eLearning Forum Asia
For educational institutions in the 21st century, information technology (IT) is crucial for enriching and enhancing education, research and administrative services. eLearning facilitates the delivery of a wide range of learning resources and assessment practices that can be shared across courses, programmes and even co-curricular activities, thereby enabling more active participation in learning by students.
The idea of the eLearning Forum Asia (eLFA) was conceived by its three founders in the early 2000s. They are (in alphabetical order by surnames):
Professor An Chi LIU, then President, Feng Chia University in Taiwan
Dr Daniel TAN, then Director of eLearning, Nanyang Technological University in Singapore
Dr Jerry J.T. YU, then Chief Information Officer, City University of Hong Kong in Hong Kong
The eLFA aims to provide a platform to promote and facilitate the sharing of knowledge and experience in the practical application of IT to enhance learning and teaching with a focus on the Asian educational community.
The inaugural Forum, eLFA2006 was hosted by City University of Hong Kong. With the support from industry and service providers of eLearning applications and solutions, the Forums were held annually in turn by education institutions in Hong Kong, Singapore and Taiwan for the initial six years. With IT advancing with phenomenal speed, eLearning has brought about radical changes to improve curricula and pedagogies for both learners and teachers. eLearning Forums Asia (eLFAs) continue from strength to strength with institutions from Mainland China, Thailand, Indonesia and the Philippines joining the hosting repertoire since 2012.
Reinforcing the Mission of eLFA to promote the nexus between education and technology through the facilitation of experience sharing, the eLearning Forum Asia Awards was formally established in 2019. The Awards aim to recognise, reward and share exemplary practices amongst eLearning communities in the Asia-Pacific regions and beyond. For more information on the Awards and past winners, please visit the eLFA Awards website (https://awards.elfasia.org/).
With the COVID-19 pandemic disrupting the entire world in recent years, eLearning has proven to be mission-critical to continue teaching and learning. It is now an integral part of learning, enabling an evidence-driven approach to student progress throughout their entire education experience. True to the original Mission since establishment, despite the pandemic, eLFAs continue to offer valuable opportunities for educators, technologists, service and solution providers in the Asia-Pacific region and beyond to come together to share experience and exchange innovative ideas.
Over the years, eLFAs have been attracting increasing levels of presentation and registration, with participants coming from over 40 countries/regions, covering all continents except Antarctica. eLFA2020, the first online Forum exceeded the 1000-registrant mark at the height of the pandemic. eLFA is now a major annual event for the Asian educational community for participants to explore the policies, practices, technologies, instructional changes and research concepts that eLearning continues to bring about.
Mission
The mission of eLearning Forum Asia is to advance the application of information technology in teaching and learning, with special emphasis on the opportunities and challenges faced by institutions in the Asian region.
Governance
To provide proper governance, eLearning Forum Asia is registered as a non-profit organisation under the laws of the Hong Kong Special Administration Region, People’s Republic of China. Together with industry and service providers of e-learning applications and solutions, eLFA organises annual forums to advance knowledge of the use of information technology in teaching and learning.
eLFA has a Board of Directors made up of representatives from past hosting institutions. The Board forms a Steering Committee to provide assistance and guidance to respective hosting institutions for each Forum. The Annual General Meeting will oversee the election of all directors each year.
To learn more about eLFA, please visit: http://elfasia.org/.
