Global Speakers

Panel Discussion: Where We Go From Here In Transforming Into An Integrated Digital And Virtual Campus?

Dr Maylyn Tan is the Head of Academic Development at Singapore Institute of Management Global Education (SIMGE). As a key member in shaping the teaching and learning approaches in SIMGE, Maylyn led the implementation of the interconnect model of professional growth in her role in talent resourcing, on-boarding, performance recognition, and learning development of adjunct faculty.

Maylyn’s interests are in instructional design, workflow learning, and diffusion of innovation in higher education, with a focus on learner-centred instruction across multimodal learning environments. She hosts regular scholarly exchanges and professional learning events among the SIMGE academic community to champion evidence-informed teaching practices. For her work in establishing a mentoring-based faculty induction program, Maylyn received the International Teaching Research Award grant from the Centre for Distance of Education, University of London. She was also awarded the Johns Hopkins University SOE Online EdD merit scholarship for her study on virtual community of practice with the SIM Stellar mobile app.

Topic: Educational Continuity Planning: Transitioning From Online Back To Face-To-Face Learning

Topic: Enhance NUS Yong Loo Lin School Of Medicine Practical Experience With Immersive Digital Gaming System

Associate Professor Alfred Kow is a practicing HPB and Liver Transplant surgeon at the National University Hospital Singapore. His main area of interest is liver transplantation and minimally invasive HPB surgery. He has done many complex HPB surgeries using MIS technique including major Lap hepatectomies, Lap Whipples, lap ALPPS and Lap liver donor harvesting for liver transplantation. He is also the Clinical Director of the MILES program at NUHS (Management and Innovation for Longevity in Elderly Surgical patients), focusing on improving the peri-operative care and outcomes of elderly patients needing surgery in NUHS.

In addition to his clinical work, Associate Prof Alfred Kow spends a lot of his time planning medical school curriculum for the Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine in National University of Singapore as the Assistant Dean of Education at the Deanery. He has also received many teaching awards for teaching excellence from the hospital, medical school as well as at the university level. More recently, Associate Professor Alfred Kow takes up the leadership to drive the digital transformation in medical education at the Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine. He chairs the Medical Education, Technology and Enterprise committee and actively drives the adoption of technology in medical education. He has created many projects which employs gamifications in medical training and more recently, he is leading the creation of VR technology in training healthcare professionals.

Dr Kow has keen interest in research activities involving development of surgical techniques in HPB surgery and outcome of surgical treatment for HPB malignancies. Furthermore, he is also actively developing research to help improve surgical education and training for both undergraduate and postgraduate setting. Many of his research work on education aim to understand the art and science behind training the junior doctors to be excellent surgeons for the future. He has published more than 100 peer-reviewed papers and conference articles as well as a few book chapters in the area of Hepatobiliary surgery and gastroenterology.

Interactive Roundtable Discussion: How Institutions Using Different Blended Learning Approach To Improve Students’ Learning Experience In Remote Learning During The COVID-19 Pandemic

Roundtable E: Immersive Online Learning

Chris Rudd is the Deputy Vice Chancellor and Head of Campus, Singapore for James Cook University. Chris is responsible to the JCUS board for the strategic leadership of the Singapore campus of James Cook University and is a member of the JCU Executive Board at which he also holds responsibility for the internationalisation of the University.

Prior to joining to James Cook University, Chris was Provost and CEO of University of Nottingham, Ningbo China (2015-19) where he led a campus of 8,000 students and 900 staff, delivering UK degree programmes in China’s first sino-foreign University and building a series of new research institutes in China to connect with local and international industry. His previous UK roles include Pro-Vice-Chancellor for External Engagement (2007-15), leading on business engagement and philanthropic fundraising and Dean of Nottingham’s Engineering Faculty (2003-7). Chris was a board director of the China-Britain Business Council from 2011-17.

In addition to his academic career Chris served as sea-going engineer with P&O Steam Navigation Company (1977-81) and a research engineer at GKN Technology Ltd (1985-86). He has collaborated widely with industry in Europe, USA and Asia and has held guest professorships in Canada, USA and China. He is currently a guest professor at Jilin University and at the National Level International Science and Technology Cooperation base in Advanced Composite Materials hosted by AVIC in Beijing. He received the Ningbo Government’s highest honour for foreigners – the Camellia Award in 2017 and Zhejiang Province West Lake Award in 2018 and a Changbaishan (??????) Scholar in 2013. He was awarded the 48 Group Club Icebreaker Laureate prize for services to Sino-UK relations and led Nottingham Confucius Institute to Model status, awarded by Vice-Premier LIU Yandong in 2015. He was admitted to the Order of the British Empire in the UK 2018 New Year Honours list for services to Higher Education and UK-China relations.

Chris is a Board Member of the Australian Chamber of Commerce in Singapore (AustCham) and a member of the Singapore Association for Private Education (SAPE) Management Committee.

Chris is an active researcher and holds grants and contracts with several international organisations for his research in engineering materials and lightweight structures. His team have contributed to the introduction of new materials and processes in the automotive, aerospace and medical devices industries. He has successfully supervised more than 60 PhD projects and has published > 175 journal articles with around 6500 citations and an H index of 43.

Topic: Synchronous vs Asynchronous Online Learning: Combining The Best Of Both Worlds

One of Asia’s Top-10 Women in IT, Dr. Meadows leads a Design Thinking & Innovation Center at a Forbes Top-20 International Business School, creating growth initiatives at the intersection of IT, business strategy, and design. Her research, consulting, and coaching focus on Leadership & Creativity. She co-founded an Advanced Technology Think Tank & Tinker Lab, envisioning the Future of Work (FoW) and Education, applying AI, biometrics, and other advanced technologies to leadership development, team productivity, and group innovation. She holds a Doctorate in Business Administration & IT from Harvard Business School and has over 20 years’ experience in Asia, Europe, and North America as a consultant, coach, entrepreneur, dot-com builder, innovation lab co-founder, and Accenture IT & Business Strategy consultant.

Topic: The New Normal – Getting Ready For The Post Pandemic Reality In Schools

Dr John Fong is the President & CEO of JF & Associates Global Consultancy that provides consulting services in the Education industry.  He has held former CEO roles at SP Jain School of Global Management and MDIS (Management Development Institute of Singapore).  His experience is diverse, having lived and worked in Asia, Australia, the Middle East, and the USA, where he has specialised in a variety of fields such as Business Development, Hospitality & Tourism, International Relations and Education. He is most passionate about Education having been the President & CEO of a University, a Professor at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels, a published author, an academic reviewer for journals and textbooks and a sought-after speaker, regularly conducting seminars internationally. In 2018, Dr Fong was acknowledged by URS International and AsiaOne Magazine as one of Asia’s best CEO.  He was also recognised by EduTECH Asia with a Leadership award in 2019.

Topic: Virtual Mentor – An Innovative Solution To Blended Learning

Krishna has 28 years of experience in the areas of adult education management, financial process management, software project management (Core Banking), operational process development and implementation and strategic HR.

Currently, as Chief Operating Officer of Lithan, is responsible for managing education business in the areas of Programme Delivery and Development, Sales and Financial Management, Talent Management (Career Services), and Corporate Services. Instrumental in driving Innovative Digital Transformation of business for expansion and growth.

Prior to joining Lithan, he was the Vice President of Asia Pacific Professional Services in SunGard System Access. He was key member of the management team of System Access and played a strategic role to contribute immensely to the company’s growth, its people and processes. In the initial years of expansion of System Access operations worldwide, Krishna as a Corporate Services Director, successfully implemented processes for the global management of Human Resource, Process Management, IT Infrastructure and Administration with a diversified team.

Krishna is currently the serving member of SAPE Management Committee.

Panel Discussion: Where We Go From Here In Transforming Into An Integrated Digital And Virtual Campus?

Robert K. Kamei, MD, is Professor, National University of Singapore, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, Duke-NUS Medical School and is a tenured faculty member at Duke University. He was Associate Provost (Education) and founding Director, Institute for Application of Learning Science and Educational Technology (ALSET) at NUS from July 2016 to 2019. ALSET focuses on the rigorous study of educational best practices in the classroom.

From 2006 to 2016, he served as the founding Vice Dean (Education) at Duke-NUS Medical School, a collaboration between Duke University and the National University of Singapore (NUS). In that role, he led the development of a new pedagogical approach that served as a model for curriculum change at Duke University Medical School, USA; and other schools in Singapore and around the world, such as the Lee Kong Chiang School of Medicine.

A paediatrician by training, his career has been devoted to medical education and the learning sciences. At the University of California, San Francisco he directed one of the largest paediatric training programs in the United States (1989-2006).

During that time, he co-edited the popular reference textbook, “Fundamentals of Pediatrics” with Dr Abraham Rudolph.

He has a book that will be published later this year to help students in higher education learn better. The book will include his innovative approach that allows students at the National University of Singapore translate knowledge of the sciences of learning into a better way for them to learn.

Professor Kamei holds an undergraduate degree from Stanford University and a medical degree from the University of California, San Francisco. In 2000, he served as a United States Fulbright Senior Scholar in Indonesia.

Forum Chairperson

Ms. Kim-Chua is currently an Instructor and Director of Student Success with Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University – Asia. In addition to providing instruction in Academic and Technical Communications, she is also primarily in charge of the leadership and direction for the development and implementation of engagement, retention, diversity/inclusion and student success initiatives at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University – Asia.

A firm believer of global citizenry, Ms. Chua completed a United Nations University International Course in 2010 for UN Systems, Peace and Human Rights and collaborated with UN practitioners to propose suggestions on pressing global issues, including youth employability, gender equality, diversity and inclusion and sustainable education through the achievement of the SDGs.

More recently, she received a full sponsorship from the East-West Center in University of Hawaii to participate in the 18th run of the Asia Pacific Leadership Program where she had the opportunity to work on social innovation labs and learn from some of the world’s leading experts on adaptive leadership, crucial communications and human performance. Her own social innovation lab was exploring ways to encourage female participation in the Asian Aviation landscape.

As of April 2020, she has been selected to be part of the 2020 Cohort of IEP Ambassadors for Positive Peace.

Topic: The Singapore Institute Of Technology Experience: Effective Migration To Online Teaching During Circuit Breaker

Dr May Lim is an Associate Professor at the Singapore Institute of Technology (SIT). May is the Director of Centre for Learning Environment and Assessment Development (CoLEAD) that looks after the faculty development programmes in learning and teaching at the university level. In total, she has received around S$1.2 million grant in the different research projects that she is engaged in. She won the SIT Teaching Excellence Award in 2016 and 2019.

May has played a pivotal role during the COVID-19 period in partnering with different stakeholders in the institution to migrate learning activities and exam migrated online. She also plays a key role in sharing education policies such as Teaching & Learning policy and Assessment Policy. In educational research she has experience in research projects on experiential learning, learning space, use of gamification in teaching, work-integrated study and cohort study of students’ traits and development. She pioneered the university-wide Freshmen survey that looks into students’ expectations as well as traits such as grit, growth mindset, resilience, and learning approaches. She leads a team that looks into studying the effect of traits on learning outcomes and the development of work-related skills for large cohorts of students. In 2019, she received the Ministry of Education Tertiary Education Research Fund (TRF) for the project Gamified micro-learning platform: An early intervention for at-risk freshmen. She has received a teaching research grant from the Ministry of Education to investigate the effect of experiential learning to improve students’ communication and empathy through learning from people with disability.

May is also an experienced occupational therapist by profession, she has been working with children with developmental delay and disorders in Singapore and Australia. She previously led the Bachelor of Science (with Honours) in Occupational Therapy degree at SIT. She was involved in national projects such as providing consultancy to early intervention centres.

Topic: Technology Enhanced Learning For Active Learning

Dr.Nachamma is the Founding Program Director of Learning Sciences Lab at the Singapore University of Technology and Design since 2016. She has 16 years of experience in professional development of educators and learners in Higher Education industry and has worked in several Singaporean universities. She is a reputed consultant in the field of work-place aligned, authentic, problem/project-based learning that leverages on design thinking and technology. Her expertise is in Technology-enabled Learning, Learner-centered Teaching Methods, University Educational Development and Scholarship of Teaching and Learning. Nacha has started up two professional development units in Singaporean Universities and initiated the Digital Learning initiatives called “Emergency Preparedness for Teaching and Learning” at the Singapore Management University and Singapore University of Technology and Design. She has a proven track record of envisioning, strategizing and operationalising organizational and professional development initiatives that leverage on community building. and is recognized nationally and internationally with various awards. Notable recognitions she has received are Singapore SkillsFuture Fellowship (2018) award for professional development of educators and International Society for Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SOTL) Fellowship (2019) and Special Mention as EdTech Leader in Asia (2019).

Topic: SMU Case Study: Leveraging AI In Redefining Teaching & Learning During Remote Learning

Topic: Yale-NUS Case Study: Teaching During COVID-19 Pandemic Crisis

Dr. Catherine Sanger is Director of the Centre for Teaching and Learning (CTL) and Senior Lecturer in Global Affairs at Yale-NUS College. She is the author of “Inclusive Pedagogy and Universal Design Approaches for Diverse Learning Environments,” co-editor of Diversity and Inclusion in Global Higher Education: Lessons from Across Asia (Palgrave, 2020), and a contributor to the Chronicle of Higher Education, Times Higher Education, and Channel News Asia. As CTL Director she facilitates faculty pedagogy and curriculum development in addition to student academic support services such as peer tutoring and learning accommodations. As Senior Lecturer in Global Affairs, Dr Sanger teaches advanced courses on international security and law, global governance, and the politics of technological-territorial discovery. She holds a PhD in International Affairs from the University of Virginia and pursued undergraduate study at Wellesley College and the London School of Economics and Political Science.

Topic: Singapore University Of Social Sciences Utilizes Learning Analytics To More Effectively Manage Students’ Performance

As a Senior Lecturer at the Singapore University of Social Sciences (SUSS) I have taught business courses in quantitative subjects. Given that SUSS has established an Online Learning department since 2017 I have taught courses online when they have moved into the online environment. In preparation for online learning I have completed a Doctor of Education (EdD) degree with Athabasca University, Canada, between 2009 – 2014 studying online with the instructors and the students from around the world. Learning and teaching online is an environment that I am familiar with when knowledge and skills are exchanged in both synchronous and asynchronous manner. As part of my research for SUSS I have studied the behaviours of students learning between face-to-face and online formats. It is interesting in today’s learning environment that some students preferred online learning while the rest are continuing with the face-to-face format before the pandemic in 2020. These days in order to accomplish learning all students would need to learn online until the face-to-face format can resume. It is a challenge for both the instructors to deliver and the students to receive knowledge online if they are not well prepared for the online environment. I hope to share my experience of online teaching and learning with a focus of my research in learning analytics specifically on students’ performance when they learned in an online environment.

Topic: Case Study: James Cook University’s Use Of Blended Learning Assures Seamless Continuity In Education

Esther is an education developer with work experience across three continents, a postgraduate degree in architecture and a background in multimedia education. Her focus is on flexible, innovative support for authentic learning in blended and online environments.

At James Cook University Singapore she contributes to strategic development and implementation of educational technologies to support students and staff with eLearning and blended learning across the campus.

Topic: Getting The Right Blend: Why Schools Should Explore A Variety Of Solutions To Deliver Blended Learning To Students

Kwa Lay Ping is a Senior Academic Mentor in Singapore Polytechnic (SP). A multiple winner of teaching awards in Singapore and the United States, Ping is also the very first Polytechnic recipient of the President’s Award for Teachers (PAT) in 2017. In addition to teaching learners about design thinking, communication skills, digital communication and collaboration skills in the School of Life Skills and Communication, Ping also focuses on the professional development of lecturers in SP. She is particularly passionate about helping to enhance the skills, knowledge and expertise of her fellow educators in integrating technology into their instructional design for learners of all ages.

Interactive Roundtable Discussion: How Institutions Using Different Blended Learning Approach To Improve Students’ Learning Experience In Remote Learning During The COVID-19 Pandemic

Roundtable A: Synchronous & Asynchronous Online Learning

Topic: Loving Education In The Time Of COVID-19: Proven Strategies In Engaging Learners Online

Fun Man Fung, Ph.D is a Singaporean lecturer in Learning Sciences and Chemistry at the National University of Singapore. He is passionate about education, mentorship, youth empowerment, and civic engagement. He serves as the elected secretary of the International Younger Chemists Network (IYCN) and is the SNIC Singapore National Representative at the IUPAC Committee for Chemical Education. Fun Man’s story is featured on The Conversation and VeeR.TV. He is the host of the ALS1010: Learning to Learn Better, a highly popular NUS course. In 2019, Fun Man was awarded the “Young Southeast Asian Leaders Initiative“ Fellowship organized by the U.S. Embassy in Singapore.

Fun Man has delivered invited seminars at Stanford University, University of Cambridge, OECD, Sciences Po, University of Hong Kong, Sorbonne Université, Politecnico di Milano and Université de Paris. He is the co-author is the top International Chemistry Olympiad (IChO) book “10 Things You Must Know About IChO”

Fun Man was conferred the University Annual Teaching Excellence Award in 2017 and NUS Faculty Teaching Excellence Award 2016. He is a distinguished recipient of the D2L award Innovation in Teaching and Learning (2019) and QS-Wharton STAR Reimagine Education Awards (2017, 2018) for his effort in innovative teaching and learning approach.

He was the Singaporean representative for Global Young Scientists Summit 2020, and a member of the CAS Future Leaders Program 2020, selected by the American Chemical Society.

Topic: Get Gaming, Get Educated: How Making Online Learning Interesting Enhances Learning Outcomes

Dr Seow Poh Sun is Associate Professor of Accounting (Education) and Associate Dean (Teaching and Curriculum) of the School of Accountancy at Singapore Management University.

His teaching and research interests are in accounting information systems, accounting data & analytics, behavioural issues in accounting and accounting education. Poh Sun is a Fellow Chartered Accountant of Singapore and Fellow of CPA Australia and actively serves in teaching and curriculum-related committees.

Poh Sun has won a number of international and local teaching and research awards. He was the first professor in Asia to receive the Howard Teall Award for Innovation in Accounting Education (First Prize) in 2020 from the Canadian Academic Accounting Association for his video-learning project to teach internal controls. He also received the AAA Outstanding Instructional Contribution Award in 2018 for developing an online tutorial to teach database modelling. He also received the AAA Jim Bulloch Award for Innovations in Management Accounting Education in 2017 and the AAA Innovation in Accounting Education Award in 2015, for his award-winning mobile learning app Accounting Challenge. He and his collaborators were the first professors in Asia to win the three awards, which were presented by the American Accounting Association (AAA). He was inducted on the SMU Teaching Honour Roll in 2017 for receiving at least three SMU Undergraduate Teaching Excellence Awards.

Topic: How SUTD Adopted Cloud Computing In Enhancing Students’ Learning Experience Through Anytime-Anywhere Accessibility Teaching Material

Topic: Teaching In The New Reality: Using AR And VR To Enhance Learning

Topic: Getting The Right Blend: Why Schools Should Explore A Variety Of Solutions To Deliver Blended Learning To Students

Teresa is an Assistant Director with the School of Life Skills & Communication at Singapore Polytechnic. She has been in education for the past 17 years, with teaching and administrative portfolios, and has good knowledge and practice in pedagogy, curriculum design and assessments. She has taught a wide spectrum of learners from students in the secondary schools, junior colleges and the polytechnic, and adults taking part-time diplomas and short courses. In her current capacity, she oversees the Communication Skills programme and Education, & Career Guidance (ECG) curriculum in Singapore Polytechnic, offered to more than 10,000 students every year. She is adept at using educational technology and has led her division to digitalise the learning of communication skills in a blended environment. With her team, she has also worked to digitalise education and career advisement where students can explore career options based on real time labour market data.

Topic: Getting The Right Blend: Why Schools Should Explore A Variety Of Solutions To Deliver Blended Learning To Students

Liu Sin Yee is a senior lecturer at the School of Life Skills and Communication, Singapore Polytechnic (SP). She heads the SPEAR Programme team, which develops the curriculum for SP’s institutional modules, taken by all students. She works with her team to fine tune ways to teach essential skills such as critical thinking, information literacy and narrative thinking. She is excited about exploring new approaches to teaching both skills and values, and experimenting with technology to enhance in and out of classroom learning. She has shared about her team’s work on using technology to create engaging learning journeys for students at the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) Conference in 2017.

Topic: Getting The Right Blend: Why Schools Should Explore A Variety Of Solutions To Deliver Blended Learning To Students

Sharon Yap is a T&L Specialist at the School of Life Skills and Communication, Singapore Polytechnic (SP). As a lecturer, she facilitates students’ pursuit of communication, critical thinking and design thinking skills, and as a peer mentor, she supports colleagues in pursuit of their craft. Since joining SP in 2008, her perspectives of ‘education’ and ‘learning’ have continually been challenged, and they continue to evolve. She is interested in ‘learning as identity-formation’ and excited by ideas that bend her assumptions of ‘what learning is’. She is a recipient of SP’s Excellence in Teaching and Educator Awards, and received her MEd (Curriculum and Teaching) in 2019.

Panel Discussion: Where We Go From Here In Transforming Into An Integrated Digital And Virtual Campus?

Topic: EON-XR Platform: A Catalyst For Active And Collaborative Learning

Dr Peter Looker is currently Chief Learning Officer at EON Reality. He has worked in Australia as an Associate Professor of Higher Education at the University of New South Wales and University of Newcastle, and as Head of Teaching, Learning and Pedagogy at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore.  He has been a consultant for universities in Brunei, Vietnam, India, Malaysia, Oman and the Philippines.  He was part of Singapore Ministry of Education’s Expert Panel for the Tertiary research fund (2016-2020)  and is currently the Chair of the Academic Board for Singapore’s Wealth Management Institute.  Peter Looker is an active member of the editorial board of four international journals for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning, in the US, Canada, Singapore and South Africa. His recent publications focus on cultural difference and the scholarship of teaching and learning and developing new teaching spaces.

Panel Discussion: Where We Go From Here In Transforming Into An Integrated Digital And Virtual Campus?

Into 2020, Mr. Sunkad has led the EON Singapore operations with a successful track record of providing leadership and vision over the last 12 years.

EON Reality Singapore under the leadership of Mr. Sunkad has also been rated as the best run subsidiaries for the EON Reality Group company contributing nearly 35% of the group revenues.

Along with a series of awards and recognitions, including the Best Technology company to work for under Sridhar leadership, EON Reality continues to grow as a company who uphold exemplary qualities of enviable corporate culture, robust talent development framework and innovation excellence.

Topic: Lean-forward Learning Experiences With Video

Virtual Breakout Sessions: What Does The Classroom Of 2020 Look Like?

Topic: Applied XR for the Modern Worker

Jonathan is the Solutions Director at EON Reality Pte Ltd for Asia Pacific and Middle East. His role is to help assist institutions, educators and trainers on the adoption and effective of augmented, virtual and mixed reality technologies to enhance teaching, learning and training experiences. Over the course of his career, his experience in learning technologies and classroom instruction has brought him across from K to K-12, Higher Education and Continuous Learning environments.

Topic: AI-Powered Formative, Classroom And Summative Assessments

• 10 years of customer service and SOP setting to support educational institutions, teachers and students for the full cycle of teacher training and implementation of online and hybrid teaching models using educational technology.
• 15 years of experience in forming global strategic partnership including content providers such as McGraw-Hill Education, Macmillan, Oxford University Press, Cambridge University Press etc.
• Master Degree in E-Commerce Management, Macquarie Business School, Australia.