Lawrence Wong: To prevent disruptions, universities need to learn from the industry and collaborate on grooming talents that are in demand by the market

Speaking at The Straits Times Education Forum 2021 on Reimagining Universities, Post-Covid, held in partnership with SMU on Feb 5, SMU President Professor Lily Kong spoke on how technology should be an enabler for learning, rather than pushed for its own sake. Citing examples of nurturing of students’ critical thinking and problem-solving skills, she believes that face-to-face discussions and working together on tasks is often more helpful in sparking ideas in students. Given the work and study from home situation due to the pandemic, universities can make good use of technology to preserve the learning experiences for students until the situation improves.