When it comes to personal growth, there aint no mountain high enough. Life is an upward journey of more knowledge, insights and skills. The best of us know this, but the ones who stand out most are the ones who couple this climb with impact. Taking the higher consciousness and grander knowledge gained, they return to their base to spark change.

These are the kinds of graduates the emba X by ETH Zrich and University of St.Gallen produces. The mountains provide the ideal backdrop and metaphor for the emba X, according to Senior Programme Advisor Claudio Feser. It is about going high, but its also about coming back and making a change, he explains.

Feser is talking about the key advantage of the emba X: personal development. It is the vital path in developing tomorrows responsible leaders. A pioneer in this aspect, the emba X dedicates close to one-quarter of the credited curriculum to personal development and skill building interventions. The setting? Switzerland where mountains cover two thirds of the country making it the perfect study environment to train body, mind, and soul.

The 18-month, joint programme is Europes most relevant Executive MBA. It is rigorous and most importantly, future-focused thanks to a partnership that bridges the gap between technology and business.

ETH Zrich is a world-renowned institution of innovation and technology. The University of St.Gallen a Triple Crown accredited leader in education is known to foster an entrepreneurial spirit that sparks positive economic and social change. The combination provides two ideal student experiences for the price of one, boasting twice the professors, support, perspectives, facilities, and networking opportunities.

Together, ETH Zrich and the University of St.Gallen cover the topical subjects of technology, international management, leadership, business innovation, and social responsibility in a hybrid format. Around 30% to 40% of the emba X is delivered online while the rest of it is taught on-site at both institutions.

While horizons are broadened with an interdisciplinary approach, toolkits are filled with the Personal Development Plan a holistic, customisable offering that drives student transformations, evolving professionals into experts. Expert input, consulting, coaching, mentoring, individual and group activities in both digital and physical formats facilitate this growth.

Skill Building Interventions are just as robust they are one or two-day workshops modelled in line with the four core components of behavioural skill development: Modelling, instruction, rehearsal, and feedback.

Feser, the mind behind the emba Xs unique focus on personal development and skill-building, is a practitioner himself. With three decades of experience at McKinsey & Company, hes witnessed the evolution of business first-hand. The exposure helped him strategise the right formula to ensure aspiring business leaders are agile enough to keep up in the ever-evolving world of business.

We grouped key competencies into three areas: higher cognitive skills, higher social and emotional skills, and integrative skills, he shares. This is what the Personal Development Plan and Skill Building Interventions focus on. We aim to help people gain a higher level of self-awareness and interpersonal awareness. In the end, they become more effective as leaders.

Students apply newfound knowledge with 11 days of real work via tailored social, business innovation, and company projects. Throughout their journey, they are guided by industry leaders that double as faculty members all of whom are ever willing to provide feedback and advice.

They learn specific tools, techniques, and methodologies not just during these 11 days, but throughout the programme. By continuously nudging them to use these tools, they graduate fully understanding the subject and are immediately able to add value to organisations, says Feser.

By being able to study in both Zrich and St.Gallen learners get the best of both worlds in one country. Source: University of St. Gallen

Theres no better place to study new and improved business practices than in the heart of Europe and surrounded by the Alps. Apart from Swiss delicacies like sinful chocolates and fine cheeses, Switzerland is known for its economic influence, entrepreneurial atmosphere, and education system. The country also has centuries of experience in leveraging technology as a means to help local communities.

Amid the hustle and bustle, theres plenty of room for inspiration. Here, lofty, snow-covered mountains slice the sky and those who reach the peak know theyre only halfway through their journey.

The emba X experience was developed from this perspective, offering its students a journey that is filled with hurdles, accomplishment, teamwork, self-discovery, and ultimately, celebration. From a programme perspective, we want people to reach new heights, says Feser.

By being able to study in both Zrich and St.Gallen learners get the best of both worlds in one country. Zrich is the nations largest city, famous for being fast-paced, ultra-vibrant, and the centre of economic life and education. Meanwhile, St.Gallen is nestled between Lake Constance and the Alps exuding the feel of a quaint, charming, traffic-free old town.

With an emba X, theres no need to choose from one or the other click here to begin your journey to business mastery on the ultimate alpine trek.

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emba X by ETH Zrich and University of St.Gallen: The peak of your personal growth - Study International News

Rolling clouds and a setting sun were the artistry Mother Nature painted for the Inland Empires Saturday night hip-hop tidal wave of Atmosphere, Cypress Hill and DJ Z-Trip at the Pavilion at Riverfront.

A venue of stairs, grass and concrete floor filled up as the seconds were peeled away until Z-Trip took to his turntables with an arsenal of vinyl records. With most modern DJs, you usually get the artist pressing play on a laptop, which is the complete opposite with Z-Trip.

A DJ for more than 30 years and known for his vinyl-only approach of mix tapes and live shows, Z-Trip creates pure amazement with his needle sliding right into the track with precision each and every time.

Each crackle and pop through the speaker unleashed the horde into a world of genre-blurring tracks from Snoop Dogg to Led Zeppelin. This started a fire in the crowd that the daunting clouds could not suppress.

Z-Trip was just the opener, but he had two showings that were split by the lyrical juggernauts of L.A.s Cypress Hill and Minnesotas Atmosphere. The early 1990s showed the planet the sound of West Coast hip-hop, and newly formed Cypress Hill was the team who piqued the ears of the counter culture with pro-cannabis lyrics.

With the launch of their 1991 self-titled album, Cypress Hill changed everything for the culture of rap, at which time cannabis-specific lyrics were typically subdued or minimal in mainstream hip-hop.

As clouds billowed from the side stage-mounted fog machine when Cypress Hill took the stage, the floor filled with hundreds of fans all eager to hear B Reels vocal delivery. Track after track brought the crowd from the concrete to the sky as they partied with the lyrical masters.

Fans were blessed with the sounds of A to the K, then it got funky in the clouds with Phuncky Feel One before landing back on Earth with Hand on the Pump, then they mesmerized by DJ Lord and Eric Bobo as the duo jammed on the tables and drums that spun the crowd into an eruption with the beat dropping of Dr. Greenthumb.

Enough smoke had cleared as Hits From the Bong loaded up a chaos of dancing that did not let up until the last note cleared the speakers from set-ender (Rock) Superstar. With ears buzzing and high-fives tossed out like candy at a parade, the crowd continued with groovy beats by Z-Trip as Atmospheres crew loaded up on the Pavilions stage.

A wind of change swept through the venue, and as clouds moved, so did the fans to the front of the stage awaiting co-headliner Atmosphere. Slug (Sean Daley), Atmosphere frontman, took the stage, and DJ/producer Ant (Anthony Davis) accompanied Slug, as the Minnesota duo has been creating influential albums since 1996.

We want you to meet your new two best friends Atmosphere, Slug said. Roars of applause and screams of excitement engulfed the audience while Slug simultaneously snatched his mic out of its resting place. The intro to Puppets chimed out piano keys, streaming over the PA system, and was muffled by the crowds enthusiasm.

With their endless options of hits, the set list had the creative trademark of Atmosphere that fans have loved since the late 1990s. Rolling out 20 tracks in a meager 90 minutes is no small feat, but that is Slug and Ants standard issue set that they have delivered since I first saw them 15 years ago.

The family-friendly crowd was home to the dancing antics of children of all ages. With spoken-word intros, piano samples and melodies also creating a rare vibe for dancing for fans of all ages, Atmosphere left nothing to the imagination.

Flowing from The Loser Wins and crowd-pleaser Onemosphere, Slug and the Spokane crowd became tied in unison as heads, closed fists and peace-signed hands bounced to Pour Me Another. God Loves Ugly brought the rain-soaked fans into Sunshine, a track that embraces listeners in a blanket of buttery-smooth positivity and offering warm spiritually.

With an open letter to his son Jacob, Slug conveyed his feelings in Little Man, a song that speaks about his relationship with his son and his dad, Craig, and closes with a verse about his self-awareness and accountability. The 4-minute track focuses on multiple open-for-interpretation scenarios that create that special bond between Atmosphere and fans.

As the rain was subsiding, the bass hit Shrapnel, Scapegoat and Smart Went Crazy, all of which Slug speaks to listeners from the heart of a man with a message about personal issues from which Atmosphere creates.

Slug dropped a freestyle with such liquid silkiness out of the nothingness of space and time that it seemed impossible it wasnt laid out in front of him. But with a mind full of positivity and lyrics to showcase his connective capabilities to his surroundings, multiple minutes were ignited by his creative flame and one-of-a-kind approach to freestyling.

Through the closing seconds of meticulous freestyle flow, Atmosphere arrived at the end of the set with Trying to Find a Balance, a song with underlying hints of living a life of moderation. In true Atmosphere style, the beat ended, and the duo walked right off stage, apropos of one of their lyrics: You never need an encore if you leave it all out onstage.

Playgrounds are irresistible.

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Review: Atmosphere, Cypress Hill unleash a tidal wave of hip-hop at Pavilion at Riverfront - The Spokesman-Review

If youve been following the filming of the new Sex and the City reboot, And Just Like That, you will have noticed that a handful of Carrie Bradshaws signature sartorial choices are making cameos. The Fendi baguette bag, the blue velvet corsage, the black studded belt. And, last Thursday, Sarah Jessica Parker gave fans on Instagram a hint that the iconic tulle and white ankle boots she favoured so heavily in the original series would be making a comeback.

One thing has changed though a bag. More specifically, a plain old canvas carry bag from NPR the very worthy, intellectually hip National Public Radio service, where, it is rumoured, Carrie may have her own podcast.

Sarah Jessica Parker as Carrie Bradshaw on the set of And Just Like That. Credit:Getty

Its also been rumoured that Mr Big loses his fortune, which might explain the dip into a work freebie. But with a younger, more diverse writing team on board for the new series, it might be that Carrie, ever the fashion pioneer, has woken up to what even Princess Catherine has made a habit of tucking the more ostentatious sections of ones wardrobe away in favour of plain old high street threads.

By choosing a canvas tote you show that you care, says Daiane Scaraboto, Associate Professor of Marketing at Melbourne University, adding the inclusion of one is most definitely a statement on conscious consumption.

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The responsibility to solve the worlds wicked problems the climate crisis, for example, has been increasingly pushed on to consumers, she says. Individuals then feel they should make right choices when it comes to consumption, and a canvas tote is one of the most widely spread symbols of eco-friendliness.

Many luxury brands and consumers are now developing a discourse that luxury is sustainable because it has quality; it lasts, and it can be resold. I think we will see a mix of both in the post-lockdown world: canvas tote bags and designer bags. What is interesting is that these can happily co-exist and their choices be justified with the same rationale.

By choosing a canvas tote you show that you care.

If the tote that Sarah Jessica Parker has held on to in no less than three different scenes, isn't her own bag and is instead a bona fide prop it will be the perfect anti-fashion symbol for these times. The tote is traditionally a grocery bag, and the shops are, quite literally, the only place to be right now.

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And just like that, a tote bag enters the Sex and the City universe - Sydney Morning Herald

There are two pandemics happening right now, a medical one and an information one. Both wildly destructive to our health.

We have been inundated with a massive wave of information since the Delta outbreak in Sydney began. Every intricacy about each vaccine, stay-at-home orders for every region, government grants. The next day more explosive intricacies and details about the vaccine, new stay-at-home orders, new government grant analysis.

Information overload is becoming dangerous.Credit:Istock

Then we have every person weighing in on all of this on social media. About 6000 tweets are posted onto Twitter every second. Thats 350,000 tweets a minute or 500 million tweets a day. COVID NSW has been trending for weeks, full of tweets devoted to giving us even more information, opinions, criticisms about COVID-19. The same thing is happening on Facebook, Reddit, WhatsApp, websites and blogs. The list goes on and on.

We are mentally, physically and emotionally exhausted from information overload. The problem is that that exhaustion can encourage us to step out of the mainstream news and seek out simpler information and solutions. Ive been told multiple times by friends and colleagues lately that they have stopped listening to The News, stating that its too much and that theyre losing hope.

Hello misinformation, fake news and conspiracy theories! Posts on WhatsApp, Messenger, Facebook present extreme yet easy to understand solutions. Such posts are everywhere and because we are information-tired they are becoming our quick-fix, go-to place to keep up to date.

Think of the information landscape as a layered cake. The bottom layer is the real and fact-based information that we find on the Service NSW website or from reputable news platforms. This, however, is squashed by layers and layers of opinions, conspiracy theories, unfounded information and lies that enter our field of vision every time we go online. Its appealing because it is easy to understand, theres not too much detail and it is written to convince us.

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The problem is all this content sits alongside each other when we see it online, and its difficult to differentiate one layer from the other. We are highly vulnerable right now, our faith in authorities is waning and, as a result, we can make some poor decisions based on unfounded, non-fact-based content.

Ive been studying our engagement with technology for over 15 years and I see our digital lifestyle much more clearly than I ever have. With all the good that technology offers, the information-overload/misinformation nexus is a defining feature of the digital age, and we have to shape our practices so that we stay healthy despite this. By we, I mean us as individuals, but also the government and other places we need to get the facts from.

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The other pandemic threatening our health: online misinformation - Sydney Morning Herald

Two New Orleans public schools temporarily pivoted to online learning this week due to the coronavirus. In-person attendance is mandatory this year, but the district does allow schools to transition students to online learning if absolutely needed.

Students at ENCORE Academy and New Orleans Charter Science and Mathematics High School (Sci High) will switch to virtual learning for the next two weeks because of quarantine-related staffing issues and operational challenges. The schools did not identify suspected classroom transmission as a reason for the building closures.

ENCORE has reported 8 COVID cases since the start of the school year, 3 of which are active, and 102 students and teachers are in quarantine. Sci High has reported 13 COVID cases since the start of the school year, 7 of which are active, and 47 students and teachers are in quarantine.

We do not have enough staff on-site to teach and supervise students, ENCORE told families in a message dated Aug. 23. Therefore, we have determined that virtual instruction for all students for the next two weeks is the best decision we can make for our students and staff.

A third school, Livingston Collegiate Academy, in New Orleans East started the school year online on Aug. 11 but transitioned back to in-person this week.

Livingston has reported 5 positive cases of COVID-19 since early August. Ten students and staff members are in quarantine, according to data compiled by the district.

This decision was made after careful consideration of our schools circumstances amidst the national landscape and our local climate, the school wrote in an Instagram post. At Livingston, many of our instructional staff will be unable to be on campus for the next two weeks due to circumstances surrounding COVID-19 and associated protocols.

NOLA-PS chief operations officer Tiffany Delcour said temporarily pivoting to online-only schooling is something officials expect when a significant number of quarantines causes staffing issues.

More than 4,600 students and teachers are currently in quarantine, up from 638 during the first week of classes and 3,004 the second. Louisianas surge in COVID cases has begun to slow for all age groups except for children between the ages of 5 and 17 years old.

School officials continue to remind parents that as far as theyre aware children and teachers are not spreading the virus on campus.

There is still little evidence of COVID-19 spreading in our schools, Delcour said. The vast majority of COVID in our schools is related to community spread.

ENCORE transitioned to online-only learning for two weeks last December after identifying a potential COVID-19 cluster. After consulting with the Louisiana Department of Health, Delcour said further action was not required.

Nearly half of the citys charter operators, including the organizations that oversee Sci High and Livingston, have mandated that staff get vaccinated against COVID. At most schools, staff still have several weeks to comply with the mandate.

ENCORE Academy has not publicly announced a vaccine requirement for staff and told families in a message announcing the two-week closure that 80 percent of staff are fully vaccinated -- though the majority of remaining staff members have just one shot to go.

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3 New Orleans Public Schools Have Shifted To Online Learning Since Start Of School Year - WWNO

The Stillwater Area Schools board unanimously approved an online school option for elementary school students during a special called meeting on Monday, Aug. 16.

Superintendent Malinda Lansfeldt said the program is designed for students who are not yet eligible for vaccination. The program will include classes for students and teachers from across the district.

The district received emails from parents and it even received a handwritten letter from an elementary school student requesting an online option in response to recent increases in COVID cases because of the delta variant.

The student wrote, Dear school Bord please can I have online school? Becuse thats the way I feel safe. Its like if you really wanted to meet new frends! (Because the letter is written by an elementary school student, the Gazette is not editing the statement for spelling).

The 139 students who signed up, were required to commit to entirely online learning for the first semester. There is no plan currently in place for a second semester option; however, district staff will discuss those plans with the board in October, and their recommendation will depend on the COVID-19 situation.

All board members voiced support for the temporary online learning option, and many also supported the distance learning option becoming permanent in some form.

The upcoming online program will be housed at Andersen Elementary with the teachers running the program collaborating together, district superintendent Malinda Lansfedlt said at the meeting on Aug. 13.

Andersen Elementary School Principal Anna Wilcek spoke during the boards regularly Aug. 13 meeting.

She said theres a wealth of knowledge because the pandemic forced the district to figure out an online option quickly. It will help this year to have the online teachers housed in the same building instead of mixed all over the district.

It will be exciting to bring all of that brain power together, Wilcek said. (Well) take lessons from last year, and apply them to this year. Im ready to dive in, and work with amazing people.

Board members asked about an about offering an online learning option for sixth to 12th grade. Last year the board focused on returning elementary school students to buildings while keeping more online options available for secondary learners.

The reversal in thinking is that there are complexities at the secondary level, assistant superintendent Jennifer Cherry said.

We just do not have the capacity, we do not want to go back to our teachers and ask them to teach online in addition to in-person learning, Cherry said. It does not make sense at this time.

The board approved the funding request for the program at $250,000. The money will be used to hire four full-time equivalent employees. The money will come from COVID relief funds.

The board also approved $35,000 in funding for technological capital investments.

The district estimated that if the students left the district because there wasnt an online option it would cost the district $1.4 million.

I look at this as a long-term investment, Lansfeldt said. If we can keep even 25 students, this pays for itself.

Do we have any measurable outcomes with the online learning, board member Tina Riehle asked?

While there wasnt specific data immediately available, Cherry responded that anecdotally distance learning is a good fit for some students.

Online learning is not for every child, Cherry said. We do know some children did very well online. Typically it was the students whose family chose the online option.

School board member Annie Porbeni asked about an online option for sixth grade students as many are 11 years old and who are not yet eligible for a vaccine.

When conducting research, the district found only a handful of those students really wanted an online option, and the district was able to work with those few specific cases to come up with a solution, Cherry responded.

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Board approves online learning option | Education - ECM Publishers

As schools, parents, and students across the country prepare for school re-entry, many are celebrating a return to the classroom. There is no shortage of studies and expert opinions stating that the majority of students learn better in-person. But, for the many students who are looking forward with hope to a September where class happens in a room rather than through a screen, there are also a significant number of students who thrived in online instruction and are nervous about losing the confidence they found in a new modality of learning.

Special education teams know this because they have always been focused on ensuring that schools find the best ways to serve and support all students, not just those in the majority or who fit the norm. For many of the students who need special accommodations, introducing technology into learning has been nothing short of revolutionary.

Many students have thrived

As the months of the pandemic progressed, school leaders started to notice that, despite the drawbacks of remote learning, there was a subset of students for whom the modality allowed them to thrive in ways they hadnt in an in-person school setting. Remote learning has been a disaster for many students. But some kids have thrived, declared one article, positing that special education students, in particular, could benefit from schools taking lessons from distance learning back into the classroom.

Students with anxiety have been particularly called out as benefitting from remote instruction, which reduces the social variables and allows them to focus exclusively on the learning. Similarly, some students with autism have discovered benefits from online learning this year. Andrea Parrish, director of development and learning systems at the IDEALS Institute, posited that remote learning simplified the learning process for some students with autism. They can just focus on the content or just focus on the instructions at hand, she said. And so they dont have to navigate all of those other social experiences while theyre learning.

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Improving in-class special education with positives from online learning - eSchool News

Brittany Britto,Staff writer

Aug. 24, 2021Updated: Aug. 24, 2021 12:49p.m.

A COVID-19 testing provider at Rice University produced multiple false positive test results last week, which prompted the universitys recent decision to revert to remote learning for the first two weeks of the fall semester, according to officials.

Kevin E. Kirby, who serves as chair of Rices crisis management advisory committee, said in a letter to university staff Sunday that the testing provider had changed its protocols resulting in significant differences in how test results are decided. After finding some unusual patterns in the testing data, Rice officials, who were unaware of this change, asked the provider to revert to their previous testing strategy.

THE LATEST NUMBERS:Interactive maps, charts show spread of COVID across Houston

Kirby did not give the testing providers name.

The university retested around 50 people who originally tested positive twice on different days and by two different providers. All but one persons results came back negative.

The university began ramping up testing on Aug. 13 days before move-in and its orientation week due to a surge of the coronavirus and its delta variant in the Houston community. Initial results showed 81 people had tested positive out of around 4,500 people tested over nine days, resulting a 2 percent positivity rate. Though that rate is lower than that of the surrounding community, Kirby said it was a cause for concern because it was much higher than the 0.24 percent positivity rate Rice had for the last academic school year, during which the university ran 150,000 tests.

This unusual campus positivity rate prompted us to take quick action and assume a more cautionary posture until we could determine whether there was a significant risk of widespread infection, Kirby said.

Also on HoustonChronicle.com: Rice moves first 2 weeks of fall semester classes online

Rice announced Aug. 19 that it would shift its first two weeks of the fall semester online and implemented a host of temporary restrictions, including a ban dining in groups indoors and drinking alcohol on campus, and a delayed move-in. The university also said it would grant refunds or waive fees for those who no longer wanted to live on-campus.

An examination of the testing data, however, showed some inconsistencies. A majority of the positive tests results were produced by one provider. More than 90 percent of those reported infections were from community members who were fully vaccinated and 75 percent of those tests were from people who reported no symptoms. Additionally, most of the people shown as positive were from different populations, with only one possible cluster indicated.

These testing data anomalies were part of the reason we decided to take most of our classes on-line for the first two weeks, until Sept. 3, as a precautionary measure, Kirby said.

After retesting, however results showed the the positivity rate at Rice for those nine days was 0.6 percent not the 2 percent originally reported.

COVID LIVE UPDATES: Keep up with the pandemic and its impact on Houston

Kirby noted that despite there being less infection than originally reported, Rice will keep its first two weeks of the semester online and its other announced plans in tact since many students and faculty have made plans accordingly. The university will also use this time to assess whether they need to implement any other strategies, but the plan is still to return to in-person classroom instruction fully in two weeks, he said.

Kirby said some other adjustments will be made in the coming weeks. For example, students who were once asked to delay their arrival on campus can now move in. Weekly testing requirements will continue.

The university has also relaunched its testing statistics dashboard on its COVID-19 website, which show stats since Aug. 13 as well as data from August 2020 through May 2021.

Of the 4,834 people tested since Aug. 13, 26 have tested positive, according to the dashboard.

brittany.britto@chron.com

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False positive COVID tests at Rice prompted return to online learning - Houston Chronicle

By Lenovo, Media OutReach

2021/08/24 16:30

HONG KONG SAR - Media OutReach - 24 August 2021 - As schools cross the one-year mark since the rapid shift to virtual classrooms, a new study commissioned by Lenovo and Microsoft has found that both students and educators see enormous potential in online learning, but are just beginning to enjoy its advantages. The biggest barriers to success in online learning have not been a lack of technology access, but low use of available solutions and social challenges stemming from extended periods of remote learning.

Conducted by specialist firms YouGov and Terrapin across 12 markets in Asia Pacific during May 2021, the study examined nearly 3,400 students, parents and educators to understand their assessment of e-learning since the pandemic began, including 218 students in Hong Kong, and explored how technology can further engage students and support learning.

"With schools closed in many countries for the better part of 2020, educators, parents and students alike have grappled with new learning technologies. This study has helped us better understand how educators, parents and students have adapted to online learning during the pandemic, what the real challenges are, and what solutions can be deployed to help make learning technologies more effective," said Fan Ho, General Manager, Hong Kong and Macau, Lenovo.

"The role of technology has become a much needed lifeline in enabling teaching and learning between students and educators today. Despite the challenges faced over the last year, we admire the resilience and adaptability students and educators have had as classrooms shifted from traditional set-ups to virtual environments. As we move forward, it is clear innovation will continue to transform learning experiences and we remain committed in supporting the industry with the right tools and solutions so that they are equipped for the new age of education," said Larry Nelson, Regional General Manager, Education, Microsoft Asia.

Technology in education became the norm during the past year with mixed results

Across Asia Pacific, more than 80% of students and 95% of educators increased their use of technology during the past year, while 68% of students and 85% of educators spent more money on technology during the past year than they had in the previous year. This trend will continue, with 66% of students and 86% of educators expecting to further increase their spending on learning technology in the coming year.

Educators and students had differing opinions on the impact of online classes on educational performance. Educators were relatively positive about their teaching performance online, with 59% confident that teaching performance had improved, and 24% believing it had been maintained. However, students' assessment was mixed: around a third of students believed their performance had improved, another third believed it had stayed the same during the period of online learning, and the remaining third believed their learning performance had declined.

Accessibility and convenience are major advantages of online learning

Among students, accessibility (63%) and flexibility (50%) were named as major advantages of online learning, including the ability to access a broad variety of content and materials from all over the world. Additionally, 62% of students and 67% of educators praised the convenience of eliminating the need to commute.

Meanwhile, 64% of educators highlighted the advantages of centralizing the teaching materials in one easily accessible online resource such as Microsoft Teams for Education , along with 50% who commend the fact that e-learning encourages collaborative learning, and allows for more personalised learning and support.

Students and educators know what they want but are just beginning to leverage existing solutions

Students and their parents said it was "extremely important" that their technology provides security (50%), privacy (52%), flexible performance (26%), and continuous value (29%). Just 17% considered it to be extremely important to have the lowest possible cost for a technology solution.

Educators were also interested in education-specific security (75%) and data privacy (79%), but additionally named collaboration features (64%), student assessment tools (63%), general ease of use (59%), and accessibility features (53%) as extremely important.

However, although 72% of students used a laptop such as a Lenovo Yoga and 29% used a tablet such as a Lenovo IdeaPad to access online learning, few had embraced the full suite of learning solutions: just 38% of students used video conference apps such as Microsoft Teams, only 20% used cloud-based document sharing, and 14% used remote access files. Around 15% of students had access to an online learning management system.

Almost 95% of educators used a laptop such as a Lenovo ThinkPad for their daily teaching. While 76% had used video conference apps, only 56% used cloud-based document sharing, and just 36% used remote access files. Around 66% used an online learning management system. Additionally, 34% had used a virtual reality platform such as Lenovo ThinkReality.

Students and educators find ways to cope with tech support, but distraction, engagement and isolation are barriers

Physical distance did not deter students or teachers from getting the technical support they needed while e-learning; although many school technical support teams were unable to cope with the volatile demand, students and educators found alternative sources of support. Students were more likely (33%) to ask a classmate, friend, or younger household member for help than they were to go to school tech support staff (15%). Similarly, 47% of educators addressed their concerns to the school tech support team, but 32% simply tried to find an answer themselves, 31% asked another teacher, and at least 11% consulted with a nearby teenager.

Around 14% of educators had embraced device-as-a-service (DaaS). DaaS offers a subscription-based model including laptops, desktops, tablets, tech support, software and management services.

Students and educators found the most profound barriers to online learning in the social sphere. More than 60% of students and educators indicated that they experienced weakened social relationships during the period of online learning. The top four factors listed as challenges by students and their parents were distractions at home (54%), less motivation to attend online classes at home (48%), lack of immediate feedback and interaction with teachers/classmates (46%) and social isolation or difficulty in meeting people (41%).

While video conferencing applications provide many avenues for real-time interaction, attending all their classes through a screen proved to be challenging for students. 75% of educators listed "students get distracted or lose concentration during live sessions" as one of the major barriers to e-learning.

New subscription models, smarter collaboration and devices can unlock potential of online learning

"What we see from this study is that there can be enormous benefits from education technologies, but students and educators have yet to embrace its full potential," continued Amar Babu. "Both students and educators are looking for collaborative, personalized learning using technologies that can keep them engaged, with the material and with each other. Lenovo is at the forefront of these technologies, with built-in features leveraging Artificial Intelligence, helping create opportunities for online engagement, and providing convenience and reliability."

Lenovo's services portfolio supports ongoing learning by bringing end-to-end solutions to schools and universities.

As the world adjusts to a new normal, education is entering a new age of teaching and learning. Advanced technologies are paving the way for students to experience immersive learning with real-world applications, and empowering educators to help students continue learning through new and different methods, wherever they may be.

About the Study

Conducted in May 2021, the research surveyed 783 educators in Asia Pacific, along with 669 parents and 1,935 students aged 16 to 25 above about their experience with e-learning during the global pandemic. Respondents surveyed were from Australia, New Zealand, Malaysia, Thailand, Taiwan, Singapore, Hong Kong, Vietnam, Philippines, Korea, India, and Japan.

Lenovo (HKSE: 992) (ADR: LNVGY) is a US$60 billion revenue Fortune Global 500 company serving customers in 180 markets around the world. Focused on a bold vision to deliver smarter technology for all, we are developing world-changing technologies that power (through devices and infrastructure) and empower (through solutions, services and software) millions of customers every day and together create a more inclusive, trustworthy and sustainable digital society for everyone, everywhere. To find out more visit https://www.lenovo.com and read about the latest news via our StoryHub.

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Study: One year later, students and educators in Asia Pacific are beginning to crack the code for online learning - Taiwan News

The pandemic brought disruption and chaos to education around the world, but experts and leaders have sought out silver linings from the switch to online learning, hoping to find positive lessons for the future of education.

Experts say that one benefit is likely to be a greater emphasis on lifelong learning, allowing students access to education throughout their lifetime.

William Locke, director of the Melbourne Centre for the Study of Higher Education at the University of Melbourne, says that for most universities, lifelong learning usually described as continuing education has seldom been a core activity, as their focus has been on full-time undergraduate and taught postgraduate courses.

However, the pandemic, and the switch to online learning and homeworking, will increase the demand for shorter, work-related courses with clear benefits to learners in employment and those wanting to change their careers, he says.

There is no doubt it will rise up the agenda, Locke adds. Already many universities have flirted with developments such as short courses, Moocs [massive open online courses] and microcredentials because they recognise that lifelong learning will become the norm and these are ways to dip their toes in the water. However, whether the quality and volume of current provision is sufficient to meet these needs remains to be proven.

The pandemic has already prompted some universities to focus their efforts into improving their lifelong-learning offerings. Last year, UNSW Sydney announced plans to entrench lifelong learning as a new chapter in its history, while allowing staff and students to continue working remotely after the pandemic passes. The flexible working and study arrangements will free up an estimated 22,000 square metres of lecture theatres and offices and enable community organisations, business and industry to work on campus directly with academics.

Chris Styles, dean of the UNSW Business School, says that even before the pandemic, the world of work was constantly changingdriven by new technologies as well as social change and increasing customer expectations.

Covid-19 has accelerated the need for businesses to be able to upskill and reskill at scale and quickly as well as a desire for employees to have a range of learning experiences and credentials beyond the traditional degree, and delivered in a flexible and targeted manner, he adds.

Styles says that the university is still working to ensure we properly understand specific market needs and where the UNSW can best contribute. But he envisages that the institution will deliver flexible, skill-focused learning experiences of perhaps shorter duration as part of the plans.

One institution with a jump on embedding lifelong learning into its education is the National University of Singapore (NUS), which implemented its Lifelong Learners programme, where undergraduates are enrolled for 20 years from the point of admission, in 2018.

Tan Eng Chye, president of NUS, says the programme was a response to the widespread disruption and job displacement caused by global mega trends, such as digitalisation and artificial intelligence, sweeping rapidly across many sectors of the economy and society.

We need people to be more agile, nimble and multifaceted in the way they approach things, and in their skills and abilities. The only way they can learn new knowledge, upskill and reskill is to continually learn, as things change, over the span of 45 to 50 years of their working life, he says, adding that lifelong learning is central to future-proofing the NUS education experience.

To achieve this, the institution has implemented flexible ways of teaching and learning, ensuring that students are offered multiple pathways to a wide range of disciplines. NUS students are also taught a common curriculum, meaning they have a grounding in both science and humanities from the outset. Tan says this approach builds students competencies and interests and helps develop an enhanced emphasis on interdisciplinarity in teaching and research.

For NUS, a key element of lifelong education is close industry alignment. This also supports the Singaporean governments Industry Transformation Programme, which will see the development of road maps for 23 critical industries, such as manufacturing, built environment and healthcare.

However, while industry can be an important partner for lifelong-learning strategies, Locke warns that one of the problems for universities is that they are competing and collaborating with commercial organisations that have very different cultures and ethos.

Educational institutions can offer the academic and professional credibility, especially in assessment and accreditation. But, given their current financial and logistical constraints, can they invest sufficiently in the expertise and infrastructure required to really make a significant contribution to lifelong education? he asks.

The recent announcement that 2U, an online education company, has paid $800million (580million) to acquire edX, the non-profit platform founded by Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, has demonstrated the success of online short courses and microcredentials in the commercial space. It also offers an insight into how universities can collaborate with for-profit companies to provide non-traditional offerings that are easier and often cheaper to access later in life.

One option,according to Locke, is for universities to draw on their alumni and industrial and professional networks to keep ahead of the changing nature of work and to anticipate future skills needs, although, he adds, that in order to respond quickly to these changes, they would need to ensure that their curriculum approval processes are fast and efficient.

Jonathan Michie, professor of innovation and knowledge exchange at the University of Oxford and director of the institutions department for continuing education, agrees that flexibility and agilityare key to implementing lifelong learning in university education.

The pandemic has shown that universities need to change their mindset and recognise that flexible learning is going to be the future, he says.

In the UK, the Westminster government has signalled it is ready to get on board, launching its Skills and Post-16 Education Bill, which will create a new lifelong learning entitlement, allowing individuals flexible loan funding for four years of post-18 education, including for shorter, modular segments.

However, Michie says the bill will need amending to make it truly effective. For example, there is a strong emphasis on skills, but it fails to recognise that it is important that adult educators and people in the community should be able to decide for themselves what they want to learn. Recognising this is good for democracy and good for communities, he says.

Former universities minister and conservative peer Jo Johnson has also criticised the bill for putting restrictions on the lifelong learning loan on non-STEM subjects and for failing to recognise the economic value generated by the wider creative industries.

Michie adds that interdisciplinarity is central to upskilling and says that moving towards more bite-sized chunks and accreditation of smaller courses will make it much easier for students to gain a wider range of knowledge and competencies.

What is needed is for universities to develop lifelong-learning strategies across the whole university. Currently, a lot pay lip service to lifelong learning without having a proper strategy, he says.

Michie says the starting point for universities should be recognising that they will be teaching people of different ages and different experiences.

Locke agrees. The optimal mix of online and short, intensive in-person education would need to be found for each target group of learners, including a considerable amount of choice to meet individuals preferences and to suit their circumstances, he says. This would include opportunities for synchronous (real time) and asynchronous learning, especially when reaching learners in other time zones.

However, ultimately it is the quality of the teaching staff that will make all the difference to the success of a universitys move to lifelong learning, Locke concludes. How current their knowledge and experience is, how expert they are in using the new technologies, whether they have reasonable workloads and time to refresh their knowledge and expertise, and if they have access to professional development opportunities and career progress.

anna.mckie@timeshighereducation.com

TheTimes Higher EducationWorld University Rankings 2022, which includes metrics on universities' teaching environments, will be published at 00:01 BST on 2 September. The results will beexclusively revealed at theTHEWorld Academic Summit(1-3 September), which will focus on the interrelationship between universities and the places in which they are located.

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Is now the time for a full embrace of lifelong learning? - Times Higher Education (THE)