Future proofing higher education

The degrees at SP Jain are designed to develop students both academically and holistically

Education is the business of CHANGE. If universities are not transforming their students as they learn, what are they doing? In a world of rapid disruption and innovation, how do we future proof higher education? How can we assure that when our students graduate, they are job ready for a changing world? At SP Jain School of Global Management, we deliver a tri-city model of education which provides global opportunities for graduating students. We have intentionally created a changing environment for learning so that our students become adaptable, cognitively flexible, emotionally intelligent and globally competent. Our degrees are designed to develop the SP Jain student both academically and holistically.
We are progressively improving our curriculum, technology support, student engagement and future learning analytics. We are moving toward personalised learning.
Evolving intelligent learning platforms
By 2020 Deloitte predicts (refer to diagram) that learning and design will move from where we are now with LMS platforms to intelligent learning. SP Jain is a young, agile, innovative School of Global Management, so we have been able to continuously disrupt traditional higher education models and move closer to our vision of future proofing higher education with intelligent learning. Intelligent learning is the application of machine learning through new technologies that facilitate improved analytics, which organise and optimise content for student preferences. Learning analytics can also recommend the next steps in the student's study direction and predictive analytics provide educators with information to better support the student's engagement.
Intelligent learning is already in many forms of commercial production. The progress of learning analytics into higher education is revolutionary. It is personalising data so that it can be tailored for each student's learning.
SP Jain's vision is to be at the cutting-edge of intelligent learning and personalised education.
Cognitive flexibility and emotional intelligence
By 2020, the World Economic Forum predicts that the two new skills needed for the future of jobs is cognitive flexibility and emotional intelligence. Emotional intelligence (EI) is part of the curriculum at SP Jain. EI is the capacity to be aware of one's emotions and identify the emotions of others such that it enhances the interpersonal relationships. With students from 30 different countries, living, learning and socialising together, the SP Jain students are able to put into practice the curriculum activities of EI.
Cognitive flexibility is the ability to reconstruct and adapt to complexity in response to changing situational demands. It is the ability to see more than one perspective in an ambiguous situation. Today, we operate in a VUCA world (volatility, uncertainty, complexity and ambiguity). Cognitive flexibility is enhanced by the SP Jain model because the cohort moves across global campuses, immersed in various cultures and exposed to internships in different financial systems from the Middle East, the West and Asia. SP Jain provides students with work immersion through internships in many cities. We further provide business decision-making simulations where the student is in a context of being "under real world pressure". It can be business focused, market driven and competency mapped.
Global adaptive work integrated experiences is critical for cognitive flexibility. Work immersion provides graduates with the industry connectivity to experience the complicated, complex and disruptive transformations that real companies experience. The work ready graduate must be immersed into the global business world throughout their studies with job ready competencies. At SP Jain, we go beyond the capstone traditionally inserted at the end of a degree and encourage internships throughout the degree. These internships are encouraged for students during their studies to provide them with global industry competencies. Imagine graduating with a resume that boasts of work experience in Singapore, Dubai, Sydney and Mumbai. A School of Global Management comes with the expectation of being able to future proof education by providing global experiences that develop cognitive flexibility.
These are some of the innovative features of the programme:
- Tri-city degree including Singapore, Mumbai, Dubai and Sydney campuses
- Developing soft skills such as emotional intelligence within the curriculum
- Working collaboratively with peers from 30 different countries
- Experiencing religious and cultural intelligence through regional immersion
- Exposure to financial systems in the Middle East, the West and Asia
- Understanding different government and legal systems - a lived experience
- Fostering industry engagements through organised internships in multiple cities
- Employability and practitioner skills developed within the classroom and beyond
- Sharing student exchange opportunities with excellent partner universities
- Global learning through participation in sport and outdoor activities
- Learning real world skills through business simulations
- Opportunity for the two-year work rights in Australia
- Studying at a school with world-class business school rankings
 
Dr. Marion Igarashi is the Dean, SP Jain School of Global Management

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