Feature

The 6th Asia Pacific Regional
Innovative Education Forum

Amiya Dhara Halder

THE 6th RIEF organised jointly by Microsoft™ and TakingITGlobal [TIG], a nonprofit organization dealing with global issues with focus on technology, was held in Singapore from 7-11 March. Five strenuous yet fun days of workshop, fancy dinners, speeches from high profile guests and difficult project plan preparation pretty much summed up the awesome experience. I was lucky enough to have been a member of such an event. Being a student, I was part of the Innovative Students Forum [ISF]. Around fifteen very bright and talented young people between the ages of 14 and 19 from across the Asia Pacific attended ithe programme. The best project ideas were given grants by Microsoft.I arrived at 8pm at Changi Airport in Singapore on 6 March. We were accommodated at Shangri-La Hotel.

In the morning of 7 March, I joined the facilitators for breakfast. It was decided that we would set out for a spot of sightseeing. It was a rushed trip but we learnt a bit about Singapore's heritage.

After returning to the hotel we rushed to the meeting room where the orientation and briefing took place. We got acquainted with each other and our mentors Muhammed Iman Usman of Indonesia, Shobana Nair from Malaysia, Lucie Drabinova from Canada and Shaun Koh of Singapore.

The same evening we had our first interactive workshop. Founders of Syinc, a Singapore-based youth group that encourages young people to be involved in social change, gave us a lesson in Design Thinking for Social Innovation. The process was described in a simplified and understandable way.

On the second day, we had the Student's Opening Ceremony. Felicia, a regional Microsoft official, initiated the ceremony. Speeches on youth involvement were given by Penny Lowe, a member of parliament of Singapore and also a social entrepreneur. Afterwards we had a workshop on Digital Media by Katherine Walraven, a facilitator from TIG.

Lim Hong Li, an International Association of Facilitation Certified Professional Facilitator, gave us a presentation on Project Management. We were taught that project management could be divided into four main categories Think It, Plan It, Do It and Deliver It. Once again, this was a simplified description. We then had a workshop on Leadership Skills by Aloke Verma, a senior manager at a multinational bank. This was followed by a presentation by Anne Yeo Sim Teck, a social entrepreneur.

The objective of her session was to explain the necessity of proper decision-making on who the target group of our project is and what outcomes our project will produce. The evening ended with dinner at the Newton Circus Hawker Centre a hub for varied Singaporean food. It was the best opportunity throughout the whole event to try out Singapore's cuisine, which mixes the most diverse flavors. On the morning of 9t March, the Opening Ceremony of the RIEF was held. We had speeches from Microsoft officials as well as two very distinguished guests. The Minister for Education of Singapore opened the RIEF. Former Vice President of the World Bank, Jean Francois Richard shared with us his insight on some of the most pressing problems the world is currently facing.

During the Opening Ceremony, Jennifer Corriero, the co-founder of TakingITGlobal, questioned a panel of three participants of the ISF and two mentors on their experience at the forum. I was chosen to be a part of this. The second part of the day was a daylong field trip to Ngee Ann Secondary School. This was an interesting experience as the schoolteachers greatly incorporate technology into their teaching process.

From 10 March, we began our project plan presentation. This meant deciding on a project idea that we would like to start up in our home countries. At the end of the day, five groups had been established. I decided to join the group lead by Niwa Rahmad Tama from Indonesia and Gabrielle Paul Pascual from the Philippines. Our project was based on intercultural dialogue.

In the evening, we had dinner at Long Beach Seafood Restaurant in Dempsey hosted by Microsoft Japan.

Thursday morning was a rush of last minute project organization. In the afternoon, we had a demo project presentation to the mentors followed by the real thing in front of a very distinguished board of judges. We had a surprise visit from Richard during the finalization round who gave us useful feedback on our projects.

The RIEF ended with the Gala Dinner and Closing Ceremony at the National Museum of Singapore. Winning projects by innovative teachers were announced. Bangladesh was awarded for its project on the Greenhouse Effect. Students were given certificates of achievement and scholarships for TakingITGlobal's new e-course called Sprout, which is designed for social and environmental entrepreneurs. We were informed that grant results would be given later via email.

Back at the hotel, we shared memories and thoughts for the future. Departures started from the morning of 12 March.

The RIEF was an invaluable experience and the first of its kind for me. It was infinitely enjoyable a place to meet great minds from all over the world and to learn about how to materialize your ideas.

I would suggest that everyone sign up at TakingITGlobal's website http://www.tigweb.org/. It will definitely be an eye-opener and a step into the real world full of significant issues that concern us all.

(Writer is a student of LOREETO)