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Upcoming In-Person Event

D2L Connection: Singapore

May 15, 2026 | 9:00 AM - 5:00 PM SGT

Get ready to be inspired. 

Register Now

Speakers:

Brian Finnerty
headshot of speaker stewart watts
Jonathan Holtby Headshot

What You’ll Learn

Meet

Connect with educators, leaders, and changemakers who are shaping the future of learning and work. Build relationships that spark new ideas and collaborations.

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Share

Exchange insights on emerging trends like AI-enabled learning, accessibility, and micro-credentialing. Bring your experiences to the table and learn from others.

Learn

Dive into bold keynotes and interactive sessions to explore practical strategies and innovative tools that are giving learners more flexibility, confidence, and control over their learning journey.

Find What You Need

What Where Speakers Agenda

Always Learning: Shape What’s Next

The theme of our Connection event this year—Always Learning: Shape What’s Next—shines a spotlight on exploring your curiosities. What it means to learn is constantly evolving, and it’s your turn to inspire what’s on the horizon. This means being open to new ideas and sharing your own to help guide the future of learning.

We’ll uncover new perspectives—from educators using AI to personalise learning, creating accessible and inclusive experiences for students and how to best equip learners with the skills needed for tomorrow’s careers. Through impactful keynotes to hands-on sessions, you’ll be inspired to reflect on what it means to be a learner and how the right tools and frame of mind can help enrich experiences.

From educators and institutional leaders to workforce professionals, this is your chance to gain fresh insights from your community to help shape what it means to learn.

Be part of the conversation as we shape what’s next and continue to always explore, always evolve and always learn.

Register Now

Audience asking questions
People discussion
Attendees discussion
Q/A session - Panel answering
Hilton Orchard Hotel Singapore aerial view

Where?

HILTON SINGAPORE ORCHARD

333 Orchard Road, Singapore 238867

Location

100+
Industry Attendees

10+
Expert Speakers

7+
Engaging Sessions

Speakers

John Baker

President, CEO and Board Chair, D2L

John Baker

President, CEO and Board Chair, D2L

John founded D2L in 1999, while attending the University of Waterloo. He strongly believes that learning is the foundation upon which all progress and achievement rests. For over 25 years, John has been a leading visionary in the ed tech space and a frequent speaker on the future of learning and technology.

As a leader in Canada’s business community, John provides insights and advice on the future of Canada’s prosperity, including as a member of the Business Council of Canada, as a board member of the Business Higher Education Roundtable, and having served on the Governing Council of the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada.

John graduated from the University of Waterloo with an Honours B.A.Sc. in Systems Design Engineering, with First Class Honours and an option in Management Sciences.

Christian Pantel

Chief Product Officer , D2L

Christian Pantel

Chief Product Officer , D2L

Christian was appointed Chief Product Officer in 2024. He leads global Product Strategy, Product Management, Product Design, User Experience Research and Accessibility at D2L. Christian first joined the company in 2015 and has expanded his leadership in product, design, and engineering. He has extensive experience in Education Technology and knows D2L customers well. With deep empathy for diverse learners and educators, Christian has led D2L to develop products with a world-class user experience.

Christian has over 25 years of leadership experience building software at notable enterprise software companies including Workday, Infor, and PeopleSoft. Christian earned a Master of Science in computing science from Simon Fraser University, specialising in human-computer interaction and Web-based learning environments. He also holds a Bachelor of Computer Science (Honours) from the University of Manitoba. Christian lives in Winnipeg with his wife and four children.
Brian Finnerty

Brian Finnerty

Chief Marketing Officer, D2L

Brian Finnerty

Brian Finnerty

Chief Marketing Officer, D2L

Brian is a dynamic marketing leader with extensive experience building successful go-to-market teams. He believes in the transformative power of marketing, leveraging a potent combination of brand strength, targeted demand generation, tight sales alignment, and compelling customer stories.

Prior to D2L, Brian has held pivotal leadership roles at high growth companies including Udacity, Demandbase, Marin Software, and Skillsoft. He has been a driving force behind aligning sales and marketing around a bold and compelling message – resulting in quality pipeline generation, increased bookings, and strong customer retention.

Brian has an unshakable belief that marketing offers one of the most enjoyable and rewarding careers available. He lives in San Francisco with his wife, three boys, and a very friendly chocolate labrador.
headshot of speaker stewart watts

Stewart Watts

SVP – EMEA & APAC, D2L

headshot of speaker stewart watts

Stewart Watts

SVP – EMEA & APAC, D2L

Stewart Watts is Senior Vice President, EMEA & APAC Sales, at D2L. He leads the company’s commercial activities east of the Americas—across the Asia-Pacific, Europe, Middle East and Africa regions.

A graduate of The University of Nottingham, Stewart holds an MA (Hons) in Hispanic Studies and has worked in the software industry within education and learning since 2011. Stewart moved to D2L in January 2016 having previously spent close to five years at software and services firm Blackbaud Inc., where he ran commercial operations within the European division.

Stewart was brought up in Bolton, Greater Manchester, in the north of England and now lives in Surrey with his wife and two children. Stewart describes himself as a “spare bedroom musician,” a “wannabe Tiger Woods,” and a “long-suffering Manchester United fan,” with his passions for music, golf and football taking up the majority of his free time.
Jonathan Holtby Headshot

Jonathan Holtby

Director of Product for Artificial Intelligence, D2L

Jonathan Holtby Headshot

Jonathan Holtby

Director of Product for Artificial Intelligence, D2L

Jonathan Holtby is the Director of Product for Artificial Intelligence at D2L working to develop knowledge systems, advanced content generation, and adaptive and dynamic learning implementations for millions of learners across the globe.  

Jonathan has been leading AI initiatives as an engineer, product leader, and CEO since 2014, building complex systems and prediction models in human resources, personal health, and education, and in 2023 he was the developer of an award-winning system to predict advanced academic outcomes from the data generated playing video games.  

Jonathan is a graduate of the University of Toronto and of Bond University in Australia, and his also a father of two and an Opera singer. 

Agenda

9:00 am – 9:45 am

Registration & Breakfast

9:45 am – 9:55 am

Welcome & Opening Remarks

Speakers:

  • Ling Lee, Regional Director, Asia, D2L
  • Moses Lim, Manager, Solutions Engineering, D2L

9:55 am – 10:55 am

Panel Discussion | Personalised, Flexible and Future-Ready: Always Learning

Learners today expect more than content delivery — they want experiences that are flexible, personalised, and meaningful to their future. In this panel, education leaders from across Asia will share how they’re reimagining learning with AI, Blended and Digital Flipped-Learning models, and competency-based pathways like micro-credentials. Together, we’ll explore how data-driven personalisation, inclusive design, and thoughtful change management can spark learner motivation, improve satisfaction, and better connect course content to career readiness. With practical examples from Brightspace, panelists will highlight how institutions and organisations are creating dynamic, accessible, and joyful learning environments that foster growth.

Moderator:

  • Brian Finnerty, CMO, D2L

Panellists:

  • John Baker, CEO, D2L

11:00 am – 11:35 am

D2L Product Roadmap

This will be a look inside at our latest product developments and enhancements. Our product experts will walk you through recent updates, highlight the features we’re most excited about, and give you a preview of what’s coming next on the roadmap.

Speakers:

  • Christian Pantel, Chief Product Officer, D2L
  • Moses Lim, Manager, Solutions Engineer, APAC

11:40 am – 12:10 pm

Customer Highlight Session | Scaling Quality Digital Flipped Learning Experiences at NP

This session shares NP’s journey in strengthening the Quality of Digital Flipped Learning (DFL) experiences across the institution—from earlier variations in practice to a more consistent design and delivery at scale. Anchored on NP’s institutional LMS (D2L Brightspace) for online asynchronous learning (OAL) and learning analytics, we will share how OAL, learning analytics and in-person learning comes together to shape the overall DFL experience for our students, supported by practical tools and school-based enablement. The session also highlights key outcomes, reflections and what’s next, including more AI-enabled approaches to support digital learning.

Speakers:

  • Wilson Lau, Assistant Director, Data Analytics, Centre for Learning & Teaching Excellence, Ngee Ann Polytechnic (NP)
  • Lim Ee-Lon, Instructional Design & Learning Technology, Centre for Learning & Teaching Excellence, Ngee Ann Polytechnic (NP)
  • Melanie Morrissette, Senior Education Specialist & Senior Lecturer, School of Film & Media Studies, Ngee Ann Polytechnic (NP)

12:10 pm – 1:15 pm

Lunch & Networking

1:15 pm – 2:00 pm

Designing Purposeful AI for Learning | How to Build Intentional, Equitable and Effective AI Strategy

As AI becomes increasingly embedded in education, institutions face a critical question: how do we design and deploy AI in ways that genuinely enhance learning while remaining aligned with academic values? This session explores what it means to move beyond experimentation toward purposeful, principled AI strategies. We will also explore how D2L is building its own AI strategy to support these goals—focusing on responsible innovation, transparency and tools designed to empower educators while keeping human learning at the centre.

Speaker:

  • Jonathan Holtby, Director Product Management, D2L

2:05 pm – 2:55 pm

Customer Highlight Session | #2

3:00 pm – 3:30 pm

Product Updates with LearnWise

3:30 pm – 3:55 pm

Afternoon Coffee Break

3:55 pm – 4:35 pm

Customer Highlight Session | #3

4:40 pm – 5:05 pm

Fireside Chat with D2L

In this informal, forward-looking conversation, panellists will reflect on the key themes and insights that emerged throughout the day—from the impact of AI-enabled learning and personalisation at scale to the growing importance of accessibility and lifelong learning pathways. Together, they’ll explore what these trends mean for organisations, institutions and learners across the region. Expect candid perspectives, thoughtful reflections and a look ahead at the opportunities shaping the future of learning.

5:05 pm – 5:15 pm

Thank You & Closing Remarks

Speakers:

  • Ling Lee, Regional Director, Asia, D2L
  • Moses Lim, Manager, Solutions Engineering, D2L