Collaboration X Laboratory = Innovation for Adult Learning

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In the latest drive to build a dynamic, innovative adult learning ecosystem in Singapore, IAL, together with SkillsFuture Singapore, has launched the Adult Learning Collaboratory (ALC). The ALC is a groundbreaking social innovation that brings together stakeholders to co-create and experiment with future-focused adult learning solutions to address complex and emerging challenges. IAL’s strong research base will serve as the foundation to power this pursuit.

To date, more than 20 ecosystem stakeholders, including enterprises, Institutes of Higher Learning, training providers, and technologists, have joined the ALC as partners, engaging in projects in 3 critical domains: (i) future-oriented pedagogies; (ii) digital capability development for an AI-augmented future; and (iii) new-age business transformation.

Let us take a closer look at some projects that we have embarked on with our partners:

ALC X Singapore Polytechnic: Developing Future Marketers


Singapore Polytechnic’s School of Business is working with ALC via the polytechnic’s Specialist Diploma in Digital Marketing and Analytics module to test how future-oriented pedagogies can equip digital marketeers to stay ahead in an industry marked by rapid technological advancements and shifting consumer behaviours. The objective is to nurture digital marketeers who are confident in anticipating and adapting to future trends, leveraging new technologies, and engaging with diverse and global audiences effectively and meaningfully.

“By integrating these innovative approaches across diverse contexts and collaboratively designing assessments with industry partners, we ensure that our students not only acquire relevant knowledge but also develop the skills and confidence needed to succeed in the evolving workforce of the future,” shares Mr Lucas Tok, Acting Director of School of Business, Singapore Polytechnic.

The School’s Business Innovation Centre also offers job redesign consultancy services to industry partners, helping them to scope out the jobs that align with future trends. Excited by the possibilities the ALC could potentially bring to the workplace learning ecosystem, Mr Tok says, “I think we have reached the stage where we know that the PET (Pre-Employment Training) pedagogy does not work for all adult learners. I think the ALC is going to contribute to the wider workplace learning environment by facilitating actual workplace transfers and bringing employers closer in supporting learners’ performance in the workplace as well. It could be a starting point to create a more cohesive and integrated ecosystem amongst employers and adult learners.”

ALC X Singapore Academy of Law: Boosting Lawyer Training



For the Singapore Academy of Law, the partnership with ALC is timely as SAL looks to equip young lawyers with enhanced skills for an AI-impacted future. By integrating future-oriented pedagogies in the Junior Lawyers Professional Certification Programme (JLP), SAL seeks to help the current generation of lawyers acquire the dispositions and skills needed to navigate the complexities of modern legal practice.

“We really hope that we can help our junior lawyers learn faster and better, shorten their learning runway, and help them become active learners, so that whatever knowledge they acquire today can give them the frame of thinking for dealing with what is emergent, unknown, and complex in the future,” says Mrs Delphine Loo, Chief Legal Officer and Senior Director of Learning & Development at Singapore Academy of Law. “The new approaches can help make each of our junior lawyers active learners who take control of their own learning, so as to become the best version of themselves.”

For a start, ALC has worked with SAL to incorporate more impactful training approaches in its programmes, such as the addition of peer-to-peer constructive feedback after role play.

ALC X Fei Siong Group: Building the Next Generation of Singapore Hawkers



The training arm of food services company Fei Siong Group, Fei Siong Institute, runs courses integrated with workplace learning for those working in the hawker food industry. The institute sees the need to provide stronger, effective support for young hawkers so that the trade is a viable and successful career path for the next generation.

It is working with ALC to strengthen the institute’s Hawkerpreneur programme, which aims to empower young and aspiring hawkers to become entrepreneurs, by equipping them with vital skills such as digital literacy, market analysis, and customer engagement. The challenges faced by young hawkers are significant—aside from the physical demands, they have to juggle finances, navigate public perceptions of hawker food and pricing, and adapt to consumer trends.

Second-generation hawker, Esther Ng, whose father founded Guan Kee Kway Chap, is now running her own stall and has the vision of expanding the business to more stalls. She shares, “I need to know how to hire, how to manage my own accounts to know whether the business is profitable … It’s a very different ball game altogether.” She is currently working on a standard operating procedure that will help her deliver a consistent flavour across expanded stalls in time to come.

Fei Siong Institute’s programme with ALC is thus geared towards nurturing young hawkers like Esther. A WhatsApp chatgroup to connect young hawkers, veterans from Fei Siong, and ALC researchers was set up to allow young hawkers to share their challenges and for veterans to provide advice. Insights from this experiment will play a part to help the ALC to design a future-oriented support structure for the next generation of hawkers in Singapore.

Joe Sng, Associate Director, Fei Siong Group, explains, “We focus on more than just business skills. We emphasise the importance of innovation, adaptability, and continuous learning. Our goal is to work with the ecosystem to test strategies for young entrepreneurs to thrive, blending tradition with modern practices for sustained success.”