MANILA, Philippines — The future of education is being shaped by both local realities and global shifts. At CanvasCon Philippines 2026, Philippine education leaders will join international experts to examine how institutions can prepare for changes in artificial intelligence, lifelong learning, digital delivery, and learner engagement.
Hosted by Instructure, the maker of Canvas Learning Management System (LMS), the conference takes place October 7 at Conrad Manila in Pasay City and will bring together more than 500 higher education leaders, educators, and institutional decision-makers from across Metro Manila, Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao.
Under the theme “Shaping Readiness, Together,” CanvasCon will provide a peer-led forum around three pillars: AI with Intention, Ready to Learn and Ready to Engage, and Skills That Last.
A new Philippines-specific Instructure study will provide a local starting point for the conversation. Conducted by The Fourth Wall in August 2026, the survey covered 207 education practitioners from higher education and technical-vocational institutions across Metro Manila, Metro Cebu, and Metro Davao.
The study found that AI is already being used in multiple ways. Half of respondents (50%) said their institutions offer AI literacy or digital-skills programs for students. Staff-facing AI tools supporting teaching and course design were reported by 41%, while 40% said AI tools are integrated into course content or delivery. Thirty-eight percent reported AI-powered tutoring or learning assistants.
Yet confidence in institutional preparedness is still developing. Respondents rated confidence in having a clear AI strategy within lifelong-learning pathways at 3.08 out of 5. Confidence that faculty and staff have the training needed to use AI effectively and support diverse learners was 2.87 out of 5.
Darren Read, Managing Director, Asia Pacific at Instructure, and John Brylle Bae, Partner and Research Director at The Fourth Wall, will unpack these findings at CanvasCon.
“The Philippines is moving quickly to expand flexible learning, lifelong learning pathways and digital delivery across higher education. That makes the conversations happening here especially relevant to where education in Asia Pacific is heading. CanvasCon Philippines is a chance to hear directly from local institutions about how they are responding to these shifts, and what it will take to ensure more learners have the skills, tools and support to be ready for what comes next,” said Darren Read.
Philippine voices at the conference will include educators and leaders from Our Lady of Fatima University, Holy Angel University, University of San Jose Recoletos, De La Salle University, PAREF Woodrose School, University of St. La Salle, Far Eastern University, University of Santo Tomas, and the University of Sydney.
They will be joined by international speakers including Zach Pendleton, Chief Architect at Instructure, who will discuss the roadmap for the Instructure Learning Platform and resilient digital ecosystems; Professor Martin Bean CBE AM, CEO of The Bean Centre and former Vice-Chancellor of RMIT University and The Open University, who will explore strategies for navigating disruption; and Danny Liu, Professor of Educational Technologies at the University of Sydney, who will discuss human-centered and responsible AI adoption.
Pendleton said decisions made about education technology can have implications well beyond the present.
“A decision we make in the platform this quarter shows up in a lecturer’s Monday morning three years from now. That’s the part of this job I take most seriously. Philippine institutions are moving on curriculum reform, flexible pathways, and AI policy at the same time, and they need technology that can absorb all three without breaking what already works. I’ll share where the platform is headed and how we’re building it so no institution has to choose between keeping up and staying steady,” he said.
The survey findings reflect the perceptions of participating practitioners and provide an indicative view of institutional priorities and readiness. They are not nationally representative of all Philippine education institutions.
CanvasCon Philippines 2026 is open to the education community across the country.