By Michael Visaya

Mariano Marcos State University (MMSU), in partnership with the Smart Learning Institute of Beijing Normal University (BNU) and the UNESCO Chair on Artificial Intelligence in Education, co-hosted the Southeast Asia regional selection of the 8th Global Competition on Design for Future Education (GCD4FE) on July 1–2 at the MMSU Center for Flexible Learning.

Gathering undergraduate and postgraduate students from diverse disciplines, the competition focused on themes such as artificial intelligence (AI) in education, the metaverse, rural and inclusive education, educational neuroscience, and AI+ engineering.

Aimed at encouraging young innovative minds to reimagine and co-design solutions for the future of education, the event emphasized interdisciplinary collaboration in addressing emerging educational challenges.

Clinching the Gold Award were MMSU College of Computing and Information Sciences (CCIS) students March Joseph Sacopaso, Kurt Angelo Agcaoili, Angelo Laurence Palting, and Meljan Christoffer Crissotemo for their project titled SeedEd: An AI-Powered Learning Pod for Nurturing Curiosities.

Two other CCIS teams won the Best Creativity and Best Practice awards, while two teams from the College of Teacher Education earned the Most Technologically Impressive and Best Presentation awards.

Prof. Chen Guangju, former vice president of BNU and chairman of the competition’s steering committee, expressed gratitude to MMSU for its strong support and to the participating students and faculty for their outstanding performance, especially as the Philippines and China mark their diplomatic ties.

MMSU President Virgilio Julius P. Manzano, Jr. emphasized the importance of partnerships and platforms that promote intercultural knowledge exchange and innovation.

“At MMSU, we believe that the future of learning is smart, inclusive, innovative, and driven by technology. That is why we provide our students with opportunities to engage in global conversations and exchange knowledge on the international stage,” he said.

Also in attendance from BNU were Dr. Zhang Yifan, post-doctoral researcher and member of the UNESCO Chair on AI in Education; Ms. Jennifer Cheng, project manager and coordinator of GCD4FE; Ms. Huang Lulu, editor-in-chief of Smart Education under China Education News; and Mr. Ren Faqiang, consul and head of post at the Consulate of the People’s Republic of China in Laoag.

The winning MMSU team will represent the Philippines in the GCD4FE global finals in Beijing on July 26–28, with an all-expenses-paid trip. There, they will collaborate with other top teams from around the world to co-create educational solutions for the future.

The competition is part of the growing Philippine-China partnership in education, following recent dialogues between the Chinese Consulate in Laoag and MMSU leadership.