We’ve seen how technological disruptions have been exacerbated by recent crises like COVID-19, which caused shifts in the way people live, study, work and communicate. To better manage these major disruptions, people rely heavily on the digital space and advanced technology that enable speedy information transfer and real-time interaction across vast distances, reducing the need to meet face to face. Existing assumptions are revisited and a myriad of innovations in teaching and research practices have thus emerged. The Centre of English Language and Communication (CELC) of NUS recently concluded their 6th Symposium which was conducted online and the main crux of the event was uncovering novel solutions to remain relevant amidst the rapid changes in higher education.

We were excited that Mr Tan Keok Tay, Associate Director at NUS IT, demonstrated and showcased not one, but two very powerful digital tools, Qualtrics and Miro! As part of the Digital Enablement programme that NUS has been pushing, these two applications have definitely proven themselves to be useful in the face of diversifying our tools for education.

Qualtrics is a popular survey tool used by many universities for qualitative and quantitative research. One useful function under Qualtrics is “Text IQ”, which helps to uncover the insights hidden deep in open text responses. Keok Tay demonstrated how this tool could be used in relevant fields of communication and language teaching.

Keok Tay introducing Qualtrics and Text IQ

Miro is an online collaborative whiteboarding platform that enables distributed teams to work effectively together, from brainstorming with digital sticky notes to planning and managing agile workflows. In this session, the attendees learnt how Miro could help teachers and learners in collaborative learning.

Keok Tay introducing Miro and having real time participation from audience

Thanks, Keok Tay, for adding yet another impressive point to the Digital Enablement initiative! To find out more about NUS IT and our DE team; and what the digital enablement tools can do for you, visit our website here.