The Adult Learning Collaboratory draws more than 20 organisations to co-create and jointly experiment future-focused adult learning solutions for the diverse workforce, including digital marketeers, hawkers, junior lawyers and moreSingapore, 1 August 2024 – The Institute for Adult Learning (IAL) celebrated its fifth anniversary as an autonomous institute of the Singapore University of Social Sciences (SUSS) today. IAL was set up to raise the standards of adult education in Singapore, and drive research and innovation in this space.
This milestone event was marked by the official unveiling of the 3,500-square-foot physical space of the Adult Learning Collaboratory (ALC), a joint initiative between IAL and SkillsFuture Singapore (SSG). Minister of State for Education, Ms Gan Siow Huang graced the event to witness the official opening of the Collaboratory.
The Collaboratory is a first-of-its-kind initiative which combines the concepts of both ‘collaboration’ and ‘laboratory’. It seeks to unite ecosystem players to tackle complex challenges in adult learning through a dynamic process of testing, experimentation, and iteration. IAL’s extensive research in jobs, skills and learning over the years will provide a strong foundation of knowledge to generate new solutions.
More than 20 ecosystem players have joined as collaboratory partners to innovate and test new solutions at distributed experiment sites1 across Singapore. These early collaborators include large and small enterprises, Institutes of Higher Learning, training providers, adult educators and technologists. Their experiments will focus on three critical domains: future-oriented pedagogies, digital capability development for an AI-augmented future, and new-age business transformation. These collaborative efforts seek to benefit adult learners working in diverse sectors.
As a start, Singapore Polytechnic’s School of Business, Fei Siong Group and the Singapore Academy of Law are experimenting with future-oriented pedagogies tailored to their different contexts. ALC aims to share the preliminary results of the experimentation and innovation by December 2025.
Associate Professor (Practice) Yeo Li Pheow, Executive Director of IAL, said the overwhelming response by industry partners to IAL’s initiatives was an encouraging indication of widespread acknowledgement of the power of adult learning to drive enterprise and societal outcomes. “The past five years coincided with a period of digital and AI transformation at work, which has shifted the adult learning landscape in Singapore, elevating the impetus for adult learning to be harnessed meaningfully. We have not only adapted to challenges but have also seized new opportunities to innovate and grow. Today, as we celebrate our fifth anniversary and the opening of the ALC, we reaffirm our commitment to excellence in adult education. This dual milestone represents both IAL’s progress and vision for the future. Through strategic partnerships, cutting-edge programmes, rigorous research, and continuous innovation, IAL is dedicated to equipping Singapore's workforce with the skills and knowledge needed to thrive in a rapidly evolving global economy. The new injection of experimentation capabilities into the adult learning ecosystem through the ALC is timely.”
Housed within the Lifelong Learning Institute, the Collaboratory features an experimental theatrette equipped to generate learning analytics, Functional Near-Infrared Spectroscopy (fNIRS) equipment for brain-level monitoring of adult learning, and collaborative spaces for joint ideation, to provide essential technological support for the community.
Enterprises, organisations and researchers keen to advance the practice of adult learning in Singapore via the Adult Learning Collaboratory may visit https://www.ial.edu.sg/alc or email alc@ial.edu.sg for more information.
1 Distributed experiment sites: Experimental research conducted across multiple locations in order to test prototypes in different contexts to ensure use-centricity and scalability.###About the Institute for Adult Learning:
The Institute for Adult Learning (IAL) is an autonomous institute of the Singapore University of Social Sciences. As the National Centre of Excellence for Adult Learning, IAL works closely and supports Adult Education professionals, businesses, human resource developers and policymakers through its comprehensive suite of programmes and services on raising capabilities and catalysing innovations in Continuing Education and Training (CET). IAL also champions research sustaining economic performance through skills, shaping employment and CET decisions, and developing innovations through learning technology and pedagogy to heighten adult learning. For more information, visit www.ial.edu.sg.
Media Contact
Ms Chua Hwee Leng
Principal Manager, Corporate Communications and International Relations
Institute for Adult Learning
E: hlchua@ial.edu.sg
T: 6579 0344