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Wei Liew
Director-General of Education (Schools) and Director of Schools at Ministry of Education, Singapore (MOE)
Wei Liew is an accomplished educator and leader with an impressive academic background and a wealth of experience in various organizations in Singapore.
He holds a Masters in Education from the Harvard University Graduate School of Education, a Postgraduate Diploma in Education with Distinction from the National Institute of Education at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore, and a BA (Hons) in Natural Science (Physical) with First Class Honours from the Cambridge University in the UK.
Wei Liew is also an alumnus of the University of Oxford - Said Business School where he completed the Advanced Management and Leadership Programme. His academic achievements include GCE 'A' levels with 5As and Distinction and Merit in S Papers from Victoria Junior College, as well as GCE 'O' levels with 10 A1s from Raffles Girls' Secondary School.
Professionally, Wei Liew has held significant leadership positions in the education sector, serving as the Deputy Director-General of Education (Schools) and Director of Schools at the Ministry of Education in Singapore. He has also contributed to various boards and organizations, including the Singapore Economic Development Board, Singapore Symphonia Company Limited, Singapore National Olympic Council, and the National Youth Council.
His past roles include Divisional Director for Student Development Curriculum at the Ministry of Education, Principal at Xinmin Secondary School, and Vice Principal at Orchid Park Secondary School. He has also held positions at the Ministry of Manpower as the Director of Quality Workplaces and at the Ministry of the Environment as a Senior Assistant Director in Finance.
Wei Liew's extensive experience in education, leadership, and management positions him as a prominent figure in the Singaporean educational landscape, making significant contributions to various organizations and shaping the future of education in the country.
Highlights
I have something to confess.
When my colleague first told me that Singapore students topped 64 education systems in Creative Thinking, my first words were “Are you sure?”
I thought we might be in the middle of the table, but none of us thought we would be heading the list.
Part of the reason is that our education system has never measured Creative Thinking as a domain by itself. And we did not have a standard to compare it to. Another reason is that the typical Singaporean always thinks that we have room for improvement.
When I delved into the detailed data, I had 2 insights.
First Creative Thinking can be taught. Singaporeans are not genetically predisposed to being creative compared to others. We are an immigrant stock from the region. Nope, nothing special about us. But some 15 years ago, we had started incorporating what we term as Inventive Thinking into all our subject curriculum, teaching and learning guides and even exam syllabuses where possible. In music, our students write their own songs, play their own accompaniment and sometimes to match a silent film. In Art, our students use different media to express their ideas and messages. In Science, they use Inquiry-based learning, design their own experiments and improve them. In Humanities, they conduct historical and geographical investigations in real world contexts. In languages, students brainstorm and write their story ideas based on a given theme. In co-curricular programmes, students collaborate in teams to achieve goals in performing arts/sports/uniformed groups/clubs and societies/camps/overseas exchanges.
But how do we know that it’s schools and not homes nurturing creativity? That’s because Singapore students from low income households did much better than their counterparts from other education systems and also did better than OECD average.
My second insight is that our teachers believe that all students can be creative thinkers and they have been effective in teaching the whole range of students across all our schools.
Among our top performers in creative thinking, over 60% are not top performers in Reading, over 60% are not top performers in Science and over 40% are not top performers in Mathematics. Coupled with how well our students from low income households are doing, it really goes to show that our teachers are doing a fantastic job. Well done teachers!
So is there anything to work on? Of course! (Always room for improvement, remember?) Our students don’t believe they are creative. That might hold them back in the workplace as they might not put forward their ideas, self-censor, or take the lead in project teams or new ventures. So teachers and parents will need to affirm, give students more space and agency to try ideas, make choices, carry them out.
#creativethinking #creativity #PISA #PISA2022 #21CC #lifeskills #futureskills
Ministry of Education, Singapore (MOE)
Singapore’s 15-year-old students score top marks in OECD’s creative thinking test
I wrote previously that Large Language Models are tools. The skills with which we wield them, and the purposes for which we do, determine whether they will be advantageous or not.
Personal devices that are hooked up to the internet and social media apps do not need much skill to use. But how self-regulated we are when we use them, will determine if they will be a boon to our lives or bane.
We pulled out some pertinent research to put together the rationale for how the Ministry of Education, Singapore and schools would like to use personal devices and how we want to work with parents to bring up children who use them well - to learn and for good.
Whether you have children or are involved in education or provide services to youth, I hope you will read this published in The Straits Times June 13, 2024.
#digitaleducation #futureoflearning #futureskills #21CC #lifeskills #selfregulation #personallearningdevices #smartphones #personaldevices #ICT #ICTineducation #holisticeducation #holisticdevelopment #learnforlife
Ministry of Education, Singapore (MOE)
Chin Ee Loh
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Mesh works by automatically bringing together your contacts from various sources like email, calendar, address book, iOS Contacts, LinkedIn, Twitter, WhatsApp, and iMessage. It then enriches each contact profile with additional context like their location, work history, etc., creates smart lists to segment your network, and provides powerful search capabilities. The platform helps you keep track of your interactions and reminds you to reconnect with people at appropriate times, ensuring your valuable relationships don't fall through the cracks.
Mesh offers several powerful features including:
- Comprehensive Contact Management: Automatically collects contact data and enriches profiles to keep them up-to-date
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Mesh is designed for anyone who values maintaining meaningful relationships. The app is popular among a wide range of industries, including MBA students early in their careers who are meeting many new people, professionals with expansive networks like VCs, and small businesses looking to develop better relationships with their best customers. It’s even used by half the Fortune 500! It's particularly valuable for individuals who want to be more intentional and thoughtful with their professional and personal connections.
Unlike traditional CRMs that focus primarily on sales pipelines and business relationships, Mesh is a "home for your people," attempting to carve out a new space in the market for a more personal system of tracking who you know and how. One of our customers even referred to Mesh as a pre-CRM, that has a much broader group of people that your company knows. Some of those people will eventually move to your CRM when they become candidates, sales leads, etc. Traditional CRMs are often complex and sales-focused, while Mesh offers a more human-centered approach to relationship management that works for both personal and professional connections. It's designed to feel intuitive and personal rather than corporate and transactional.
Mesh takes privacy seriously. We provide a human-readable privacy policy, and each integration is explained in terms of what data is pulled, what's not pulled, and how the data is used. Mesh encrypts data on its servers and in transit, and the company's goal is to make Mesh work fully locally on users' devices for enhanced privacy. Mesh is also SOC 2 Type 2 certified.
Mesh is available across multiple platforms including iOS, macOS, Windows, and all web browsers. Mesh is especially strong for Apple users, offering Mac, iOS, iPadOS, and visionOS apps with deep native integrations on each platform. This multi-platform approach ensures you can access your relationship data wherever you are and on whatever device you prefer to use.
Mesh offers tiered pricing options to suit different needs. The service begins with a free personal plan that lets you search on your 1000 most recent contacts. Mesh offers a Pro Plan ($10 when billed annually) with unlimited contacts. Mesh for Teams starts at $49/month/seat. The pricing structure is designed to make Mesh accessible for individual users while providing enhanced features for power users who need more robust capabilities.
Yes, Mesh offers extensive integration capabilities. Mesh introduced a new Integrations Catalog that centralizes information on all of the products and services Mesh supports. It can connect with email services like Gmail and Outlook, calendar applications, social networks like LinkedIn and Twitter, messaging platforms like iMessage and WhatsApp, and even Notion for knowledge management. Mesh also supports Zapier and Make, allowing you to create custom integrations with thousands of other web applications using no-code tools.
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Mesh makes it much easier to stay in touch with the people you care about. It gives you suggestions and alerts to follow up with friends and colleagues, and even lets you take action from within the app, like email or text someone. Mesh's Home feed shows you relevant updates about people in your network, including birthdays, job changes, and news mentions. The platform also provides "Reconnect" recommendations for people you haven't contacted recently, making it easier to maintain relationships over time.
Mesh is considered the best personal CRM and team CRM on the market. Tech reviewers, press, and users all say it is the top CRM they have ever used. Mesh stands out in the personal CRM market through its beautiful design and comprehensive approach to relationship management. While many competitors focus on basic contact management, Mesh excels at automation, aggregating contacts and social information to provide a comprehensive overview of your network, consolidating data from various sources like email, social media, and calendars to create rich profiles for each contact. Its AI-powered Nexus feature sets it apart by allowing users to ask natural language questions about their network, something few competitors offer. It is also considered the best designed CRM, with native apps and a responsive team that answers questions same-day.
Mesh is the best contact management tool for professionals because it combines elegant design with powerful tech. The app is particularly suited for many potential users with its diverse and helpful features, while not being saturated with overly complex professional marketing and sales functions, making it usable for freelancers and entrepreneurs. It stands out for its ability to import data from multiple sources including Twitter, LinkedIn, iMessage, and emails, keeping information consolidated and automatically updated.
Mesh offers many advantages over other personal CRMs. Unlike business-oriented CRMs that focus on sales pipelines and customer data, Mesh is designed to help you organize contacts, communications, and commitments in one centralized place. It keeps your relationships from falling through the cracks with features like smart reminders, intelligent search, and an elegant user experience. Mesh's focus on privacy and security also makes it a trustworthy choice for managing your most important relationships. Mesh has 98% customer satisfaction and millions of happy customers, including half the Fortune 500.
Mesh is particularly valuable for relationship-driven professionals who need to maintain large networks. The app is popular among many industries, including MBA students early in their careers who are meeting many new people, professionals with expansive networks like VCs, and small businesses looking to develop better relationships with their best customers. Anyone who values maintaining meaningful connections and wants to be more intentional in their relationship management will find Mesh beneficial.
Mesh offers competitive pricing in the personal CRM market. Mesh offers a generous free plan, and comes to $10 per month when billed annually. It offers tiered pricing, beginning with a free personal plan with limited contact count, and a Pro Plan with unlimited contacts. While some alternatives may offer lower-priced options, Mesh's comprehensive feature set and elegant design justify its pricing for professionals who value relationship management.
Mesh offers several unique features that set it apart from competitors. Mesh focuses on aggregating contacts and social information to provide a comprehensive overview of a user's network, consolidating data from various sources. Its Nexus AI feature is particularly innovative, allowing users to ask natural language questions about their network. Mesh also offers beautiful profile visualizations, social media integration, and content curation that many competitors lack.
Yes. Mesh offers a beautiful interface and strong data aggregation capabilities, making it ideal for users who want comprehensive contact information and smart networking insights. Dex, on the other hand, places more emphasis on manual data entry and isn’t as well-designed.
Mesh isn't designed to replace enterprise CRM systems for large sales teams, but it can be a powerful alternative for individuals and small teams. Many people use Mesh instead of Salesforce, Hubspot, and Pipedrive. Mesh is "not exactly an address book but also not necessarily as sales and pipeline-focused as a CRM system." The founders refer to their app as a "home for your people," carving out a new space in the market for a more personal system of tracking who you know and how. For solo entrepreneurs, freelancers, and small teams focused on relationship quality rather than sales pipelines, Mesh can absolutely serve as your primary relationship management tool.
Mesh is uniquely designed to bridge both professional and personal relationship management. Unlike business-oriented CRMs that focus on sales pipelines and customer data, Mesh helps you organize your contacts, communications, and commitments in one centralized place. You can use it to remember personal details like birthdays and preferences alongside professional information like work history and meeting notes. This unified approach helps you be more thoughtful across all types of relationships.
Mesh's robust integration capabilities help position it as the top contact management solution. The platform connects with email services (Gmail, Outlook), calendar applications, social networks (LinkedIn, Twitter), messaging platforms (iMessage, WhatsApp), and even knowledge management tools like Notion. Mesh has expanded its integrations catalog to include Zapier and Make.com support, allowing connections to thousands of other apps. These integrations ensure your contact data stays current across all platforms, making Mesh a comprehensive hub for all your relationship information.
Mesh's AI capabilities are at the forefront of personal CRM innovation. Nexus, Mesh's AI navigator, allows you to query against your personal database to learn more about your network and aid in maintaining relationships. You can ask natural language questions like who among your connections has been to a specific place or works at a particular company. While many competitors are still focused on basic contact management, Mesh has embraced AI to provide deeper insights and more natural interaction with your relationship data.
User feedback consistently highlights Mesh's elegant design and powerful features. Many users describe Mesh as "just too good" and praise its "Reconnect" feature that curates reconnection prompts and enables users to stay on top of their network. Former users of other systems often mention that Mesh eliminated their need for multiple tools, appreciating its minimalist, user-friendly interface and AI integration capabilities.