IAL Advance Oct 2020 | Issue 1

IAL ADVANCE OCTOBER 2020 • ISSUE 1

A Bulletin of the Institute for Adult Learning

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Thought leadership for a new era: Insights from IAL Executive Director

Digital strategy transformation: Impact on Training and Adult Education (TAE) sector in Singapore

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Adult learning in the age of COVID-19 Pandemic: Are we ready for online learning?

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Future of work: Is your job at risk of automation?

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InnovJam: Elevating adult education@IAL

Empowering individuals, advancing enterprises: How Centre for Workplace Learning and Performance does it

Rethinking future of work in Singapore: Future of Adult Learning Research Symposium (FoALR)

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Thought leadership for a new era: Insights from IAL Executive Director The Executive Director of IAL, Professor Lee Wing On, describes the central role of ‘thought leadership’ in driving the growth of IAL’s footprint in andragogical capabilities and research in adult learning.

A world-renowned scholar and practitioner in

the fields of lifelong and adult learning as well as comparative education and citizenship education, Professor Lee Wing On helms IAL as its Executive Director (ED) and concurrently serves as a Professor at the Singapore University of Social Sciences. In a recent interview with the IAL Editorial Team (IAL ET), ED described the central role of thought leadership in the new era of charting IAL’s direction for the next five years.

The central focus revolves around its research to inform national TAE policies and practices and national skills policies and programmes, as well as drive innovations and experimentations to advance TAE capabilities and learning designs.

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IAL ET: What do you think are the essential attributes of change agents who are thought leaders?

ED: A thought leader and change agent is someone who is able to look at an issue from multiple perspectives, and identify learning points from which he or she can harness and push the company to initiate changes that can bring about a greater good. A thought leader must also possess a sense of direction. A leader with no direction cannot lead. Imagine a race where there is no endpoint and runners begin to run in all directions. Therefore, a leader must be able to visualise a ‘goalpost’ and lead everyone to this ‘goalpost’. To do so, IAL strives to become the leader in adult education. In doing so, we must always advance the goalpost, then we will attract people to join IAL’s journey of pursuing the continually advancing goalpost. Together, we will grow and develop as an institution.

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IAL ET: What is your vision for research in IAL? How is IAL achieving that vision?

useful for adult learners who come to learn at IAL, we can then help them to grasp the skills and turn them into tools to improve their workplace performance that will support the growth of the enterprises where they serve.

ED: My vision for IAL is aligned to its current vision and mission. IAL is established as a training institute to develop the TAE sector and to train adult educators for IAL ET: What do you think is the most the enhancement of adult learning, important contribution which research similar to how the National Institute of can make? What do you think it would Education (NIE) is established to train take to achieve this? teachers for schools. When we translate our vision to our research, we need to ED: understand two things. Firstly, our core For IAL, I think the most important business is to train adult educators to contribution of our research, which become professionals we aim to achieve, is to be in training adults as helpful for our government a career. As such, IAL to develop policies that will "IAL aims to develop aims to become the best help the workforce to further our niche in research institute in adult learning strengthen their capabilities. such that adult educators IAL is doing something very that will have impact can look up to IAL as the unique, which is bottom-up on policies and leader of adult education. research, and research on practices."

Secondly, adult learning practices which place IAL is always related to jobs, strategically alongside its skills, practices and partners and enterprises. personal advancements. Therefore, IAL’s While academic research is important, research will be essential as we are the IAL positions itself as an institute that national institute that serves the needs focuses on prioritising our customers’ of frontline workers, practitioners needs first, and conduct applied and adult learners who would like to research with academic credibility. IAL enhance their capabilities. aims to develop our niche in research that will have impact on policies and The demands on IAL are very high. In practices. Our research has been going addition to identifying the changes in in this direction for the past ten years. jobs, skills, and emerging skills, we While we seek academic excellence, we need to master the critical differences should never forget that our research between the emergent skills and the has to be useful to policymakers and traditional skills, so that we can help practitioners; we need to strike a balance upscale the workforce more effectively. between meeting academic standards If we can identify how these skills can be and meeting practice needs.

As we come to the end of our interview, our ED concluded with a Chinese idiom – “逆水行舟, 不进 则退 (nì shu xíng zhōu, bù jìn zé tuì)". This means that knowledge acquisition is akin to rowing a boat against the currents. If one does not constantly push forth the boat, one will be pushed back by the currents. ED said, “Here at IAL, we constantly motivate our staff to strive towards greater heights,

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by providing a multitude of opportunities for training and development. After which, they will be presented with opportunities to display their newly-acquired knowledge and share with our adult learners. I do hope that IAL will one day become internationally known as a thought leader and change agent not just in Singapore but in TAE and CET sectors; after which, it will be recognised by all around the world as well”.

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Digital strategy transformation: Impact on Training and Adult Education (TAE) sector in Singapore The COVID-19 pandemic is accelerating digital learning implementation in higher education and Training and Adult Education (TAE) sectors. The joint survey on 1553 respondents conducted by the Institute for Adult Learning (IAL) and the University of Bristol (UoB) highlighted that online delivery of teaching, assessment and training-related work are the future of higher education, adult training and lifelong learning in Singapore.

PROJECT TEAM: Principal Investigator: Dr Chen Zan, Principal Researcher, SUSS/IAL

Researchers: Tan Bao Zhen, RID, SUSS/IAL

External Collaborator & Co-Principal Investigator: Bryan Ang, RID, SUSS/IAL

Sabrina binte Hardy, RID, SUSS/IAL

Prof Richard Watermeyer, University of Bristol, England

The availability of new technologies in the 21st century, enabled by improved internet accessibility and increased digital citizenry, has affirmed the praxis that learning can take place anywhere and at any time. Although there has been a growing recognition that technology-enabled education is beneficial, the recent global spread of COVID-19 pandemic has undeniably become a catalyst to effectuate the trajectory of rapid adoption of multimodal and digitalised learning innovations by higher education, adult training and lifelong learning training providers.

To capture educators’ perspectives on moving all learning, teaching, assessment and training-related work online in higher education as well as training and adult education in Singapore, the Institute for Adult Learning (IAL) and the University of Bristol (UoB) jointly conducted the COVID-19 Educator Online Survey in Singapore in May and June 2020. 1553 respondents from higher education institutions such as autonomous universities, polytechnics, Institute of Technical Education, private educational institutions (PEIs) and training providers (TPs) participated in this survey.

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A key finding showed that the proportion of respondents reported the frequent use of online platform for teaching, assessment, and training-related work increased more than four times during the present COVID-19 pandemic period compared to the pre-COVID-19 period. Particularly, synchronous learning platforms were highlighted to be used most frequently during the COVID-19 pandemic period, compared to the use of LMS (Learning Management Systems) and pre-recorded video platforms reported in the 2018 TAE Landscape Survey.

This comparison is indicated in Figure 1: Figure 1: Comparison of Proportion of Respondents who Reported Frequent Use of Online Platforms in 2018 and 2020

2018*

2020

LMS

27% 46%

Synchronous videos

20% 67%

Pre-recorded videos

45% 29%

Notably, the impetus for the rapid adoption of remote digital-based learning to mitigate the effect of COVID-19 pandemic on education has received mixed reactions from Adult Educators (AEs) in Singapore. It is no mean feat for AEs to manage the challenges of online learning which comprise issues with access, connectivity and reliability of technological devices and tools, as well as insufficient digital skills.

More than half (56%) of the respondents expressed the need to significantly improve their knowledge and skills in online delivery to remain employable in higher or adult education (Figure 2): Figure 2: Proportion of Respondents Reporting the Likelihood of the Need to Significantly Improve Online Delivery

Not likely

Somewhat likely

Very likely

Overall 14%

29%

56%

ITE/Poly 13%

31%

55%

AUs 18% PEIs 18%

34% 30%

48% 52%

TPs 13%

26%

61%

In-house 11%

28%

60%

Note: Figures are rounded to the nearest whole number.

Slider scale: (0-49: Not likely; 50: Somewhat likely; 51-100: Very likely)

06 Respondents generally felt that learning online would help their students and learners develop digital skills, as well as the necessary knowledge and skills needed for employment (Figure 3).

Figure 3: Perceived Impact of Online Learning on Their Learners

Disagree

Neutral Overall

13% 7%

80%

ITE/Poly

10% 10%

80%

AUs

15%

79%

PEIs

11% 10%

79%

TPs

14% 4%

82%

In-house

16%

78%

Overall

26%

ITE/Poly

24%

AUs

28%

PEIs

24%

TPs

28%

In-house

22%

Develop digital skills

Equip with knowledge/ skills for employment

Agree

7%

7% 16% 16% 17% 10%

58% 60% 54% 65%

15% 22%

57% 56%

Note: Figures are rounded to the nearest whole number.

Slider scale: (0-49: Disagree; 50: Neutral; 51-100: Agree)

The study also found that generally more than half of the respondents felt that exclusive online learning would impact learning outcomes negatively (Figure 4): Figure 4: Perceived Impact on Learning Outcomes

Disagree

Negatively impact learning outcomes compared to F2F learning

Negatively impact learning outcomes compared to blended learning

Neutral

Agree

Overall

30%

ITE/Poly

27%

15%

58%

AUs

31%

10%

59%

PEIs

28%

17%

54%

TPs

29%

14%

57%

In-house

37%

Overall

30%

11%

59%

ITE/Poly

28%

13%

59%

AUs

32%

9%

58%

PEIs

27%

13%

60%

TPs

29%

11%

60%

In-house

34%

14%

17%

12%

Note: Figures are rounded to the nearest whole number.

Slider scale: (0-49: Disagree; 50: Neutral; 51-100: Agree)

56%

46%

54%

07 Additionally, about half of the respondents (48%) felt that the move to online learning would have a negative impact on assessment as reported in Figure 5: Figure 5: Perceived Impact of Exclusive Online Learning on Assessment

Negative

Assessment processes

Formative assessment

Summative assessment

No change/impact

Positive 9%

43%

Overall

48%

ITE/Poly

56%

7%

37%

AUs

55%

12%

33%

PEIs

45%

TPs

43%

8%

49%

In-house

44%

8%

49%

Overall

48%

9%

43%

ITE/Poly

50%

7%

42%

AUs

50%

PEIs

49%

TPs

45%

In-house

49%

10%

42%

Overall

50%

8%

42%

ITE/Poly

58%

4%

38%

AUs

56%

PEIs

47%

TPs

46%

In-house

46%

8%

13% 5% 9%

13% 7% 8% 10%

47%

“Establishing authenticity of learners doing the learning and then assessment is the biggest challenge that unfortunately has not been resolved with today’s technology.”

37% 46% 46%

32% 46% 46% 44%

Note: Figures are rounded to the nearest whole number.

Slider scale: (0-49: Negative; 50: No Change/Impact; 51-100: Positive)

The future made present by COVID-19 pandemic is seen to have catapulted educators and trainers ‘across the Rubicon’ and to the other side of digitalisation. The long-term impact of COVID-19 pandemic will be seen in terms of the permanent digitalisation of higher education and adult training. The following adjustments are made by AEs to their teaching, assessment and training-related work to achieve desirable outcomes (Figure 6): Figure 6: Adjustments Made to Support Learning during Pandemic

Extra 1 preparation 2 for content (n=350)

Increased use of engaging and interactive materials (n=321)

Changes in 3 assessment 4 (n=300)

Additional support for learners (n=272)

Technological 5 improvements (n=254)

08 “Technology-enhanced education, if used appropriately, can impact positively on what adult learners learn, how quickly they learn, and their attitudes to learning.”

An increased investment in digital capacity building among teacher trainees is also linked to concerns that increased popularity for digital learning would necessitate increased performance-based evaluation and regulatory mechanisms to assure quality online delivery for assessment and credentialing (Figure 7): Figure 7: Implications of Online Delivery for Assessment and Credentialing

Assessing Performance

Incorporates

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1 2 3

2 3

Far more than reproducing knowledge, effective performance involves good skills applications and adaptation of appropriate skills, attitudes and mental states Performance is holistic in bringing together theoretical understanding that is evident in behaviours, judgements, communication processes, degree of skill mastery, etc.

Holistic performance requires practice

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Criteria that involve evaluating the quality of solutions or application of what have been 'learnt' Authentic assessment activities

Technology that will be leveraged as part of the assessment process, e.g. videos that capture learner's skill practice Feedback from peers and supervisors

Finally, when asked which areas are most needed for professional development, five areas are highlighted by educators in Singapore as indicated in Figure 8: Figure 8: Top Areas for Professional Development

1

Use of learning technology (n=425)

2

Online facilitation and management (n=223)

3

Online learner engagement (n=166)

Design and 4 development 5 Assessment and for online learning (n=127)

evaluation (n=115)

The COVID-19 pandemic has provided an unprecedented glimpse into a future andragogic world, one in which digital-mediated educational activities have become critical to enhance learning and training effectiveness.

It forces organisations such as higher education institutions and TAE training providers to accelerate their digital adoption rates within a short span of time. This survey indicated that technology-enhanced education, if used appropriately, can impact positively on what adult learners learn, how quickly they learn, and their attitudes to learning. However, the pandemic also brings about implications for adult educators which need to be carefully considered to maximise digital learning effectiveness of adult learners.

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Adult learning in the age of COVID-19 Pandemic: Are we ready for online learning?

Lee Wee Chee,

Director, Learning & Professional Development

Rapid adoption of digital technology has been underscored as a palpable lifeline to build a resilient and agile infrastructure for organisations to ensure effective business continuity during the current age of COVID-19 pandemic. To harness its power in terms of 'Full Online Learning' (FOL) in the Training and Adult Education (TAE) sector, learners’ cognition, emotions and sociality are aspects that need to be ‘protected’, in order to maximise their readiness for and ensure effectiveness in digital-mediated learning.

COVID-19 preparedness seems to be the buzzword quality teaching and learning. 36 IAL AEs responded since the sudden onslaught of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Deployment of digital access to training and resources in the TAE sector is arguably a critical strategy to ensure adult education business sustainability in the face of learners’ mobility restriction and falling revenue during this period. As the execution drumbeat is driven for digital-mediated learning to take centre stage, it is pertinent for adult education training providers to understand their own evolving needs of adult learners, before they use the online platform to teach other adult learners.

A survey was carried out with IAL’s Adult Educators (AEs) who have been involved in FOL delivery since 4 April 2020. The survey sought to find out how their online learning experience has been, from the perspective of

in this survey.

Figure 1: IAL Adult Learners’ Profile INDUSTRY Wide range of sectors such as Early Childhood, healthcare, Infocommunication technology, security, food services, engineering services, transportation and financial services.

AGE Mostly in their 30s to 50s

EDUCATION At least 8 out of 10 have undergone tertiary education

Adult Learners’ Profile (n=36)

10 In a fully online learning environment, the following adjustments were made to protect learners' cognition, emotions and sociality to ensure learning effectiveness as reported in Figures 2 and 3: Figure 2: Adjustments Made by IAL AEs to Facilitate Learning

Facilitating Learning

1 2 3 4

Provide focus and control pace through planning of activities and giving specific clear verbal instructions such as “in Nearpod, respond to the poll” or “key in comments in Zoom“ Drop the “Good to know” to manage time and compensate for reduced attention span Conduct one-on-one e-coaching when needed Increase check-backs and learning reviews in various forms (eg. comments on written work, learner presentations, polls, quizzes, open-ended questions) to check for understanding

5

Prepare more samples for group discussions and critiques

6

Use Observation Checklist to guide practice, selfreflection and feedback

7 8 9

Allocate pre-lesson work to be allocated with ample time and monitored before the lesson

10 11 12

Encourage more frequent chats through the use of the WhatsApp platform to answer queries and celebrate milestones Promote shorter bursts of content sharing Provide structure to offer assurance on learning and resources through • Zoom: Real-time in-class sessions

Prepare all instructions and have a clear idea what learners are expected to do, then demonstrate with examples

• Mentimeter and Nearpod - short and interactive in-class activities • Google Classroom central depository for resources and holding longer in-class activities or offline group work (e.g. group discussions, case studies, team presentations)

Ensure that in breakout rooms, learners get to practise and discuss the new skills/knowledge which they need to apply

Figure 3: Adjustments Made by IAL AEs to Protect Learners’ Emotions and Sociality

Technology Readiness Level

Protecting Learners' Emotions and Stability

1

1

Arrange pre-course session to familiarise learners with technological tools

2

Get learners to appoint IT champion (in class) or buddy (at home)

3

Introduce IT tools one at a time, to reduce learner anxiety

4

Create opportunities for, and acknowledge small successes to build learner confidence

2 3 4

Open each session with a check-in on learners' emotional and mental states in addition to recap of previous session Share participation and communication guidelines during the first in-class session Slow down (difference between face-to-face verbal instruction and online instruction) Get learners to show their faces during group video conferencing helps to build trust and some comfort (partially feels like everyone is present in a face-toface setting)

5 6 7 8

Provide a safe learning environment for learners to alert AE what is working or not working for them Play music in the background at times to ease the silence Take virtual class pictures Break up the duration of each session into smaller chunks to deal with cognitive load and screen fatigue

11 Figure 4: Positive Findings during the FOL Period

Positive Outcomes

Emotional Resilience - Both AEs and learners have been able to overcome their fear and resistance in using technology in learning - Learners show positivity and readiness to adapt - The community support from fellow AEs and IAL (e.g. Train-the-Trainer sessions, adapted lesson plans) were forthcoming and helpful Facilitating Learning with Technology - With proper design, learners could still participate and connect with both learning and each other meaningfully - Better learning outcomes were achieved than they were initially expected - Possibilities and potential of technology-driven learning are vast and limitless

“I could make the transition from classroom to online fairly smoothly and after two runs, it felt like business as usual. Very fortunate to have work to do.”

Both AEs and learners reported sub-optimal learning experience, amongst other findings, with AEs noting that they felt very distant from their learners and that the learning interactions were reduced to mere twodimensional, dual-sense (sight and sound) interactions.

Figure 5: Areas for Improvement during the FOL period

Hygiene Factors - Regardless of technological savviness of AEs and learners, basic technological issues such as unstable internet connection can hinder FOL - Physical learning environment may not be conducive

Areas for Improvements

Sub-Optimal Learning Experience - Less socialising which can result in less bonding - Easier for miscommunication to happen - Not enough virtual ‘estate’ to reinforce learning visually Learning Suitability (i.e. Types of Learning and Learners) - FOL may not be completely suitable for psychomotor and skills-based learning - Not all learning outcomes can be achieved adequately even with adapted learning design - Easier for learners to hide their lack of understanding or stress when they engage in online learning

Conclusion IAL’s experience in implementing FOL has been largely positive. On the whole though, while there are definitely areas for improvement, both IAL AEs and learners have been able to overcome their fear and resistance in using technology in learning. Learners’ positivity and readiness to adapt with community support from AEs and fellow learners, as well as IAL’s support in terms of Train-the-Trainer sessions and adapted lesson plans helped with the transition. With proper design, learners’ participation and learning effectiveness can certainly be further enhanced.

For more information on resources to support AE to move to full online learning, please visit the links below: https://www.ial.edu.sg/find-resources/learning-resources-and-tools/ online-resources.html https://www.ial.edu.sg/find-resources/learning-resources-and-tools/ converting-learning-programmes-online.html

“There was one day when I said to my learners – ‘Guys, please let me know how you are doing. I feel alone here.’ They jumped right in and started to give me reactions that kept me going. That was a low moment, reaffirming that a facilitator is nothing without participants.”

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Future of work: Is your job at risk of automation?

PROJECT TEAM: Principal Investigator: Mr Simon Freebody, Principal Researcher, SUSS/IAL

Advisor:

Researcher: Prof Johnny Sung,

Centre Director for Skills, Performance and Productivity, RID, SUSS/IAL

Ms Jazreel Tan, Researcher, RID, SUSS/IAL

As a key player in the global supply chain and enabler for manufacturing and trade, the logistics sector plans to achieve a value-add of S$8.3 billion to the industry and add 2,000 professional logistics jobs by 2020. An expected compound annual growth rate of over 7% from 2018-2022 is also outlined in its Logistics Industry Transformation Map. To keep its competitive edge brought about by the evolving contexts of the fourth industrial revolution, logistics automation must be leveraged. However, the drawback of automation in displacing jobs is a harsh reality to behold. The aim of the study is to identify the extent of automation that can occur in Singapore, its drivers and obstacles, and the likely consequences which these aspects have for the knowledge, skills and abilities demanded in the future Singapore's labour market.

13 Automation is a double-edged sword regardless of the sectors in

Singapore. While the potential to harness technology and innovation to take the logistics sector in Singapore to the next level is desirable, it is a mammoth task. Singapore has been ranked first as a major logistics hub in Asia according to World Bank’s Performance Index. However, according to experts, its logistics sector is found to be lagging behind its international competitors in terms of the integration of automation technologies. If automation is introduced too quickly, employees in the logistics sector may find it difficult to adjust accordingly.

To help existing employees cope with the acquisition of new skills demanded by the automation and digitalisation of their work processes, experts have suggested the following technical skills as requiring training, development, and/or new expertise: (i) E-logistics Information Technology (IT) solutioning, (ii) cloud computing application, and (iii) transport management system administration.

Top Barriers and Driver of the Adoption of Automation According to experts, the top barrier to the adoption of automation technologies is the significant up-front costs. Since the returns to investments may be small or unknown, many companies find it difficult to justify investments in automation technologies.

Interestingly, the top driver cited by experts, which comprises the incentives of government funding and policies, combats the top barrier mentioned above. With funding from the government, the up-front costs can be absorbed partially to allow smaller companies to venture into automation technologies.

Other top barriers:

1 2 3 4

Skills concerns/gaps Competitive pressure Quality and accessibility of automation technologies Market norms

Conclusion To further facilitate the adoption of such automation technologies, experts recommend that employees undergo skills training and development, specifically in the area of IT skills and knowledge. Such training and development will allow employees to keep pace with the level of augmentation that is currently expected to be implemented within the sector. It also enables employees whose job roles face substitution to learn a new skill that can potentially help them to move horizontally across their respective career maps within the sector.

Other top drivers:

1 2 3 4

Efficiency and accuracy of automation technologies Changes in consumer behaviour Competitive pressure New marketing techniques

Extent of Automation Impact on the Logistics Sector The logistics solutioning and programme management as well as the logistics process improvement and information system job streams were perceived to be most likely to experience skills augmentation. This requires existing employees to undergo skills training or development, from lower-level jobs such as logistics operations analysts and logistics data management coordinators to higher-level jobs such as channel operations directors and digital services managers.

Lower-level jobs within the sales and customer service as well as freight forwarding and operations job stream are likely to face a moderate level of reduction in the demand for employees relative to other job roles.

“While many people are concerned about the impact of automation on unemployment and worker displacement, expert opinions gleaned from our project indicated that the opportunities for those who are willing to upgrade their skills far outweigh any concerns about job losses."

- Simon Patrick Freebody, Principal Researcher

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InnovJam: Elevating adult education@IAL A core driver of growth, performance and As an important arm of the Research and capability enhancement, innovation has been Innovation Division (RID), CID, through the iN.LAB focuses on seeding and catalysing learning widely considered as a critical factor for facility, innovations to surface meaningful innovative learning companies to thrive in the highly globalised products or solutions. iN.LAB offers the Innov-Series, and competitive economies. To encourage which bring together different stakeholders to explore, the development of a new learning landscape collaborate and innovate new learning ideas. Comprising of invention, creativity and knowledge five signature initiatives (InnovPlus, InnovJam, InnovLogue, InnovDev and InnovBite), the Innov-Series co-construction, the Centre for Innovation and aim to nurture a culture of innovation in the Training Development (CID) at the Institute for Adult and Adult Education (TAE) and Continuing Education Learning (IAL) encourages outcome-driven and Training (CET) sectors. innovation to elevate adult learning and build iN.LAB launched InnovJAM capabilities for more effective technologyIdeathon and Scale-Up enabled learning as well as pedagogically Bootcamp to help Adult Educators (AEs), Learning sound and innovative practices that are and Development (L&D) blended and integrated with technology.

professionals and existing start-ups to test out, iterate and validate new ideas and solutions that tackle deepseated L&D challenges. A total of 22 teams pitched their ideas to a panel of judges that included Dr Renee Tan

15 (Centre Director of CID, IAL), Mr Niko Lindholm (Program Director, EduSpaze Accelerator), and Mr Nav Qirti (Founder, Ideactio). 10 teams emerged as winners and were accepted into the Scale-Up Bootcamp to further iterate their ideas. These 10 teams eventually presented their iterated ideas on InnovJAM Showcase Day on 29 July 2020. We now feature two of them below:

Team Skilio

Team Upskillcycle

An early stage start-up led by Felix Tan Jia Song, and supported by iN.LAB through the mentorship of Tom Collin (Chairman of the Board at ILA Vietnam), Team Skilio aims to develop a platform for soft skills measurement and analytics that are capable of tracking soft skills development. Team Skilio is currently working with the Future Office of SkillsFuture Singapore to develop the recently-launched 16 critical core skills on their platform. Do keep a lookout for their platform!

Team Upskillcycle is formed by three individuals who have had the experience in participating in Hackathons, a popular form of competition in which computer programmers and software designers collaborate and create a solution to an existing problem using technology. The team was led by Jayren Teo Jian Rong, the Co-founder of Asean Youth Organisation.

Team Upskillcycle aims to serve those who have disabilities through the Low-Code Mentoring and Training Platform.

If you are keen to watch their respective presentations along with that of the other 8 teams, please click the link below: https://www.ial.edu.sg/start-learning-innovation/in-lab/innovation-activities/innovjam-learning-innovationideathon-and-scale-up.html

In the recently unveiled national Training and Adult Education Industry Digital Plan, iN.LAB has been named the 'lead facility for the Continuing Education and Training (CET) community to come together to explore, collaborate and contribute to learning innovation'.

In the next phase, CID will continue its efforts to catalyse innovation as well as ramp up the adoption and scaling of innovative products that comes through iN.LAB. If you would like to contribute ideas to iN.LAB or participate in iN.LAB activities, please scan the following QR code:

Table 1: Programme benefits of Ideathon and Scale-Up Bootcamp Starter Grant

Masterclasses

The opportunity to win a

A series of fully sponsored expert-led sessions covering

$5,000 Starter Grant to begin working on your idea

all scaling fundamentals

Mentorship

Enterprise Linkups

Mentors who are L&D professionals or from successful startups, to provide hands-on support and

Connections to enterprises for pilot testing of ideas

Showcase Day

InnovJAM Alumni Boost

An event day to showcase your iterated ideas and achievements to enterprises and professionals in the L&D sector

Continued post-programme support via events, deals,

valuable introductions

introductions and opportunities

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Rethinking future of work in Singapore: Future of Adult Learning Research Symposium (FoALR) Initiated by Singapore National Research Foundation (NRF) SkillsFuture Singapore (SSG)

Hosted by Institute for Adult Learning (IAL)

Professor Lee Wing On (sixth from left) with distinguished guests and speakers from Day 1

With the prevalent use of disruptive technology to improve products and services, many people struggle to pick up new skills and adapt to the use of new technologies. Adult learning research is thus pivotal in uncovering how adults can boost their learning agility to acquire new skills and knowledge for more sustainable future. Four research areas that underpin adult learning research have been presented at the FoALR Symposium.

The inaugural Future of Adult Learning Research (FoALR) Symposium hosted by IAL saw more than 100 participants gathered on the 14 and 15 November 2019 at the Lifelong Learning Institute. It is a strategic platform initiated by the National Research Foundation (NRF) and SkillsFuture Singapore (SSG), and organised by Singapore researchers.

Professor Cheong Hee Kiat, President of SUSS

The purpose of the symposium was to create a platform to generate dialogues with international research communities to support Singapore’s efforts to develop a future-oriented research agenda on adult learning.

From left to right: Mr Ng Cher Pong, Professor Lee Wing On, Dr Lim Khiang Wee

A total of 12 expert presentations, 6 panel discussions, and 2 showcase sessions were conducted. The experts came from a diverse range of academic disciplines, which included education, psychology, economics, sociology, computing, neuroscience, media, and communications. Figure 1 summarises the four priority research areas for the symposium.

17 Figure 1: Four Priority Research Areas for the Future of Adult Learning Research

Research Area

1

Science of Adult Learning

This research area seeks to chart new ways on how we approach the study of adult learning and leverage knowledge and expertise of various disciplines, such as Social Sciences, Neurosciences, Developmental Psychology and Computational Sciences. It seeks to evolve the 'Science (or Sciences) of Adult Learning' as a distinct field in academia. It also enables the development of a coherent, integrated body of knowledge on adult learning, whilst harnessing and applying the latest theories and techniques in scientific inquiries.

Research Area

3

Learning Cultures x Smart Cities

This research area seeks to unpack the connections between the Smart Cities and its learning cultures.

Specifically, it aims to understand how we can integrate learning in such a city, so that the city becomes a resource which enables collective learning.

Understanding the elements, that are integral to the design of human-centric Smart Cities, is pertinent to uncover the potential of data embedded in the Smart City that can contribute to our understanding of human learning.

Research Area

2

Technology and Innovation in Adult Learning

While the applications of innovative technologies in adult learning immediately indicate novelty, they are rarely impactful to adult learning unless they are rooted in sound understanding of learning design principles and processes. Hence, the focus should be shifted from technology as innovation, where learning is often understood largely as individual and cognitive, to learning innovation where learners are the focus as they interact with others, and artefacts that are relevant to learners' contexts.

This approach capitalises on technology as a tool for enabling, affording and supporting innovative learning, individually and collectively.

Research Area

4

Digital Futures and Human Capabilities

With human capabilities as the central focus, this research area seeks to envision and shape the future of the digital economy and society, and to understand what it entails for us as humans to flourish in this future. New ways of conceptualising digital futures can be developed by exploring the role and relevance of human capabilities and learning in the sociotechnical deployment of digital technologies, in order to optimise human potential and augment human performance.

“Virtual learning platform can facilitate collaborative problemsolving among adults in a resourceintensive training condition, in recognition of the social nature of adult learning. Virtual Reality (VR) technology allows trainees, facilitators and standardised patients to be present virtually and learn through role-play in an authentic scenario.”

From left to right: Associate Professor Tan Seng Chee, Associate Professor Liaw Sok Ying, Dr Helen Bound

- Associate Professor Liaw Sok Ying

Dr Cheong Wei Yang, Deputy CEO of the National Research Foundation, graced the closing ceremony of the twoday symposium. In his closing speech, Dr Cheong looked forward to the establishment of a multidisciplinary research agenda to augment a stronger nexus between theory and practitioners, as well as collaborations between Singapore and international researchers. Such an agenda will push the frontier of adult learning research in innovative ways that will inform the future of adult learning to benefit Singapore and the world.

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Learning Enterprise Alliance (LEA) IAL’s Centre for Workplace Learning and Performance (CWLP) launched the Learning Enterprise Alliance initiative (LEA) to help enterprises like SH Integrated embark on their own workplace transformation. LEA is a knowledge network of curated enterprises, and it represents diverse industry sectors and profiles. Its members are committed to using workplace learning to design work and workplaces, promote and inspire continuous learning and performance in organisations.

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The Editorial Team

Dr Sharon Quek

Mr Ong Yong Liang

For further enquiries or email subscription, please email to IAL_Advance@ial.edu.sg IAL Advance is a bulletin which aims to share IAL’s research and innovation efforts with its stakeholders in the Training and Adult Education (TAE) as well as the Continuing Education and Training (CET) sectors.

Copyright@IAL. IAL Advance is published by the Research and Innovation Division, Institute for Adult Learning, an autonomous Institute of the Singapore University of Social Sciences.

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