Charting New Frontiers in Experiential Learning the Digital Way

The SUSS Centre for Experiential Learning (CEL) held a prelude to its inaugural Practising Experiential Learning Conference (PELC) on 9 September 2020. Themed “Hitting the Wall? Charting New Frontiers in Experiential Learning", the Zoom webinar explored the possibilities of using digital technology to replace or enhance traditional experiential learning programmes.

The online event proved to be a success, attracting 255 practitioners and educators from various industries and educational institutions, including SUSS's partners from the region.

Dr Lim Chee Han, Head (Overseas Experiential Learning), and moderator of the event shared: “This webinar is quite unique because of its reflective nature – using a virtual platform to talk about the possibility of using virtual platforms to run experiential learning programmes."

 

<sup>A sharing on the Youth Alliance Virtual Overseas Internship outcomes and considerations.




NUS Senior Lecturer, Dr Carl Grundy Warr, presented a video during the Zoom webinar to showcase an inquiry-based learning field trip to Cambodia in September 2019.</sup>

The webinar brought together four speakers from various backgrounds. Ms Chan Yuen-Li, Founder of outdoor adventure company Nomad Adventure, spoke about the differences between “data" and “experience", while political-geographer Dr Carl Grundy Warr from the National University of Singapore (NUS) gave an insightful talk about the value of using digital technology to enhance field-based education.

 

 

 

^{(From top to bottom) Speakers of the PELC Dr Tan Eng Han, Dr Carl Grundy Warr, Ms Chan Yuen-Yi, Professor Yaacob Ibrahim and moderator Dr Lim Chee Han (CEL) live on Zoom.}

 

Also speaking at the virtual conference were Professor Yaacob Ibrahim, Advisor to the President at the Singapore Institute of Technology, and Dr Tan Eng Han, Regional Director of ACT Inc., a major global assessment and learning company, who discussed the possibilities of replicating the experiences and learning outcomes of internships with virtual interactions.

The webinar garnered positive feedback from attendees. One of the “Great! Thank you to the organising committee and the speakers for organizing the seminar. It is a new world ahead and we do need to prepare ourselves and our children to embrace the new norm which all of us are experiencing for the first time", said Yah Kin Boon from the non-profit organisation “Ground-Up Initiative".

Dr Tan Lai Yong from NUS also shared, “Thank you for the wonderful take-home point - predictive application of data/knowledge is wisdom. Know what, know how and know why!"

To learn more about the strategies, ways of evaluating, and measuring the success of virtual experiential learning, look out for the PELC to be held in 2021.