UCYP FIRST INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON EDUCATION (iCEd) 2021

On 13 & 14 October 2021, the first International Conference on Education (iCEd) 2021 was held virtually by the Faculty of Human Development, UCYP Malaysia. The two-day conference was attended by 200 participants including practitioners, researchers as well as bachelor and postgraduate students.

‘The Future of Education: What will Education look like in 2030?’ was chosen as the theme for this conference which covers challenges faced by the educational sector in the midst of technology and innovation era. This opening remark was delivered by the Vice-Chancellor of UCYP, Professor Emeritus Dato’ Dr. Ahmad Bin Haji Zainuddin and the keynote address was presented by Datin Professor Dr. Mariani Binti Mohd Nor, Professor of the Faculty of Education, Language and Psychology from SEGi University. Other invited presenters were Professor Nena Padilla-Valdez from Universiti Teknologi Brunei, Brunei Darussalam, Dr. Thatsanaphan Phaisannan from Phetchaburi Rajabhat University, Thailand, Prof. Madya Ts. Dr. Hafizan Binti Mat Som from UCYP Malaysia and Assistant Professor Dr. Ebrahim Panah from UCYP Malaysia.

UCYP Vice-Chancellor, Professor Emeritus Dato’ Dr. Ahmad Bin Haji Zainuddin, expressed his pleasure in receiving all the speakers and participants from Brunei, Thailand, Indonesia, and Canada through his welcoming remarks. He also shared his views on innovation through technology such as robotics, augmented reality (AR), and artificial intelligence (AI) in the 21st century which are very important to enhance effective learning processes. In addition, he strongly believes that the education sector should be adaptive to meet the current needs and be prepared to face future challenges.

Meanwhile, Datin Professor Dr. Mariani Binti Mohd Nor in her keynote address also shared the same view with Professor Emeritus Dato’ Dr. Ahmad Bin Haji Zainuddin that we need to introduce and develop a new ‘look’ in the educational sector. In her presentation entitled ‘What Will Education Look Like in the Future?’, emphasized the features that should be possessed and applied by every educator, practitioner, and student in learning and teaching fields. She also stressed the importance of ‘role models’ which play a big role in influencing the educational journey.

“Moulding one’s future in education should start from a beginning. The best time is always  during the early childhood period because the learning and development that involves mental, emotional and social at this stage, is very critical,” as she said.

In addition, there were three (3) invited speakers from three (3) Asian countries, namely Professor Nena Padilla-Valdes, from University of Technology Brunei, Brunei Darussalam, Dr. Thatsanaphan Phaisannan from Phetchaburi Rajabhat University, Thailand, and Associate Professor Ts. Dr. Hafizan Binti Mat Som, Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Academic Advancement & Quality) from UCYP Malaysia altogether presented extensive knowledge sharing from various aspects of education.

There was also a workshop on ‘Gamification Learning’ delivered by Assistant Professor Dr. Ebrahim Panah, a lecturer from Centre for Integrated Knowledge, UCYP Malaysia which obtained good feedback on his sharing on video game editing techniques.

This conference was divided into two (2) day sessions which involved over 30 presenters sharing their findings in educational pedagogy, curriculum development, assessment in education, educational technology, teaching material development, educational policy, and others related to the iCEd theme. In the meantime, the two-day conference was conducted by experienced moderators; Suhaila Hj Mukhtar, Chin Kuo Ren, Sivananda Sundralingam, and Nur’ Atirah Abdul Jalil. The closing remark was delivered by Associate Professor Dr. Tan Li Pin, the Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research and Industry Relations).

The audience and participants who took part in the conference gave a positive response throughout the conference and hoped that UCYP could organize more conferences in the future.

Compliments were given to the Faculty of Human Development led by Ms. Nur Faridatul Jamalia Binti Radzali along with UCYP Research Management Center team for organizing the first International Conference on Education (iCEd2021).

Photo session during the International Conference on Education (iCEd) 2021 with some of the speakers and participants

Assistant Professor Dr. Ebrahim Panah from UCYP Malaysia and his ‘Gamification Learning’ workshop

One of the presenters and participants during the conference parallel session.