Smarter lifelong learning with AI

The Institute for Application of Learning Science and Educational Technology (ALSET) at NUS has partnered SkillsFuture Singapore (SSG) to develop artificial intelligence (AI)-based tools to help working adults in Singapore better identify courses that support their continuing education and career goals. The pilot study, funded by a grant from the Workforce Development Applied Research Fund, is intended as the initial phase of a long-term initiative by ALSET to research lifelong learning behaviours and policies in Asia.

“We see vast potential for technology to help working adults to navigate an increasingly competitive and complex job market, but we need to rigorously test and evaluate these technologies to ensure they achieve meaningful impact for workers of all backgrounds, not just those who already possess high-demand skills,” said Director of ALSET and co-Principal Investigator Professor Robert Kamei.

The team analysed anonymised data of about 285,000 Singaporeans who have used their $500 SkillsFuture credits — given to all Singapore citizens over the age of 25 to attend programmes from a pre-approved list of courses — since the launch of the SSG SkillsFuture Credit (SFC) Programme in 2016.

Using this data, ALSET is developing a system embedded within a mobile application to recommend courses to individuals from the SFC catalogue. The system will be tested on a cohort of NUS alumni aged 22 to 29, with final results expected in mid-2019.

These efforts dovetail with similar projects underway at NUS, such as the NUS career+ app recently co-developed by NUS Computing, which uses an AI engine to generate customised module recommendations based on a student’s career interest and course of study.