The seemingly impossible has already happened. With the world – and its economy – grinding to a halt due to the COVID-19 pandemic, change is not just inevitable; rather, we are swept away by it.
We have been talking about the fourth industrial revolution as an uncharted territory, one which requires every firm and individual to learn new skills in order to thrive in a digital world that is fundamentally different from the one as we had known. So we know the world is changing, and to some extent, we thought that we had an idea of how things would pan out.
Then came a crisis that overnight presented us with an urgent need to reorient.
The effect of COVID-19 on an interconnected world is unprecedented. McKinsey in an article¹ noted that the coronavirus pandemic, besides being the most serious health crisis the world has experienced in a century, could also be “one of the biggest destroyers of jobs in human history”. In regions as diverse as Africa, Europe, and the United States, up to a third of the workforce is vulnerable to reduced income, furloughs, or layoffs. Singapore itself has taken aggressive steps to ramp up re-skilling efforts to help workers in sectors that are hardest hit.
But the silver lining is perhaps that we have been preparing for a world in which much of our daily lives have to be moved online. Globally, governments and businesses have been building on technological foundations and enhancing their digital services. On the individual level, digital literacy is on the rise in most countries, and it has been heartwarming to see a young NUS medical graduate step up to create a translation portal² in just a night’s work for medical teams treating migrant workers in Singapore.
Re-skilling, up-skilling and digital innovation are not new concepts. But now, they are more relevant and imperative than ever, because we no longer have the luxury of option or time to decide when we want to do it.
Achieving learning outcomes from home
Yet there are unique challenges in this coronavirus crisis. Unlike that of an economic lull, the disruption to everyday life is characterised by a need to stay home. This makes job training and skills acquisition a little trickier than before. Despite a vast reservoir of online resources available, many learners have indicated that they preferred attending courses in person. In addition to hands-on practical learning, they also valued the opportunity to meet and engage with fellow participants and lecturers.
“At NUS-ISS, we always ensure that the learning outcomes are achieved through our practice-based programmes with the KSA (Knowledge, Skills, Attitude) model," said Tan Tzann Chang, Principal Lecturer & Consultant, Digital Products & Platforms Practice. The model focuses on learning and understanding the Knowledge from readings and lectures, demonstrating of this understanding by applying the Skill to work out case discussions, workshops and assessments, and developing the right Attitude through working collaboratively with fellow participants; and the support of NUS-ISS and industry experienced adjunct facilitators. In the advent of current workplace closure and social distancing measures, the institute is shifting its training courses online, and making sure the same standard of learning outcomes are achieved through synchronised online learning.
Tzann, who is also the Head of Teaching Excellence at NUS-ISS, shared that feedback the teaching team received on virtual sessions have been positive thus far. “We started implementing online learning to our myriad of programmes and courses such as Business Process Reengineering and Statistics Bootcamp since 10 February - the reactions from participants have been encouraging. They were indeed pleasantly surprised to find online learning smoother and more engaging than they had expected.” The lecturers also made sure to incorporate breakout sessions and interactive components in class. Tzann added, "Our experienced lecturers have a wealth of industry knowledge, and our participants have always told us that they enjoyed the sharing of rich insights by the teaching staff. We want to continue to deliver this value.”
The shift to online learning
Health Analytics participant and Senior Actuary of Swiss Re Asia, Charlene Lee said, “The transition to online learning was unplanned, but NUS-ISS handled it splendidly. The lecturers' informative content and delivery kept me completely attentive the whole time." Rushdy Hakam, Central Provident Fund board manager, who attended the Certified ScrumMaster online class commended that "breakout sessions allowed the class to interact and share experiences, making it a great online learning journey." Says Siow Geok Bee, participant of the Python for Data, Ops and Things course, "I do not need to travel and get to continue learning while staying safe."
Christopher Chang, a current student of the Master of Technology in Enterprise Business Analytics programme shares, "In terms of teaching and transfer of information and knowledge from the lecturer to students, there is almost no difference for both methods, face-to-face or virtual delivery. Students are more open to ask questions over chat which benefits everyone in the learning process." A part-time Masters student, Chang adds on that "Being able to save on two hours of travel time in total is a big benefit that gives me more time to sleep on Friday nights, which is very valuable to me, especially after a long week of work." Chang who is a risk analyst at NSL Ltd lets on that "it would be a novel experience do an online exam, so I am quite looking forward to that in May."
Preparing for a post-COVID world
A lot of uncertainties await in a post-COVID world, but one thing is clear – the learning needs to continue, and it is what will help us thrive through the crisis.
“Through the sudden Work From Home (WFH) directive, NUS-ISS was able to quickly transition from face-to-face interactive class sessions to online learning without postponing or cancelling any of the scheduled classes," shares Tzann. NUS-ISS had in the last two years digitally transform the way it delivers and administers its courses. These initiatives include moving onto the NUS LumiNUS online learning platform which enables the efficient management of participants’ roster, digital distribution of courseware to conducting online assessment. Said Tzann, "These efforts allow us to bootstrap, and quickly transition to online learning in a matter of days, with minimal re-skilling needed.”
One of the many scheduled programmes that begun in 2019 to train 1000 new digital ICT leaders in two years, is the unique Nucleus 2.0 programme a partnership with NCS. Fresh from her four-day DevOps Engineering & Automation online class, Jeanvia Yeo, a NCS application consultant, shared that "the instructors were very helpful and responsive online. The lecture format were well-balanced with a good mix of assessments and hands on workshops with real world applications which I can apply directly to my workplace.” Classmate and fellow NCS application consultant Chin Wei Boon, added that the “online lessons were taught clearly and the instructors where fluent in their teachings.”
Concluding, Tzann explains that "NUS-ISS has now settled well on a model of conducting online classes and will make improvements for interactive engagement based on timely and open participants' feedback." An online learning experience, in its very essence should maintain or surpass the quality of learning outcomes to enable students and participants to continue learning new skills and seek new professional opportunities.
Support measures³ released by Workforce Singapore (WSG) earlier in March has focused on the re-skilling and redeploying of workers. WSG chief executive Tan Choon Shian noted that by retraining the employees into enhanced job roles, they can then better support businesses for economic recovery.
And while it is too early to decide what will emerge out of this Great Lockdown, as the
International Monetary Fund (IMF) termed the pandemic, it is not too late to start preparing for it.
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¹Fine David, Julia Klier, Deepa Mahajan, Nico Raabe, Jörg Schubert, Navjot Singh, and Seckin Ungur. "How to rebuild and reimagine jobs amid the coronavirus crisis." Mckinsey.com, April. 2020. Web. 20 April 2020.
²Yip Christy. "Your website will save lives': NUS graduate builds translation portal for medical teams treating migrant workers." CNA.com, 19 April 2020. Web. 20 April 2020.
³Rajendran, Shivraj. "More job training support for four sectors hit hardest by Covid-19." Straitstimes.com, 12 March 2020. 20 April 2020.
Fresh from her four-day
DevOps Engineering & Automation class, as part of the
Nucleus 2.0 programme, NCS application consultant, Jeanvia Yeo, shared that "the instructors were very helpful and responsive online. The lecture format were well-balanced with a good mix of assessments, online learning and hands on workshops, with real world applications which I can apply directly to my workplace.” Classmate and fellow NCS application consultant Chin Wei Boon, added that the “online lessons were taught clearly and the instructors where fluent in their teachings.”