Ateneo SALT as a University-wide Institute (Memo U2526-004)

Created in August of 2017, the Ateneo Institute for the Science and Art of Learning and Teaching (better known as Ateneo SALT Institute) was envisioned to lead the university's efforts to explore and support innovative practices for effective learning, in particular through learning design and learning technologies. Initially reporting directly to the Office of the President, Ateneo SALT was eventually delegated to the Gokongwei Brothers School of Education and Learning Design as one of its centers when the school was established in 2020. The rapid advances in information communications and AI technology have been creating new opportunities for more effective learning and teaching, but they are also changing the very students we serve, making it imperative for us to reinvent both the way we teach and design learning.

After a series of consultations, the Office of the President feels that there is a need to clarify and reiterate the mandate of Ateneo SALT as a university-wide institute that will serve the needs of basic and higher education even as it remains under GBSEALD's administration. Concretely, this mandate entails the following:

• Direct coordination with the Office of the President in terms of strategic directions and priorities with regard to innovations in learning and teaching, education technology, AI in Education (AIED), and the needed professional development and support to be offered to our faculty and staff; and
• Closer collaboration with our basic education and higher education schools.

The Ateneo SALT Institute will continue to support external stakeholders as a service to the wider education community (such as partnerships with the United Board for Christian Higher Education in Asia and Gokongwei Brothers Foundation).

Concretely, Ateneo SALT will work closely with GBSEALD in pursuing the following:

LEARNING DESIGN

• Explore current research and trends in learning science and design. This includes, but is not limited to, the design of microcredential-ready courses, bi-chronous (online synchronous and asynchronous), and blended learning;
• Facilitate conversations about the establishment of policies, processes, and systems to ensure effective, engaging, and equitable learning in various learning environments;
• Support administrators, faculty, and professionals in the design and implementation of effective, engaging, and equitable learning across modalities;
• Support faculty in the development of multimedia products for learning.

LEARNING TECHNOLOGIES

• Explore current research and trends in the field of education technology. This includes, but is not limited to, Generative AI and Adaptive Learning Technologies;
• Facilitate discourse towards the establishment of policies, processes, and systems to ensure effective, engaging, and equitable use of Education Technologies;
• Support administrators, faculty, and professionals in the effective utilization of learning technologies in the ADMU EdTech Ecosystem.

Mr Galvin Radley L Ngo serves as current Director of the Ateneo SALT Institute.

I encourage our basic and higher education schools to take advantage of the resources and services offered by SALT as we work together in finding innovative ways of advancing learning and teaching in Ateneo de Manila. For your information and guidance.