Harnessing Artificial Intelligence for Education: Innovations and Implications

Dr Shanti Divaharan , PhD, is an Associate Professor of Learning Sciences and Assessment at the National Institute of Education (NIE) in Singapore. She began her career as a secondary school English Language and History teacher. She has been at NIE for the last 20 years working with pre-service teachers, teachers, heads of departments and school leaders. She received the Excellence in Teaching Commendation award at the National Institute of Education, in 2010, 2012 and 2020. Shanti's primary focus is in the area of augmenting technology-integrated teaching practices. In particular, she is interested in exploring effective professional development for teachers in designing technology-mediated learning to enhance their students' learning experience. As Chair of curriculum committees, she was instrumental in revamping the academic groups' both core pre-service modules, ICT for Meaningful Learning and Teaching and Managing Learners. She was instrumental in introducing a suite of technology tools with complementing pedagogies such as multi-modal learning with the Interactive Whiteboard, mobile learning with iPad and Android tablets and Game-based learning. As Associate Dean, Pedagogical Development and Innovations, she was instrumental in building up a team of administrative staff to support the development of teaching and learning resources in NIE as well as the strategic direction. Shanti's research focus is also in the area of augmenting technology-integrated teaching practices. She was the principal investigator in 'Pedagogy in NIE Teacher Education: Review, support and enhancement' and co-principal investigator in the study, 'Evaluation of Implementation of IT Masterplan 3 - A Nationwide Longitudinal Study'. She was also the principal investigator leading a team in the development and design of e-books to complement student teachers' multi-modal learning experience. She has been invited to present keynote addresses to encourage practitioners to ruminate over their technology-integrated teaching practices and aim to enhance their practices at both the national and international levels. At the International level, she has also conceptualized, developed resources and led a team of instructors through Singapore International Foundation to train Bhutanese teachers to design technology-integrated lessons as part of the Bhutan Wired project. She works closely with the Asian Development Bank as an Educational Technology Consultant. She has been invited to numerous sharing sessions by ADB and UNESCO to share with ministry officials, policy makers, school leaders as well as teacher education faculty on how to encourage learner-centred pedagogy as well as technology-mediated learning in school and Institutes of Higher Learning.

Dr Lee has led research and development teams in education and industrial projects. His main research and teaching interests are in Artificial Intelligence in Education (AIED), Knowledge Building, Learning Analytics, Technology-Enabled Assessment, Internet of Things (IoT), and Educational Technologies (EdTech). Dr Lee's prominent works include use of learning analytics and machine learning for understanding knowledge building discourse within CSCL environments. He has chaired international sub-conferences and doctoral consortiums, and was also the chair of the APSCE student wing in the Asia-Pacific region. Dr Lee won a Fulbright Visiting Scholar Award to the University of Pennsylvania, and was twice awarded the Dean's Commendation for Research at NIE, with an Outstanding Mentor Award in the Science Mentorship Programme, and was also a 3M Best Poster Awardee. He currently teaches post-graduate students and in-service teachers and look forward to broadening his research network.

Ms Lin Rongchan started out as a Chinese Language teacher and Subject Head/Project Management (Internal) at Nan Hua High School. She was subsequently seconded to the Asian Languages and Cultures Academic Group at NIE as a Teaching Fellow. After her secondment, she worked at the Ministry of Education Headquarters, Singapore, as a Curriculum Planning Officer. She is currently a Lecturer and Programme Leader (Professional Development Programme) at the Learning Sciences and Assessment Department, NIE, NTU. Her interest and focus areas include assessment literacy, alternative assessment, use and design of rubrics, and language assessment. Being effectively bilingual, Rongchan gives talks, conducts training and publishes in both English and Chinese. Rongchan received her B.A. from Peking University, her PGDE and M.A. from Nanyang Technological University, and her Ed.M. from Teachers College, Columbia University. Awards received include the 2017 Asian Association for Language Assessment (AALA) Best Student Paper Award, Confucius China Studies Program Joint Research Ph.D. Fellowship (Spring 2016, Spring 2017, and Fall 2017), 2014 Tan Ean Kiam Postgraduate Scholarship (Humanities), and 2012 Tan Kah Kee Postgraduate Scholarship. Rongchan was also named as the 2016 Joan Findlay Dunham Annual Fund Scholar by Teachers College. Born and raised in Singapore, Rongchan has benefitted from Singapore's bilingual education and is particularly passionate about language education. Locally, she sits on the Committee to Promote Chinese Language Learning (CPCLL) and the National Translation Committee (NTC). She is also a Regional Representative (Singapore) of the AALA. She previously chaired the Nominating Committee (2016-2017) of the AALA. She also served as an editorial board member of Teachers College, Columbia University Working Papers in Applied Linguistics and TESOL in Fall 2017. Outside of academia, Rongchan is passionate about poetry writing and has won awards for her contemporary Chinese poetry. She has served as an instructor for the Author-in-Residence Programme organised by the CPCLL since 2012. Her poetry had been featured at City Hall MRT Station, National Library and Bishan Public Library, Singapore. Her short story that depicts the life of a taxi-driver in Singapore has been adapted into a short film. This short story was her retirement gift for her dad who was a taxi-driver for more than 30 years. APPOINTMENTS & PROFESSIONAL SERVICES NTU Senate Committees Member, Committee on Faculty Development (8th Senate: Oct 2022 - June 2024; 9th Senate: Oct 2024-present) National Institute of Education, Nanyang Technological University (NIE, NTU) Member, NIE 2030 Strategy Development Taskforce on Redefining Learning LSA Department Programme Leader for Professional Development (PD) Courses Programme Leader for Leadership Courses Co-Chair, LSA Colloquium (2023 & 2024) Member, LSA Artificial Intelligence in Education (AIED) Taskforce Group Endeavours in Service Learning (GESL) Coordinator Advisory Singapore Mentor, the Advisory Mentorship Programme (June-September 2022; June-September 2021) Asian Association for Language Assessment (AALA) Regional Representative (Singapore) (1 July 2021 to date) Immediate Past Co-Chair of Student Committee (2018-2019) Chair of Nominating Committee (2016-2017) Founding Co-chair of Student Committee (2015-2017) Committee to Promote Chinese Language Learning (CPCLL), Singapore Committee Member (1 January 2021 – 31 December 2026) Instructor, Author-in-Residence Programme (since 2012) National Translation Committee (NTC), Singapore Committee Member (1 March 2022 - 28 February 2027)