ELLTA Conference 2014

ELLTA 2014 Highlights

Conference Temes/ Topics (not limited to)

ANALYZING THE PAST AND THE PRESENT, AND ANTICIPATING THE FUTURE OF LEADERSHIP AND LEARNING IN/ FOR ASIA

Inviting Insights & Perspectives across disciplines e.g. Education, Business, Science, Technology, Politics, Religion, History, Management, Economics, Philosophy, Development and Sustainability, E-Learning, Computer Science, Art & Cultural Studies, Literature, Anthropology, Psychology, Sociology

The ASIAN CENTURY

  • Is “Asian Century” a reality or a myth?
  • Key debates and dilemmas of the “Asian Century”?
  • Driving forces of the “Asian Century”; technology, economy, global knowledge, Asian values?
  • What counts as the competitive edge in the Asian Century?
  • Strategic repositioning for Asian Century
  • Entrepreneurship, Creativity and Innovation: Driving forces in the Asian Century?
  • The Asian Century; Insights and Foresights
  • Preferred Futures in the Asian Century

LEARNING/ EDUCATION/ SCHOOLING
(Child learning, adult learning, group learning, organisational learning, workplace learning technical/vocational learning, etc.)

  • Asian Universities of Future; brick or click model?
  • Asian Schools of Future; brick or click model?
  • Future of Higher education in/ for Asia?
  • Expanding learning spaces in the Asian Century?
  • Skills of the Asian Century?
  • International education and Asian students
  • Learning beyond boundaries – pretext and context
  • Emerging learning environments in/ for Asia
  • Learning to be Creative in the Asian Century & examples?
  • Innovation Learning in the Asian Century – ?
  • Nurturing entrepreneurial mindset in the Asian Century?
  • Learning theories of the Asian Century?
  • Work and Learning – Diffusing boundaries
  • Curriculum of the Future in/ for Asia
  • Learning agenda for the Asian Century
  • Future leanings in and for Asia
  • Future learning spaces in/for Asia
  • Future educational scenarios for/ in Asia
  • Bottom billion and learning equity and accessibility in Asia
  • Fusion of Asian local knowledge in higher education
  • International Education – Its shape and future directions
  • Research agenda for Higher Education in the Asian Century
  • Social Media – as emerging Leadership Space
  • Organisational learning in/ for Asia
  • Will social and informal spaces for learning become more or less important?

LEADERSHIP/ MANAGEMENT/ GOVERNANCE
(Educational, Business, Political, Social, Technological, Economical, etc.)

  • Leadership in/ for Asian Century
  • Future scenarios of Asian leadership
  • Face and form of regional dialogue and cooperation (priority areas)
  • New models of leadership/ partnership
  • Social Media – as emerging Leadership Space
  • Governance in the Asian Century – Modes, Forms, Models?
  • E-governance in Asia – Prospects and challenges

SUSTAINABILITY

  • Asia’s role in peace, prosperity and sustainability in the region
  • The responsibility of Asian universities in propagating sustainable development
  • Sustainability and sustainable development in/ for Asia

TECHNOLOGY

  • Educational Apps: Emerging new spaces for Learning
  • Educational Games: Emerging new spaces for Learning
  • Technologies for Researchers and Educationists
  • Learning Prefixes: V-Learning, M-Learning, D-Learning, O-Learning – Others?
  • Game-based learning
  • Knowledge management in the Asian Century – Forms and Meaning
  • MOOCS – Massive Open On-line Courses
  • Social Media – as emerging Leadership Space
  • Cyber Intelligence in the ASIAN CENTURY

EDUCATIONAL TOURISM

  • Educational Tourism: Emerging new spaces for learning

NATIONAL INNOVATION SYSTEM

  • Regional and national innovation system
  • Asian Innovation System

Chairs & ICC

More Members:


Workshop/Panel Discussions

Workshops

Engagement has emerged as an alternative view of the learner experience that can enrich the often reductionist language of performance, skills and competence. Recent literature reviews identify a well-established positive correlation pattern between aspects of engagement, such as involvement, time on task, and quality of effort and favourable learning outcomes. Furthermore particular activities supporting community involvement and interactions with diverse peers are shown to have substantial improvements on engagement. This workshop will introduce a conceptual model of engagement, appropriated from social media marketing, as a sense-making framework and explore its potential application to education. Furthermore Martin, Yu and Hau (2013) find that the kinds of motivation and engagement factors are salient for most students in different countries, however the degrees of experience vary by sociocultural contexts and within similar ethnic groups. As such although the framework has been developed in Western global contexts the framework is hoped to be transferable to Asian contexts. The workshop will be discussion driven across three key themes: (1) what is engagement; (2) can we measure it; and (3) what would it look like?

Aims, Objectives and Outcomes:

  • Understand engagement as a process and discuss its relevance within Asian contexts;
  • Use a sense-making framework to recognise types of engagement in local communities;
  • Discuss ways of measuring engagement that can be adopted in a range of community contexts;

Intended Audience: There will be specific appeal to those involved in e-learning leadership or research, curriculum or assessment design, and learner engagement, however the concepts being discussed have much broader applications and anyone involved with social technologies should enjoy the workshop. It is expected that participants will work in smaller groups of 3-4. 30 people is probably the maximum to give a chance for some shared feedback.

Content:

  1. What is engagement – adopting a sociocultural position, influenced by the ideas of Freire and Vygotsky;
  2. How can we measure it – utilising touch-point based analytics;
  3. What would this look like – how can this information be fed back into the learning process.

Primary and secondary students are consumers of vast quantities of television product. ‘It is estimated that by the end of high school, the average student will have spent 15,000 hours watching TV and only 11,000 hours in the classroom’ (Davison, 2010). Students are increasingly becoming creators of screen narratives. With the ubiquitous expansion of screen technologies in students/ teachers’ mobile phone use across Asia, the K-12 and tertiary students are applying screen production and literacies to their social space, with slowly increasing application to the classroom space and practice.

‘Now more than ever, technology plays a crucial role in the way that students learn and prepare for careers in a global economy’ (Devaney, 2009). Many teachers are playing catch-up-technology, ‘where more than 80 percent of technology funds are spent on hardware and wiring, leaving less than 20 percent for software and training. The rule of thumb in business is 1/3 hardware, 1/3 software, 1/3 training and support’ (Bower, 2010). As teaching strategies develop across the ASEAN community, embracing flipped and hybridised classrooms a clearer understanding of screen production techniques and processes are needed. ‘Digitally-rich learning: Students see the use of relevancy-based digital tools, content, and resources as a key to driving learning productivity, and not just about engaging students in learning’ (Devaney, 2010).

Teacher graduates of the two-day Making Meaning On Screen Professional Development workshop report that the workshop has enhanced their teaching of ‘Film as Text’ –taught in stages 4-6 English (or mother-tongue programs). The teaching of critical assessment of film/ TV is now enhanced by the creating of screen narratives, particularly in understanding how a writer/director ‘positions’ the audience in a screen narrative.

The Making Meaning On Screen workshop will introduce ELLTA conference delegates, to pedagogies for introducing screen production and screen literacies that stem from Colin’s television and film industry practice with specific application to idea generation, screen narrative construction, and collaborative learning in education. Colin will address tools, skills and techniques for practical classroom application of Concept, Development and Pre-production phases of the screen production process. Drawing on his extensive teacher-training in Asia and Australia and referring to his text Making Meaning On Screen – A Student Handbook (2007). Multimedia can be used to represent the content knowledge in ways that mesh with different learning styles that may appeal to different modal preferences (Birch & Sankey, 2008; Moreno & Mayer, 2007).

Colin will refer to examples of his Professional Development screen workshops for pre-service and in-service teachers, providing valuable training in screen-literacies across Asia and Australia in both narrative and documentary formats. This PD training has enabled students and teachers to initiate and create their own screen narratives with educational outcomes. Colin will show examples of his corporate education Professional Development workshops:

  • Our School=Our Community: Thailand;
  • Digital Self Portrait: New Delhi / Burgenwasher Slum communities, India;
  • Create and Animate: Addressing numeracy, literacy and student involvement in NAPLAN student testing Australia and Thailand.

The Making Meaning On Screen - Professional Development Workshop in teachers provides a participatory overview of the seventeen step process examining Concept, Development, Pre-Production, of screen literacy and screen production for cross-curricula study by primary and secondary school teachers and students. This screen workshop program has trained over 2,200 practicing K-12 teachers in Australia, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand and Portugal since 2004.

Graduates of the Making Meaning On Screen workshop program report on their student’s successes:
in detailed analysis of screen literacy; in community, regional and state-wide video competitions/festivals; in formal examinations requiring film and video projects to the university level; in understanding literacy and numeracy that the Making Meaning On Screen approach provides through its pedagogies and scaffolding; with academically or behaviorally challenged students by providing a practical hands-on, collaborative approach to teaching and learning; in cross-cultural learning environments; in hybridised classrooms and teaching environments.

Colin will refer to his recent successful publication Making Meaning On Screen – A Student Handbook that is now considered preferred reading in many Australian and Asian primary and secondary schools. Participants will experience these practical exercises scaffolded inside screen pedagogies:

Workshop Structure:

  1. Camera Awareness: Camera Technicals, Framing Exercises, Coverage Exercises
  2. Concept: Story Prompts, Brainstorming, Images, Sounds, Symbols, Atmosphere
  3. Development: Protagonist Need, Antagonist Need, Action and Movement
  4. Pre-Production: Visualising and Framing, Shot size, Storyboarding, Objective/Subjective camera, Whose story is it? Actor Blocking, Camera Blocking, Shot-listing and Timing.

Time permitting, Colin will be screening exemplars of film sequences demonstrating his research/ practice in the Making Meaning On Screen - mentoring teachers in Asia to advance their screen skill-sets.

Details to be updated soon!

This workshop focuses on practical approaches for becoming a creative writer. It will help participants in sharpening their knowledge and skills about creative writing skills. The workshop will also help in developing concrete suggestions for the use of creative writing skills in the professional life.

The workshop will cover the following contents:

  • Overview of the processes of creative writing
  • 15 key questions that need to be answered by a creative writer.
  • Skills set for becoming a creative writer
  • Use of creative writing skills in professional life

Participants will be engaged through practical exercises, including peer review of the creative work produced in the workshop.

In today’s mobile and cloud era, whether you are delivering instructions or conducting/ supervising research, collaboration and sharing tools play an increasingly important role in learning. This workshop shares the integration of ICT tools for enhancing collaboration and sharing to instill 21st Century learning approaches.

War, violence and violent extremism have become embedded in popular culture so that children now find it difficult to conceptualise peace other than negative peace (absence of war or violence) and not positive peace such as cooperation, respect, love and tolerance (Finley 2011). Education has been identified as “the central pillar of strategies to promote [peace] values” (UN Decade for Education for Sustainable Development, cited in Pigozzi 2006, p. 3) - suggestions as to what such an education could look like are vague.

The Bali Bombings of 2002 and 2005 confronted Australia and its neighbours with the dangers of terrorism and its tragic consequences for victims, their families, including all the indirect victims, such as local people dependent on tourism. Following the bombings, the so-called Bali Peace Park Association (BPPA) has been lobbying for the creation of a peace-park on the site of the former Sari Club – one of the bombings sites. The planned Bali Peace Park has been conceptualised as a community-driven project against violent extremism.

In 2012, BPPA initiated “Beyond Bali” - an ambitious curriculum development project funded by the Australian Attorney General’s Office that explored possibilities for employing education as a means of countering terrorism. Anne Aly (author 2), a counter-terrorism expert and BPPA board member approached two educators, Elisabeth and Saul (authors 1 & 3) specialising in curriculum development, ethical dilemma story pedagogy and social science studies to develop educational materials suitable for Year 8/9/10 students. The main goal of the project was to educate students about Bali, the Australia-Asia connection (geography), the Bali bombings and their consequences (history), as well as to deeply engage students in thinking about value dilemmas, such as, revenge versus non-revenge, violence versus non-violence, peaceful co-existence versus violent extremism (ethical dilemma pedagogy. Furthermore, the materials explore the concept of ‘peace parks’ – what purposes do they serve? What do they look like? Where do they already exist? How can one design and build a peace park?

The final curriculum package consisted of five modules drawing on a variety of teaching strategies including on-line learning. The package was trialled and evaluated in two Western Australian schools: an Islamic College and a government secondary school. A small-scale, mixed-methods pilot study was conducted for evaluation purposes. In this workshop, I will present a brief overview of the curriculum package and the findings of the pilot study before engaging participants in a practical sense.

The practical aspect of the workshop focuses specifically on ethical dilemma story pedagogy and its role within the “Beyond Bali” Project. Module 3 - “An Eye For An Eye Makes The whole World Blind“ (Mahatma Gandhi) uses a ‘classic’ set-up for ethical dilemma-stories: participants are guided through a story requested to identify with a story-character and to make decisions on behalf of that person when the story is interrupted in strategic places and ethical dilemma questions are asked. These questions require the participant to engage in critical thinking and critical reflection on their values that guide their decision-making. The ethical reflection process is conducted individually at first followed by an opportunity to compare and discuss one’s decisions with others. The role of the teacher is that a facilitator who does not volunteer his/her own values but instead guides discussion and participant engagement. Usually the most difficult, most perplexing and challenging dilemma questions are positioned at the end of the story. Ethical dilemmas remain open-ended - meaning there are no final or absolutely ‘correct’ answers.

Feedback from teachers and students has been highly encouraging and positive. We believe that the Beyond Bali Project has the potential to serve as a model for similar community-driven education projects wanting to tackle violent extremism in the future.

  • Provide an overview of “Beyond Bali” curriculum package and dilemma story pedagogy; (20 min)
  • Guide participants through a hands-on experience of Module 3 - “An Eye For An Eye Makes The whole World Blind “(Mahatma Gandhi) (45 minutes)
  • Present selected findings of a small-scale pilot study of the trial and evaluation the curriculum materials (10 minutes)
  • Invite discussion and feedback from participants (15 minutes)

Achieving financial security is not about winning the lottery or ‘good luck’. It’s about careful planning, putting an appropriate strategy in place and sticking with it. Financial planning is about systemising your finances and developing a strategy to help you create, grow, protect and distribute your wealth – in a style that suits you. As a professional you face many challenges, as you strive to get ahead in your life and career. Managing your financial affairs in a proactive way requires that you are familiar with the wealth creation strategies that can be used to maximize your after tax income and set you on course for financial security.

How do you leverage your expertise and knowledge to ensure financial security for yourself? Everything wealth creation process and investments strategies and how to leverage your ideas and knowledge will be covered in this session.

Behavioral simulations are very popular amongst management trainers and academicians for teaching concepts motivation, interpersonal communication, negotiation, stress management, team-building and leadership and develop behavioral skills related to these theoretical concepts. The proposed workshop is focused on the simulation designed by me for developing team-building and leadership skills. This simulation is an extended version of the simulation “My Work…” which was originally designed to impart stress management skills in students who opted for Stress Management course in their second year of MBA program. I conducted experiments of this simulation in my courses on stress management, organizational behavior and executive training programs. The research work based on this simulation experiments was presented in the AHRD Conference 2013.

The Simulation: My Team, My Work
Designed by: Satish Pandey

Type of Simulation: Paper-pencil tasks to be completed individually and in groups within limited time period (30-45 minutes). However, one needs 90-120 minutes to conduct this simulation in the classroom.

Utility: This simulation can be used as a learning tool to impart creativity, motivation, team-building and leadership skills in participants by management trainers and teachers. Researchers can also use this simulation as a research tool if it fits in their experimental framework.

Objective of the Workshop: To demonstrate the simulation before management trainers and researchers, communicate them about the research done on this simulation and prepare them for effective usage of this simulation in their training programs on motivation, creativity, stress management, performance management, team-building and leadership skills. In this workshop, I intend to share my experience of using this simulation in executive training modules focused on leadership and team-building skills.

Details to be updated soon!

In this workshop, we will explore the TPACK approach which considers the interaction between the three elements in classroom activities: Content, Pedagogy and Technology. To understand this process of interaction, a key activity in this workshop would be the TPACK game, helping participants to acquire the skills of selecting appropriate pedagogy and technological tools that can facilitates the teaching and learning of subject content. Participants will be led through to see what happens when content, pedagogy and technology is combined in a classroom activity, exploring the possibilities of technology integration.

Details to be updated soon!

Learn about “how to” develop productive and sustainable educational global partnerships by exploring the lessons learned by two social work departments: one in Viet Nam and one in Hawaii. Come and share your experience as we develop together practice models that can be applied at your home institution.

Attendees: Anyone who is interested to establish a global educational partnership

Group size: 15 to 20

Outcomes of the workshop:

Participants will:

  • develop a basic understanding of the challenges and opportunities global educational partnerships provide in enriching, empowering and developing the next generation’s leadership capacity
  • develop basic skills to create and maintain a productive and sustainable cross national educational partnership
  • develop an understanding of cultural competent practice in relationship to building equitable and culturally sensitive global partnerships
  • develop an individual draft experimental contextual practice educational partnership model to implement at their home institution.

Outline of the Workshop:

  1. Short overview of lessons, challenges and opportunities in building productive and sustainable global partnerships framed by the partnership between of ULSA/ HPU (30 minutes)
  2. Open discussion on experiences of participants in building partnerships across borders within their specific contexts (20 minutes)
  3. Small group and individual exercise: “How to” develop global partnerships: Each participant develops a contextual practice model for implementation at their home institution. (40 minutes)

The significance of ‘context’ is widely and growingly being recognized, acknowledged and celebrated. Universalistic claims are under pressure and a-contextual approaches and theories are being challenged – the growing participation at the ELLTA Conference is a representative and thriving example of it. Despite its significance, however, there does not seem sufficient preparation (capacity building) for it – for instance, to research and write about a phenomenon (in this case, leadership and learning) as being context embedded. Part of the difficulty may be the elusive nature of the concept – ‘context’. This is where the workshop makes a relevant contribution.

The focus of this workshop is to discuss writing and publishing with reference to ‘context’. This workshop is based on our extensive editorial experience as part of ELLTA Conference publications and review in particular. The purpose is to generate insights through exchange of ideas and working through examples of context-based writing. The workshop will highlight the nature of issues evident in existing examples of writings based on which, some strategies will also be discussed.

This workshop is intended for beginning/ novice researchers and writers as well as experienced writers, reviewers, editors, facilitators (writing workshops).

Content (themes and topics to be covered):

  • Significance of ‘context’ – context-driven/ embedded writing and publishing
  • Synthesis of editorial experience – common insights/ key trends
  • Writing about context – some insights and examples

Panel Discussions

With the unprecedented and continuous rise of Asia in the 21st century, the global dynamics have changed altogether. The impact of this phenomenal rise of Asia and Asian tigers is felt globally, in all fields and domains of life.

The phenomenon, of course, is intriguing, and invites a closer look and a deeper analysis of the reasons explaining it, its implications and impact. It has inspired countries within and outside of Asia to strategise and reposition in order to take maximum advantage of this huge opportunity that the ‘Asian Century’ presents – Australia’s White Paper (2012) is but one example, followed by roundtable sessions and dialogues. Likewise, the ADB Report (2011) also focuses on ‘Realising the Asian Century’. At the same time, however, there are some others who question it - Asian Century for them is more of myth than a reality.

No doubt, we are at a turning point, and the world is witnessing a historic phase. However, the Asian Century, as ADB Report also indicates, is not preordained – there could be various pits and falls, and the opportunities are intertwined with risks for this very dynamic but diverse region. Asia needs to continue to grow on the recent trajectory, however, not necessarily doing the same things that it has been doing: what has worked in past may not continue to lead to success in future also. Asian countries need to re-assess their strategies. Likewise, though the Asian Century offers immense potential and opportunities for all nations, it is important that the other countries are prepared to tap on this potential and make use of those opportunities.

To situate and contextualize ‘Leadership and Learning in the Asian Century’, the current panel analyses the phenomenon of ‘Asian Century’ at a deeper level; which is important for strategic repositioning. Some of the key questions/ themes that the current panel addresses, therefore, include:

  1. ‘Asian Century’ – reality or a myth?
  2. The Asian Century – Insights and Foresights?
  3. Key debates and dilemmas of the ‘Asian Century’
  4. What counts as a “Competitive Edge” in the Asian Century?
  5. Driving forces of the ‘Asian Century’ – Technology, Economy, Global Knowledge and/ or Asian Values? Entrepreneurship, Creativity and Innovation? Others?
  6. Preferred Futures in the Asian Century
  7. Strategic repositioning for Asian Century – the Way Forward?

This panel takes up Consultancy Business in Asia as an important theme to a) consolidate experiences and insights of Consultants (both, local and foreign) working in Asia, b) generate innovative ideas and inspire future prospects, and c) enhance/ create synergy and integration between consultancy work and academia. Thus, the panel facilitates interactions among Consultants, and between Consultants and Academics (including the academic institutions developing the future consultants in Asia), so as to share experiences and insights, and to learn from each other. The term ‘Consultancy’ is being used here more broadly to also include Professional Service Firms.

Therefore, the key questions for the panel to address are:

  1. What does the landscape of Consulting Business in Asia look like?
  2. What are the unique/ significant opportunities that Asian context presents for Consultancy business?
  3. What are the major challenges or constraints faced while working as Consultant in an Asian context?
  4. What is the nature and strength of linkage between Consultants and academia? How can this linkage be further strengthened?
  5. What are the emerging trends in Consulting Business in Asia? What insights can be drawn?

Higher Education is at the heart of economic and social development. Whether it is to develop ‘knowledge economies’, ‘learning and thinking nations’, ‘responsible citizens’, or ‘intelligent workforce’ – appropriate policy decisions and investment in the higher education sector is critical.

In case of Higher Education, I believe, we are at crossroads in many ways. The speed and nature of changes across the globe have transformed the very face of Higher Education to an extent that sometimes it gets difficult to grasp its nature and purpose. For instance, a major shift is the ‘commercialisation’ of higher education due to the influence of market forces, privatisation and globalisation. Many claim that the original purpose of higher education – as a knowledge enterprise and for public service/ good - has been compromised due to commercialization.

Whether Higher Education should have a commercial focus or it should be reclaimed as a “public service organisation” is an important question.

Similarly, another critical dimension of this debate is whether higher education should be standardized under the influence of internationalisation or it should be localized in order to respond to the local context/ needs.

The transformation of Higher Education has been caused by numerous forces, which will continue to influence it in future also – Technology and its impact on education represents a paradigm shift and it will continue to be a major influence shaping Higher Education in future also. MOOCS and the other learning pre-fixes (E-learning, M-learning, V-learning, D-learning, O-learning, Game-based learning etc.) for instance, have changed the learning spaces and context.

What does the ASIAN CENTURY hold further; what forces will remain influential in this era; and what the emerging trends predict about the FUTURE OF HIGHER EDUCATION in the ASIAN CENTURY – thus, it becomes critical to analyse and examine:

  • What are the forces shaping Higher Education in Asia/ in the Asian Century?
  • What should be the Learning/ Research Agenda for HE in the Asian Century?
  • Asian University of Future – Is that a ‘brick’ or ‘click’ model?
  • What would/ should be the shape and directions of International Education?
  • Would/ should there be a move towards fusion of Asian local knowledge into HE or towards standardization (internationalization)? Need for a balance between tradition and innovation?
  • Reclaiming universities role as public service organisation versus market driven organisations? Development priorities?
  • Issues facing Higher Education in Asia/ Asian Century

Theory of Learning, over the years, has moved from stimulus-response/ classical conditioning theories to context based theories such as actor network and cultural historical activity theories – a major shift from decontextualized to intensely context-oriented approaches. By implications, the conceptualization of context has also moved from an understanding of ‘context as a container’ to ‘context as co-evolving’ – context is not an impassive or detached container rather it is embedded, shaping and being shaped up simultaneously. This in a way is the point of departure for the current panel – not only learning is shaped by technology and tools but it is also vice versa. The boundaries of the so-called specialized and exclusive learning spaces (such as classrooms) are getting blurred, the distinction between content and context is getting diffused, and the traditional roles have come under tremendous pressure!

Given this backdrop, the panel deliberates upon the implications of the Asian Century for ‘Learning’ i.e. discussing the ‘Future of Learning in/ for Asia’ – in terms of, for instance, how learning would be defined; what the learning agenda would be and who would be leading it; what the learning context and spaces would be; which learning tools and technologies would become more or less relevant for the Asian Century – these and similar other questions will steer the panel discussions.

To kick start conversations, some representative examples have been picked up – for instance, since the emerging trends indicate a very strong and emphatic recognition that technology will continue to play a -very critical role in creating, extending and expanding learning agenda, spaces, content and context, the panel will have a representation of experts from representative fields such as E-learning (the term is being used as an umbrella term for online/ virtual learning) – virtual or game-based learning, design of learning spaces and learning technologies. Additionally, some other learning spaces will also be represented – such as sports and play, music, drama and others.

Thus, the panel will engage in critical debate and discussions to explore and put forward perspectives on ‘learning in/ for the Asian Century’ – for example, some representative questions that will guide the deliberations are listed below (tentative list):

  1. What would learning look like in the Asian Century? What is the future of learning in/ for Asia?
  2. Which learning theories will remain more or less powerful in the Asian Century? Which learning theories will dominantly inform the future learning technologies?
  3. Which learning spaces will remain more or less effective for Asia/ Asian learners?
  4. How are Educational Apps, Educational Games and Software shaping learning, and what are their implications for teaching and learning in/ for Asia?
  5. What tensions exist between pedagogies and learning technologies, and how to resolve these with specific reference to Asian contexts?
  6. What will be the implications of the current/ future technologies for identification and design of the learning agenda?
  7. How are the historical experiences of (Asian) students and/or their identity influencing their participation and usage of emerging learning technologies?
  8. How would the context and culture of Asia influence and be influenced by emerging learning technologies?
  9. How would local/ Asian values and local models of learning get integrated into technology-driven learning pedagogies/ environment?

National Innovation System (NIS) drives economic growth and development. Though the concept was originally put forward in the context of research focusing on more advanced economies, it was later extended to other economies also. If we look at the economic development and NIS in Asia, these have taken various paths that need to be discussed and explored, especially, in the context of the Asian Century. For instance, there is a need to understand what Asian Innovation Systems (AIS) can learn from each other, and what insights can be drawn for future. This question is particularly relevant for countries in transition/ lower levels of economic development and for those countries aiming to progress through the promotion of endogenous innovation and growth. Human capability and institutional infrastructure together with knowledge reservoirs and industry capability are among the key research interests relevant for the Asian contexts.

The phrase, ‘Asian Innovation Systems’ (i.e. ‘systems’ as plural) takes into account the diversity between and across Asian countries and, therefore, their innovation systems and capabilities.

The following questions become important:

  • What are the trajectories in Asian Innovation systems?
  • What are the unique/ significant dimensions of the Asian Innovation systems and systems characteristics in different Asian countries?
  • What good practices/ successful examples can be found in the Asian Innovation Systems? What lessons can be learnt?
  • What is the nature and strength of linkage between knowledge institutions and industry (research/ academia and industrial sector)?
  • How can these linkages be cultivated?
  • What are the emerging trends in Asian Innovation Systems? What insights can be drawn from recent experience such as globalization, internationalization and international trade and finance?

This panel session will focus on how and why modern developed societies still have much to learn from indigenous knowledge systems or traditions – especially, in terms of the global challenge of future sustainability.

It will look at particular case studies from the Asia-Pacific (Bangladesh, Thailand, Malaysian Borneo, and Fiji). Traditional societies in marginal rural and wilderness areas typically struggle with the economic (i.e. business, corporate and privatization) imperatives of future sustainability whilst representing an international ‘last line of defense’ against non-sustainable development. Yet, conversely, modern urban peoples and their institutions need to appreciate, to harness and to provide more supportive partnerships for how indigenous knowledge represents a crucial systemic key to achieving social and environmental (balancing modern economic) sustainability in the global context.

The session will also invoke how the concept of ‘digital heritage’ can be deployed in several related senses (e.g. linking to the world by the internet but also preserving and disseminating key aspects of indigenous knowledge for both traditional and modern societies in or as forms of lifelong learning, globally convergent communities of practice, and even formal education and training). Thus, for instance, one of the case studies to be discussed looks at how eco-tourism provides a focus of one remote wilderness community’s struggle for survival both economically or directly and also in terms of a proposed digital ‘claims-book’ strategy for defending traditional land rights and preserving local indigenous knowledge in the face of rampant destructive forces of blind progress.

The key questions for the panel to address are:

  • Are there important and relevant aspects of knowledge, future sustainability and/or ‘local wisdom’ which modern predominantly urban societies have much to learn from Asia-Pacific indigenous or local knowledge traditions? If so, then what are these more specifically?
  • Also, in particular, how does this relate to the global challenge of balancing economic sustainability with the kinds of social and environmental sustainability often given only lip-service by businesses, governments and related international policy or industry agencies?
  • In terms of recognizing how traditional societies in marginal rural and wilderness areas often represent a ‘last line of defense’ for defending important natural habitats of global sustainability against pressing and also typically destructive attacks of ‘progress and profit’: (a) what do such local communities need to do to ensure there ‘resilience’ to survive and continue their defense of local domains of the global commons, and (b) what is the most effectively strategic support ‘we’ can provide to help them?
  • With the internet increasingly providing a virtual and instantaneous linking of local nodes of the global community (especially for the ability of social media now to connect with satellite monitoring intelligence to potentially keep corporations and policy agencies more ‘honest’ in future) how can the notion of ‘digital heritage’ assist to preserve and defend yet also disseminate the enduring or sustainable knowledge and local wisdom also of global relevance – especially in or as forms of lifelong learning, globally convergent communities of practice, and even formal education and training ?
  • ‘Myths, Dilemmas and Promises: Asia at the Crossroads-Turning Points of Learning and Leadership’

    by

    Prof. Dato' Dr Ibrahim A. Bajunid

    Professor Dato' Dr Ibrahim Ahmad Bajunid is the Deputy President/ Deputy Vice Chancellor INTI-UC Laureate International Universities (INTI International University) and Professor of Management, Education and the Social Sciences. Professor Bajunid is the First Director of the Regional Center for Educational Planning (UNESCO-RCEP), Al Sharjah, United Arab Emirates. He was Professor of Management, Leadership and Policy Studies and the Founding Dean, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences at University Tun Abdul Razak (UNITAR) for seven years before taking the post of Director, RCEP. He is the former Director of Institut Aminuddin Baki (IAB) - The National Institute of Educational Management and Leadership. He was a member of the Task Force that established Institute Aminuddin Baki in 1979.

    For more than two and a half decades, Professor Bajunid has been a key figure in the Field of Educational Management and Leadership in Malaysia and exercises many leadership roles and has provided services as consultant in policy-making governmental committees, private sector and Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs). He was President of the Senior Educators' Association, Fellow of the Council of Education Management in Commonwealth Countries, Distinguished Fellow of the Institute of Strategic and International Studies (ISIS) Malaysia, Fellow Emeritus of the National Institute of Educational Management and Leadership (IAB), Fellow of the National Research Institute on Youth, Senior Fellow of the Malaysian Social Institute, Consultant Fellow of the International Institute of Educational Planning (IIEP). Member of the Advisory Board of Asia Pacific Centre for Leadership and Change (APCLC), Hong Kong Institute of Education, and, Honorary Life Member of the Malaysian Association for Music Education (MAME). He was actively involved as a Trade Union leader and is currently leading professional associations, including, as President of the Malaysian Institute of Human Resource Management (MIHRM), Malaysian Association for Education (MAE), and, the Malaysian Educational Management and Leadership Association, and Board Member and President Elect of the Asia–Pacific Educational Research Association (APERA).

    He has been a consultant in Thailand, United Arab Emirates, Botswana, and Cambodia and had the opportunity of contributing to the activities of UNESCO, UNDP, ASEAN Council of Teachers (ACT), and Education International (EI).

    Professor Bajunid is Editor and Editorial Advisor for several educational journals, locally and internationally. He has presented keynote addresses at various national and international conferences in Malaysia and abroad. He was the National Advisor/Consultant for Asia–Europe Initiative on Lifelong Learning in Malaysia, and, is currently engaged in several research projects and is supervising several Masters and Doctoral scholars. Professor Bajunid is on the Academic Advisory Boards in several national universities. He has written over five hundred articles and academic papers covering significant issues in national development relating to education, social and intellectual capital creation, the strengthening of families and communities, and the enhancement of human potentialities. He has been a Panelist in many public media fora discussing issues on education, human resources development, and societal change. He was a regular columnist in the New Straits/Sunday Times with a weekly column every Sunday, titled, ‘As I Wonder'. His latest publication is Bajunid, I. A (2008) (ed.). Malaysia - From Traditional to Smart Schools - The Malaysian Educational Odyssey. Kuala Lumpur: Oxford Fajar Sdn. Bhd.

    Professor Bajunid has also been recognized by the Malaysian Historical Society and the Malaysian Library Association for his contributions to the promotion of historical literacy and knowledge culture respectively. He has been recognized for contributions to the Teachers Trade Union Movement by the National Union of the Teaching Profession (NUTP), as well as by the Malaysian Association of Music Educators (MAME) for his support of their works. He is Member of the National Committee on the Study, Review and Reform of Higher Education in Malaysia. He is Adjunct/Visiting Professor at several universities. He has exercised several key roles pertaining to the National Quality Agenda in Education in the Educational Quality Journey over the last two and a half decades particularly in initiating Training Programmes, in Quality Control Circles, Quality Control, Quality Assurance, and in Total Quality Management in Education. He has been involved in the National Accreditation Board and Malaysian Qualifications Agency Processes both as practitioner and as member of the wider policy making community (in the education bureaucracy, in private sector education leadership and as contributor from the Non Governmental Organization Stakeholder – the Professional Association Sector).

    Professor Dr. Ibrahim Ahmad Bajunid is the recipient of the “Tokoh Kepimpinan Pendidikan Kebangsaan” the National Educational Leadership Award, the highest Educational Leadership Award in Malaysia granted/awarded only to a few individuals who have demonstrated distinguished and exemplary leadership across institutional, national and international contexts

    The aim of the paper is to stimulate interest in the two areas so essential to development and global peace and order, leadership and learning. In broad analytic sweep, it explores leadership and learning in the Western world, in the Asian world, as well as the contributions of international agencies to educational development. In the western world, there are attempts to understand education in the universal perspectives of three thousand years of educational wisdom, or of 50 important thinkers, or, of 50 companies that changed the world, or, of local, national and global benchmarks. In the Asian world, there are contributions in the endeavours at understanding Asian minds: the Chinese, Indian, Japanese, Korean, Egyptian and Indonesian-Malay minds. The question ‘Can Asians Think?’ is a provocative question that challenges the educational and innovative efforts and mindsets of peoples in the region. International agencies, with their global reports, and, with such global agenda as the Millennium Development Goals and Education for All, do exercise influence on the contents and directions of contemporary education policies in the region. Futurists read the future of learning, educational institutions and leadership in sight, mindful of errors in predictions. Asian responses to the advent of the Standards of teaching-learning pedagogies, by introduction of normative policy of Outcome Based Education (OBE), or, to such technologies as Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs), and domains of global skills, are critically examined. Understanding such a vast and diverse continent with long histories is never complete, neither accurate nor truthful. However, glimpses of trends may be noted. Asian diversity is not just demography, but encompasses beliefs, traditions, cultures, languages, laws, conventions, economics, politics and education systems. The paper searches for, and, delineates some unique aspects of what may be considered essentially Asian, for instance, the effort framed ‘Southern Theory’. Within the global and regional level ecology of the redefinition of valid and relevant knowledge, the notions of ‘national interest, national character, and national identity’ as well as the development of knowledge corpus of any indigenous knowledge discipline, is explored. The nature of the traditions of learning in Asia, especially the notion of teaching for wisdom and with ‘soul ‘, as well as the Asian notions of leadership as the Tao, Islamic or Indigenous Leadership is revisited. In sum, the paper invites deep, objective, and reflective conversations as it examines the myths and possibilities of Leadership and Learning in the Asian Century.

  • ‘Learning Spaces and Learning Technologies in the Asian Century’

    by

    Professor LIM CHER PING

    Professor LIM CHER PING is a Professor of Curriculum and Innovations, and the former Director of the Centre for Learning, Teaching and Technology at the Hong Kong Institute of Education. In the last 10 years, he has been the principal investigator of several major and high impact research projects in Australia, Hong Kong, Indonesia and Singapore. He has also been able to engage major stakeholders of teacher education and ICT in education at various levels; nationally and internationally, public and private, and government and non-government. Organisations including UNESCO, Microsoft, BHP Billiton, World Bank, Sampoerna Foundation, and government agencies have been tapped upon as partners for many of the research and development projects that he has led, especially in the Asia-Pacific region. To date, Professor Lim has provided technical consultancy services to UNESCO, Inter-American Development Bank, Asian Development Bank, World Bank, World Links, Microsoft, universities, schools and governments in the areas for teacher professional development, education policies and assessments. Professor Lim has published internationally in different areas of education technologies, namely learning engagement, emerging technologies and global citizenship, and evolving curriculum and assessment in teacher education.

    Asia’s robust growth in the last two decades has been defining the 21st century – the Asian Century. In the ADB’s publication Asia 2050, it predicts that another 3 billion Asians will enjoy similar living standards to those in Europe today, with Asia accounting for more than half of the global output by 2050. However, for countries in the region to sustain their growth and make the Asian Century a reality, they have to harness on the potential of the rapid advancement of technology, and make sense and manage the global level of economic, ecological, social, political and cultural integration across countries that are part of globalisation. Otherwise, countries may face a stagnation of productivity and growth for extended periods.

    In such a new world order, education for global citizenship is essential to prepare our young people to be agents of change rather than passive observers of world events; and at the same time, to live together in an increasingly diverse and complex society and to reflect on and interpret fast changing information. This keynote draws upon case studies in the Asia-Pacific countries to show how schools and education institutions design learning spaces to take up the potential of learning technologies for the development of global citizenship competencies. These competencies include critical thinking, creative thinking, global perceptiveness, problem-solving, effective communication, and ethical decision making. By doing so, the keynote constructs a framework for the design of such learning spaces where students think global and act local as we work towards the realisation of the Asian Century.

  • ‘What Counts as a “University of Distinction” in the 21st Century?’

    by

    Professor LEE SING KONG

    Professor LEE SING KONG is the Vice President (Education Strategies) and Professor of Biological Sciences at Nanyang Technological University (NTU). He obtained a 1st Class Honours in Horticultural Science from the University of Canterbury, New Zealand in 1974, supported by the Colombo Plan Scholarship and awarded by the Public Service Commission of Singapore. He received his PhD in 1985 from the National University of Singapore (NUS) in Plant Biotechnology.

    After an illustrious career in the civil service, Professor Lee joined National Institute of Education (NIE) in 1991 and was in various positions of leadership. He assumed the directorship of NIE in 2006. Under his stewardship, NIE took a systematic review of teacher education programmes in partnership with MOE and its schools, using the revised National Curriculum as key guides. The resulting 21st-century teacher education model was launched in 2009 to develop teachers with the key values, skills and knowledge necessary to function in the 21st-century classroom.

    Building on his extensive knowledge and experience in education, Professor Lee was appointed as the Vice President (Education Strategies) on 1 July 2014 to lead the development of NTU’s strategies and innovations in curricular, teaching methods and assessment. He will also lead the development of the Centre for Research and Development in Learning (CRADLE) at NTU which will focus on research into the best learning practices specific to Singapore’s tertiary education sector.

    Higher education in the 21st century is very different from the 20th century. The drivers for change in the 21st century are very different, to name a few – Interconnected world in all domains that include economics, research, communications and social media; Technological Advances that give rise to new demands and opportunities; a changing profile of learners who are often dubbed as EPIIC (Experiential, Participatory, Imagery, Inquiry, Connectedness) learners that demand a total reform to the way teaching and learning are to be conducted. In the light of these drivers, how a university will respond to these drivers and be relevant to the needs and opportunities in the new landscape will count for what a University of Distinction will be.

    My keynote address will cover 5 areas of changes that a University of Distinction needs to respond to in this new landscape, namely Organisational Structure; Curricula Design and Pedagogies; Transformed Learning Environment; Re-examined Research; and Management Policies. For each of these areas of focus, specific examples will be shared based on my work/ interactions with many universities, both responsive as well as stagnant ones.

  • ‘Competing at the Edge – Leading with Research, Innovation and Learning for Asia Development’

    by

    Professor SHANTHA LIYANAGE

    Professor SHANTHA LIYANAGE is research coordinator at Department of Education and Communities, New South Wales Australia and a professorial fellow at the University of Technology Sydney. Shantha has extensive experience as a senior academic and worked senior research fellow at ARC Centre for Research Policy at the University of Wollongong, Technology Management Centre at the University of Queensland, Brisbane and Associate Professor at the University of Auckland New Zealand. He held recent appointments with the Macquarie University, University of Sydney and now at the University of Technology Sydney. Shantha’s specialisation is in research, technology and innovation management and contributed to scholarly research and teaching for business subjects to undergraduate, post graduate and professional students.

    Since 2008, at the invitation of the ATLAS project at CERN, Geneva Switzerland, he has conducted leadership research and has published “Leadership in the ATLAS Collaboration” in Oxford University published book Collisions and Collaboration edited by Max Boisot (2011). His has extensive industry consultancy experience in innovation, organisational management and creativity and has worked with the Asian Development Bank and World Bank projects. He has also undertaken research studies for the Australian Development Aid and New Zealand Trade and Industry on social responsibility and learning development projects.

    Shantha held visiting professorial positions with the Business School of the Nihon University-Japan, Stockholm Economic School-Sweden, Copenhagen Business School-Denmark, Zeppelin University-Germany, Norwegian University of Technology (NUTU)-Norway, and the University of Teknologi-Malaysia.

    Shantha’s team building and networking capabilities were well demonstrated in the establishment of Science and Technology Policy Network (STEPAN) and knowledge management societies. He brings refreshing insights into organisations and individuals and has expertise in inquiry based learning to enhance personalised learning. As the program manager of Science and Technology Policy Network, He contributed to science and technology development in many developing nations in Asia. Shantha has extensive experience in applied techniques for fostering technology and innovation through his consultancy experience with various Government and International development Agencies such The Asian Development Bank, the World Bank, IDRC, SAREC/SIDA and UNESCO. He is also Editor-in-Chief of the International Journal of Leaning and Change, Inderscience, UK.

    Asian Century – the theme of this conference is a significant milestone in Asian development when Asia presents a challenge not only to Asia itself but to the entire world. With a nexus of valuable human resources, social networks, embracing new technologies, implementing major developments, Asia has surged ahead in social and economic development. With growing concerns on governance, equity, human rights and social justice, Asian Century is at a cross road. In this century, Asian countries use organisational competencies, people and competitive advantages to improve human conditions. Asia continues to invest in infrastructure, business systems and finance for capital growth to fuel its engines of growth to combat poverty, hunger and human dignity. Asia’s scientific and social institutional structures present a significant social capital adding to core values of health and education for all. Asia’s self-rejuvenating welfare systems based on social values and norms bind a close social system. Can these be sustained in the Asian Century? Success of the Asian story is millennium old way of life, culture and spiritual capital which moulds Asia’s value systems in multi lingual and culturally diverse societies. Building a robust national innovation system with strong scientific and technological capabilities and cultivating scientific and technological culture are fundamental to sustainable and inclusive development. Whether it is private or public organisations, innovation is important to lead a country to continuously generate products, processes or services for economic and social transformation. Continuous innovation, research and learning must embed an organisational culture that is responsive, agile and efficient in dealing with global challenges in the 21st Century.

Conference Program