Learning Express (LeX) is a 12-day overseas program that equips students with the Design Thinking mindset in a social innovation context. In this program, students get to enjoy out-of-textbook experiences such as learning a new language and undergoing a community homestay. Students get to interact and build friendships with youths from Asia and gain a more profound understanding of the issues faced by the overseas community.
SP students join the students of Overseas Partner Institutions to co-create purposeful, sustainable and innovative prototype solutions to real-life issues. They develop an understanding of the issues faced by the overseas community in the context of their social, economic and political culture, and analyse these issues from multiple perspectives.
Through this program, students are able to apply their teamwork and communication skills, develop a better understanding of themselves, empathy for the community, realise the positive impact they can make in the lives of a community in need, and attain higher resilience in life.
The 12-day programme (2nd September 2019 - 13th September 2019) that I participated in was conducted with Banting Polytechnic (PoliMsia) in Selangor, Malaysia, together with the students there, we introduced solutions to improve the tourism of the heritage building likes Istana Bandar, Masjid Diraja Sultan Ala'eddin and Museum In-Situ in Kampung Bandar.
While working on the project, we applied the Design Thinking (DT) tools. With the insights gathered during the homestay, we came up with a suite of ideas such as using digital marketing strategies to promote the heritage sites.
