On 7 October 2021, SMU’s Centre for Teaching Excellence (CTE) organised the Learning Innovation Festival (LIFE) to celebrate innovation in teaching at SMU.

This year’s online webinar edition of LIFE 2021 was held in partnership with the ASEAN University Network Technology-enhanced Personalised Learning (AUN TEPL) Thematic Network. During the event, various faculty members shared their involvement in the future of digital learning and their latest innovations in technology-enhanced learning (TEL) initiatives. A total of 146 participants across 10 countries spent a fruitful morning focused on the sharing of how digital learning was transforming the education landscape.

Associate Professor Lieven Demeester, Director of CTE and Associate Provost (Teaching and Learning Innovation) at SMU, opened the event with a talk about the current drivers and trends in digital learning. He also described how instructors could be impacted by this digital transformation. Professor Venky Shankararaman, SMU’s Vice-Provost (Education) then introduced SMU’s Digital Learning Framework and outlined key enablers – Student Learning Supports, Faculty Development Support and Physical/Digital Infrastructure – that enhance learning in the new digital age.

Representatives from the AUN-TEPL Thematic Network co-lead universities – Universiti Malaya (UM) and Mahidol University (MU), also gave insightful presentations on the future of digital learning in their institutions. Associate Professor Farrah Dina Binti Yusop, Director, Academic Enhancement and Leadership Development Centre, UM shared her university’s efforts to support its academics to become effective online instructors, especially from the professional development perspective. Assistant Professor Nopphol Pausawasdi, Director, Mahidol University Library and Knowledge Center and Advisor, Division of Academic Affairs at MU then shared that his institution had rapidly adapted to the pandemic by adopting flexible education to support and enhance students’ learning.

The latter half of the morning focused on presentations within individual courses and the practical application of digital learning. Associate Professor Hady Lauw, Associate Professor of Computer Science and Lee Kong Chian Fellow at SMU’s School of Computing and Information Sciences showcased his project – Slide ++, an application that uses algorithms to identify online videos and segments within videos relevant to each presentation slide. The application proposes additional learning resources to students in the form of curated videos at relevant slides.

The event concluded with a presentation by Associate Professor Ijlal Naqvi, Associate Professor of Sociology; Associate Dean (Curriculum and Teaching) and Lee Kong Chian Fellow at SMU’s School of Social Sciences and Dr Bodean Hedwards, Director of Enterprise and Immersion Initiatives, Faculty of Arts at Monash University. They spoke about their Collaboration Online International Learning (COIL) course comprising 200 students from five different universities in Singapore, Australia, Indonesia, and India. For this programme, students collaborated online and searched for innovative responses to global challenges as framed by the sustainable development goals.

To access the materials and recordings presented at the webinar, please visit the programme segment on this website.