The Education University of Hong Kong (EdUHK) Global Institute for Emerging Technologies (GIET) held the second event of the Learning Innovations and Emerging Technologies Forum Series on EdUHK's Tai Po campus on 14 January. The event followed the successful inaugural event last December, together with a collaborative initiative between EdUHK, Peking University (PKU), the UNESCO Institute for Information Technologies in Education (IITE), and the UNESCO Chair Programme, also including Seoul National University (SNU) and Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM) in this forum to expand the partnership.
Entitled "Education Equity in the AI Era", the second forum highlighted both the potential of AI to promote education equity and the challenges that have emerged with the adoption of AI in the education context. In response, EdUHK, UNESCO IITE, PKU, SNU, UKM and the Digital Education Council joined forces to share best practices and lessons learned in leveraging AI to promote equity in education. This hybrid forum brought together over 400 teachers, scholars, education leaders, industry partners, and policymakers from 23 countries and regions.
Professor John Lee Chi-Kin, EdUHK President and UNESCO Chair in Regional Education Development and Lifelong Learning, highlighted in his opening remarks the urgent need to harness AI's power to bridge the education gap and advocated for responsible AI solutions for equity and inclusiveness in education.
UNESCO IITE Director, Professor Zhan Tao, also delivered opening remarks and hosted the closing session. He said, "As the only UNESCO Category I Centre that has a mandate in technologies in education, UNESCO IITE will work closely with EdUHK to engage with different stakeholders to address the critical issue of achieving education equity in the AI era."
The forum featured three keynote presentations and discussions on how AI can be leveraged to promote equity in education. Topics included the development of teachers' AI and digital competencies and their impact in South Korea, initiatives undertaken by Malaysia to achieve education equity in the AI era, and UNESCO IITE's experiences with AI and digital technologies for equity and inclusion in education.
Panel List
Presentation 1: Developing Teachers’ AI & Digital Competencies: A Korean Policy AIEDAP and Its Impact on Continuous Professional Development (CPD)
Prof. LIM, Cheolil, Director of Future Education Innovation Center; Professor, Department of Education, Seoul National University (SNU)
Discussion:
Mr. Danny BELIK, President, Digital Education Council; Prof. WANG, Minjuan, Chair Professor of Emerging Technologies and Future Education; Co-Director, Global Institute for Emerging Technologies; Associate Co-Director, Academy for Applied Policy Studies and Education Futures, EdUHK
Presentation 2: Bridging the Gap: Achieving Educational Equity in Malaysia’s AI Era
Prof. Dato’ Norazah Mohd NORDIN, Professor of Learning Technologies and Innovation, Department of Teaching and Learning Innovations Faculty of Education, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia
Discussion:
Dr. LU, Jiafang, Associate Director, The Joseph Lau Luen Hung Charitable Trust Asia Pacific Centre for Leadership and Change (APCLC); Associate Professor, Department of Education Policy and Leadership (EPL), EdUHK
Presentation 3: AI and Digital Technologies for Equity and Inclusion in Education: Experience of UNESCO IITE
Dr. Natalia AMELINA, Chief of Unit, Unit of Teacher Professional Development and Networking; Senior National Project Officer in Education, UNESCO IITE
Discussion:
Dr. YUM, Yen Na Cherry, Acting Head, Department of Special Education and Counselling (SEC), EdUHK
Dr. LEE, Ju Seong, Acting Head of Department/Associate Professor, Department of English Language Education, EdUHK
Q&A & Reflections
Prof. LIM, Cher Ping, Chair Professor of Learning Technologies and Innovation, Faculty of Education and Human Development; Co-Director, Global Institute for Emerging Technologies, EdUHK
Prof. JIA, Jiyou, Head of the Department of Educational Technology/Professor, Graduate School of Education; Director, International Research Center for Education and Information, Peking University
Forum 2 Group Photo
Opening Remarks
(From Left to Right: Prof. John LEE Chi-Kin, President of EdUHK; Prof. ZHAN Tao, Director of UNESCO IITE; Prof. LIM Cher Ping, Co-director of GIET, EdUHK)
Keynote Presentations
(From Left to Right: Prof. LIM Cheolil, Seoul National University; Prof. Dato’ Norazah Mohd NORDIN,Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia; Dr. Natalia AMELINA, UNESCO Institute for Information Technologies in Education)
Panel Discussions
Q&A Session