By Michael Visaya 

A team of students of the Mariano Marcos State University–College of Computing and Information Sciences (MMSU–CCIS) won the Gold Award at the 8th Global Competition on Design for Future Education (GCD4FE) finals held from July 26 to 28 in Beijing, China.

Composed of Marc Joseph Sacopaso, Kurt Angelo Agcaoili, Angelo Laurence Palting, and Meljan Christoffer Crisostomo, all BS Information Technology students, their project, “YOURTWIN: A Digital Clone for Cognitive Growth,” outperformed 27 competing teams from various countries. Dr. Napoleon Canindin of CCIS served as their mentor.

Outdoing entries from various universities globally, their project proposal aims to propose a 2050 classroom that incorporates digital twin technology and 3D holograms in primary education. The objective is to develop cognitive adaptability and critical thinking in primary school learners in the future.

“Language barriers made it difficult to connect with some mentors, and at times, we received unrelated answers to our questions. Nevertheless, this pushed us to be more creative,” Agcaoili, one of the members of the team, said.

Hosted by Beijing Normal University (BNU) and the UNESCO Institute for Information Technologies in Education, along with MMSU as one of the partner universities, the competition encouraged young innovators to co-create AI-driven, tech-enabled proposals that enhance learning, promote equity, and support global collaboration to address emerging challenges in education.

MMSU President Virgilio Julius P. Manzano, Jr. congratulated the winning students, describing their achievement as a strong testament to the university’s commitment to world-class, quality education.
“I hope your project will be implemented, as it offers future-oriented solutions that can benefit the education sector someday," Dr. Manzano said.

Before the global competition, the Smart Learning Institute of BNU, UNESCO Chair on Artificial Intelligence in Education, and MMSU co-hosted the Southeast Asia regional selection of the competition on July 1–2 at MMSU. The regional selection qualified the MMSU team for the global stage, representing the Philippines. 

MMSU’s participation and involvement stem from the university’s visit to the Institute of International and Cooperative Education at BNU earlier this year. It also forms part of the Philippine-China partnership in education, following recent dialogues between the Chinese Consulate in Laoag and MMSU.