (Education)
Singapore Management University

Associate Professor Lieven Demeester
Associate Provost (Teaching and Learning Innovation)
Director, Centre for Teaching Excellence
Singapore Management University

Associate Professor
Hady W. Lauw
School of Computing and Information Systems 
Singapore Management University
 

Associate Professor Ijlal Naqvi
School of Social Sciences 
Singapore Management University

Dr Bodean Hedwards
Director of Enterprise and Immersion Initiatives, Faculty of Arts
Monash University

Programme

7 October 2021 (9am - 12pm Singapore Time)

9:00 - 9:05 am            Welcome and Introduction to LIFE

Welcome and Introduction to LIFE

Dr. Yeo Wee Loon
Centre for Teaching Excellence
Singapore Management University
 

 

9:05 - 9:15 am            Introduction by Director, Centre for Teaching Excellence

 

Associate Professor Lieven Demeester
Associate Provost (Teaching and Learning Innovation)
Director, Centre for Teaching Excellence
Singapore Management University
 

 

Introduction by Director, Centre for Teaching Excellence

 

Digital Learning in SMU

Lieven is Associate Professor of Operations Management (Practice) at the Lee Kong Chian School of Business and has been at SMU since 2008.  He was Associate Dean for MBA programmes from 2015 to 2017 and he was founding academic director of the IE-SMU MBA programme, offered jointly by SMU and the IE Business School in Spain and delivered through a blended learning format.  Lieven has a passion for experiential learning courses in which students are guided by instructors to link theory with practice in challenging projects for external partners.  For the last eight years, he has been teaching a course on Managing Process Improvement that is now part of SMU-X and he also coordinates the capstone course in the IE-SMU MBA programme with partners such as Louis Vuitton, ABN-AMRO, GSK, Johnson & Johnson, and Decathlon.

 

9:15 - 9:35 am            The Future of Digital Learning in Singapore Management University

 

 

Professor Venky Shankararaman
Vice Provost (Education)
Singapore Management University
 

The Future of Digital Learning in Singapore Management University

Sypnosis

Prof Venky Shankararaman will discuss how SMU had to rapidly adapt to the challenges posed by the pandemic, the lessons learnt and present the implications of digital learning for the future delivery of SMU’s interactive pedagogy.

Speaker Bio

Venky Shankararaman is the Vice Provost (Undergraduate Matters) and Professor of Information Systems (Education), Singapore Management University. He holds a PhD in Engineering from the University of Strathclyde, Glasgow, UK. His current areas of specialization include business process management and analytics, enterprise systems architecture and integration, and education pedagogy. He has over 25 years of experience in the IT industry in various capacities as a researcher, academic faculty member, IT professional and industry consultant. Venky has designed and delivered professional courses for government and industry in areas such as business process management and analytics, enterprise architecture, technical architecture, and enterprise integration. He has published over 75 papers in academic journals and conferences.

 

9:35 - 9:55 am            Academics as Effective Online Instructors: The Case of Universiti Malaya (UM)

 

 

Associate Professor Dr. Farrah Dina Binti Yusop
Director, Academic Enhancement and Leadership Development Centre
Universiti Malaya

 

Academics as Effective Online Instructors: The Case of Universiti Malaya (UM)

Sypnosis

Online teaching and learning is currently accepted and practiced as a new norm in the higher education setting. In this presentation, Associate Professor Dr. Farrah Dina Yusop will share University Malaya’s efforts to support its academics as effective online instructors, especially from the professional development perspective.

Speaker Bio

Farrah Dina Yusop is an Associate Professor in the Faculty of Education and Director of the Universiti Malaya's Academic Enhancement and Leadership Development Centre (ADeC). She is a scholar-researcher-practitioner in the design and development of technology-enhanced teaching and learning solutions to help individuals advance in their personal and professional lives. She's well-known for her Civic-Minded Instructional Designer (CMID) framework, which has reframed current ways of educating professionals for the purpose of improving public life.

 

9:55 - 10:15 am          Mahidol University's Adaptation to Digital Learning Strategy

 

 

 

Assistant Professor Nopphol Pausawasdi
Director, Mahidol University Library and Knowledge Center
Advisor, Division of Academic Affairs
Mahidol University

Mahidol University's Adaptation to Digital Learning Strategy

Sypnosis

This presentation highlights how Mahidol University rapidly adapted to an university-wide strategy in the use of digital technology during the Covid-19 pandemic.  The presentation also covers how Mahidol University plans to adopt Flexible Education with the support of technology to further enhance students’ learning. 

Speaker Bio

An educational technology specialist, Assistant Professor Nopphol Pausawasdi, PhD the Director of Mahidol University Library and Knowledge Center and Advisor of Division of Academic Affairs has been responsible for the enhancing teaching and learning through the use of educational technology at Mahidol University since 2018.  He also drives the use of MUx, an official MOOC learning management system of the university, which achieved an international standard quality assurance ISO 40180. He is also involved in implementing adaptive interventions in the educational policies and regulations as well as spearheading the use of educational technology during the Covid-19 pandemic at the university level.

 

10:15 - 10:45 am        Q&A

 

Q&A 

Dr. Yeo Wee Loon
Centre for Teaching Excellence
Singapore Management University
 

10:45 - 10:55 am        BREAK

 

10-min Break

​10:55 - 11:25 am        Algorithmic Approaches to Augmenting Lesson Slides with Relevant Online Videos

 

 

Associate Professor
Hady W. Lauw
School of Computing and
Information Systems
Singapore Management University

 

Algorithmic Approaches to Augmenting Lesson Slides with Relevant Online Videos

Sypnosis

When reviewing lesson slides, students may benefit from additional learning resources in the form online videos relevant to the concepts discussed in the slides.  In this talk, the speaker will share his experiences in developing Slide++, which seeks to identify online videos and even segments within videos relevant to each presentation slide. 

Speaker Bio

Hady W. Lauw is an Associate Professor in the School of Computing and Information Systems, Singapore Management University, where he also directs the BSc (Computer Science) programme.  His research interests are in artificial intelligence and machine learning, particularly how they facilitate learning user preferences as well as aiding user navigation of information.

 

11:25 - 11:55 am        Collaborative Online International Learning for Tackling Global Challenges

 

 

Associate Professor Ijlal Naqvi
School of Social Sciences
Singapore Management University

 

 

Dr Bodean Hedwards
Director of Enterprise and Immersion Initiatives
Faculty of Arts
Monash University

 

Collaborative Online International Learning for Tackling Global Challenges

Sypnosis

The class on Social Entrepreneurship in the Indo-Pacific brought together 200 students from five universities in Singapore, Australia, Indonesia, and India. This course takes advantage of its online structure to convene student teams across these locations. The theme of  international collaboration is reinforced by having students search for innovative responses to global challenges as framed by the sustainable development goals. 

Speaker Bios

Ijlal Naqvi is Associate Professor of Sociology and Associate Dean (Curriculum and Teaching) at the School of Social Sciences of Singapore Management University. He studies governance and development in the Global South, using infrastructure as a lens on state-building and the citizen’s engagement with the state on an everyday basis. He is currently working on a book entitled Access to Power: Electricity and the Infrastructural State in Pakistan, under contract with Oxford University Press. Ijlal’s research has been published in Energy Research and Social Science, Journal of Development Studies, Urban Studies, Journal of Democracy, and Current Sociology. Ijlal earned his Ph.D. from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Dr Bodean Hedwards is the Director of Enterprise and Immersion Initiatives with Monash University’s Faculty of Arts. Joining the Faculty initially as Manager of the multi-award winning Global Immersion Guarantee (GIG) program, Bodean is responsible for the design and delivery of a suite of high-impact, solution-focused education initiatives available to all students at Monash University. Bodean is also a criminologist focused on human trafficking and modern slavery, having spent much of the last decade working with leading organisations around the world on how to best respond to this issue.

 

11:55am - 12:00pm    Wrap-up

Wrap-up

Dr. Yeo Wee Loon
Centre for Teaching Excellence
Singapore Management University
 

 

All timings listed are in Singapore Time (GMT +8).​

Please cte [at] smu.edu.sg (contact CTE) if you are interested to find out more about the innovations showcased in LIFE 2021.

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