Fengchun Miao
Chief of the Unit for Technology and Artificial Intelligence (AI) in Education at Education Sector, UNESCO (Paris, France)
"Fostering responsible and creative AI citizens: AI competency frameworks for students and teachers"
Dr Fengchun Miao is the Chief of the Unit for Technology and Artificial Intelligence (AI) in Education at Education Sector, UNESCO Headquarters in Paris, he is also a Professor (on leave) in AI and Education. He is leading programmes of the Education Sector of UNESCO on technology and AI in education including the programmes on guidance for generative AI in education, AI competency frameworks for school students and teachers, the report on AI and the Futures of Learning, as well as supporting policies on digital education, AI and education, and Open Educational Resources. He is managing UNESCO Prize for the Use of ICTs in Education.
Highlights of his achievements include leading the organization of 4 editions of international forums on AI and education (2019, 2020, 2021, and 2022) and the development and adoption of the Beijing Consensus on AI and Education; the launch and continuous organization of Mobile Learning Week of UNESCO for 10 years and the launch of the new UNESCO flagship annual event Digital Learning Week in 2023. He is the leading author of over 20 important publications of UNESCO in various domains of digital education with six of them ranked top 50 by download among all UNESCO publications. He has coordinated the support for more than 70 countries in the formation of national digital education policies.
Robert Doyle
Harvard University (USA)
"ICEM History: Past-Presidents Richard Cornell and Marina McIsaac"
In this presentation, the topic will cover the lives and careers of two ICEM past-presidents, Richard Cornell and Marina McIsaac.
The two individuals shared much in common. In addition to earning doctoral degrees in educational media, promoting the field by recruiting international students for their universities, writing journal articles based on their years of research, and presenting at many educational media academic conferences, they were recognized throughout higher education departments in educational media for their deep commitment to mentorship and guiding students. Moreover, each faced extraordinary challenges as young children and these experiences—with one suffering abandonment and living in an orphanage while the other suffered the loss of family members to the Nazi regime--played a role in their professional lives as they dedicated themselves to mentoring graduate students. In addition to each serving for two terms as president of ICEM, they also served as president of the Association for Educational Communication and Technology’s (AECT) International Division.
This dissertation will encompass more of their careers, and how the hardships endured in their young lives inspired their understanding of the need for involved and committed mentors.
Robert G. Doyle served as Associate Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences at Harvard University from 1984 until his retirement in 2020. Prior to this, he was Associate Dean of Harvard College and an academic adviser specializing in students from Eastern and Central Europe. He is the recipient of Harvard’s Star Family Award for Excellence in Advising.
Throughout his career, Doyle has been a prominent speaker, delivering keynotes on Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs), assistive technology, and higher education technology design at international conferences. His notable presentations included the 2018 keynote at the International Conference on New Horizons in Education in Paris, where he presented on the “Anatomy of Flipped Classrooms.”
Doyle has been deeply involved in academic publishing, serving on the boards of several educational journals. He is also a lifetime member and former treasurer of the Association of Educational Communications and Technology (AECT), receiving numerous awards for his contributions, including the 2015 Presidential Award.
With a doctoral degree from Boston University, Doyle has completed additional coursework at prestigious institutions such as Harvard, NYU, and the Massachusetts College of Art and Design, among others. He now resides in Franklin, Massachusetts, focusing on educational consulting and nonprofit work in retirement.
Luis Socconini
Lean Six Sigma Institute, LSSI
"Industry 4.0 revolutionizes supply chains with AI"
Supply chains are increasingly being optimized using a combination of Lean Six Sigma principles and Artificial Intelligence (AI) to enhance efficiency and reduce waste. Key approaches include:
Lean Six Sigma: Focuses on eliminating waste, reducing variability, and improving process quality through continuous improvement methodologies. AI Integration: AI is applied for real-time data analysis, demand forecasting, and predictive maintenance, allowing for more accurate decision-making. Automation and Robotics: AI-driven automation helps streamline operations, reduce human errors, and improve productivity. Data-Driven Optimization: AI models identify inefficiencies and suggest process improvements, aligning with Lean Six Sigma's focus on reducing cycle times and defects.
CEO & Master Black Belt. He is an industrial engineer from Tec de Monterrey. He holds a master's degree in Quality and Productivity and is a Master Black Belt. He is certified in Strategic Management from Stanford University, Leading Product Innovation from Harvard University, and Industry 4.0 from MIT. He has worked for the Wharton School of Business in Pennsylvania as a corporate consultant, at Grolsch Brewery in the Netherlands as a process engineer, and at IBM as a manufacturing engineer. He is the General Director of the Lean Six Sigma Institute, an institution with a presence in the United States, Europe, Latin America, and Africa that certifies and trains companies such as Amazon, Apple, Dallas Airport, the United States Armed Forces, Kraft Heinz, Coca-Cola, BMW, Bimbo, Fender, among others. Regarding the Lean Six Sigma methodology, Luis Socconini has developed applications in various industries such as construction, mining, agriculture, healthcare, government, energy, and services, among others. He has been a distinguished lecturer at various prestigious universities. He is the author of several books, including the bestsellers "Lean Company: Beyond Manufacturing" and "Lean Manufacturing: Step by Step," as well as a co-author of the book "Lean Energy 4.0: Implementation Guide," "The 5S Process in Action," "Lean Six Sigma Management System for Leaders," and "Lean Six Sigma Green Belt: Step by Step." In recent years, he has given Lean Six Sigma and Industry 4.0 conferences in various parts of the world.
Mitsuko Matsumoto
International University of La Rioja (Spain)
"Liquid Communities of Practice: Opportunities and risks from children and young people’s informal learning on and through TikTok"
In this talk, I will explore what children and young people are “learning” on the TikTok social media platform and its implications. TikTok has rapidly become one of the most popular platforms worldwide, especially for those aged between 11 and 24. Some data shows that children spend roughly two hours per day on TikTok, which is by far the longest time spent on a social media platform, followed by Instagram, where an average of 40 to 60 minutes is spent daily. Studies show that children and young people engage with TikTok not to connect with friends, as on other platforms, but for entertainment, pursuing their own interests. In that process, they are constantly learning, seen in light of sociocultural perspectives.
To unpack the process and draw implications from it, I look at TikTok as “liquid” communities of practice, a new form of communities of practice (CoP) proposed originally by Lave and Wenger (1991). I will highlight how children are constantly learning from each other and other members of the community, a definitive feature of CoP. However, the meaning and construction of community are changing, reflecting the social changes brought about partially but significantly by technological advancement. Furthermore, TikTok, especially the algorithmic functions and Artificial Intelligence embedded in it, plays an essential role in the community and learning processes of children and young people.
In the talk, I will also show the importance of fostering critical awareness in children’s and young people’s engagement with TikTok, and how it could be done, sharing materials and findings from our recent studies.
Mitsuko Matsumoto is an Associate Professor in the Faculty of Education at the International University of La Rioja (UNIR) and a member of the research group Prospectives in Multimedia Communication (PROCOMM). She also collaborates with the Contemporary Childhood Research Group at the Autonomous University of Madrid (UAM) and the Daisaku Ikeda Institute for Research in Education and Development established at the University of Alcalá.
She received a DPhil in Educational Studies from the University of Oxford, UK, being trained in the field of international education and research methodologies. She is an expert in qualitative research methodologies, particularly participatory or ethnographic methodologies with visual or multimodal methods, involving children and young people actively in the research process. Her research topics of interest include digital literacy and practices of children and young people; education of disadvantaged groups; and value-creating education
She has contributed to various European projects and networks related to the digital practices of children and young people, including "Digital Literacy and Multimodal Practices of Young Children (DigiLitEY)" (2015-2019) funded by the European Cooperation in Science and Technology. She has collaborated with diverse entities such as the European Commission Joint Research Centre, Save the Children, and the Educational Research Network for West and Central Africa (ERNWACA). Currently, she co-leads a project titled “Artificial Intelligence and TikTok: Fostering Critical Engagement among Youth” (2024-2025, 37,610.00 Euros) financed by the International University of La Rioja.
Hannah R. Gerber, Ph. D
Sam Houston State University (USA) and The University of South Africa (South Africa)
"The Ontological Imperative and the Digital Age: A Cautionary Tale"
This keynote talk addresses five overarching questions that every scholar, teacher, and developer should include to interrogate any technology that they use, enabling them to understand the depth of data that digital systems collect, use, and monetize. The goal of this talk is to challenge individuals to rethink their relationship with technology and to exit the sustainability movement, which, only empowers the status quo to remain stagnant, and to instead enter the regenerative movement, which will restore humanity to its central place in the technological ecosystem.
Hannah R. Gerber, Ph. D. is Professor of Literacy at Sam Houston State University in the United States and an Honorary Professor in the Psychology of Education at the University of South Africa. Currently, she serves as the Director of the doctoral program in Curriculum & Instruction at Sam Houston State University, where she also serves as the Co-Chair of the Institutional Review Board for the Protection of Human Subjects, which directs ethical oversight of all research studies involving human participants.
Her research centers on the confluences of literacy practices in online spaces with youth, including videogaming and meaning-making practices.
Gerber is the immediate past president of International Council for Educational Media and one of the current editors-in-chief of Educational Media International as well one of the founding editors for the Gaming Ecologies and Pedagogies book series. Currently, she has authored over 90 peer reviewed manuscripts, including seven book titles. Her research has been discussed in mainstream media venues, such as Wired Magazine, and she has won multiple awards for outstanding research from a variety of professional organizations, such as the Initiative for Literacy in a Digital Age . She currently holds one U.S. Patent as well as has been involved on research teams who have been awarded over $25 million US dollars from entities such as the National Science Foundation (NSF), the United States Department of Education (US DOE), and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF).
Cristina Eugenia Nóvoa Presas
Rural School “CRA Domingo de Guzmán” JCYL (Spain)
"English teaching methodologies in the classroom, use of educational technologies, and its impact on education, particularly Artificial Intelligence. (Round Table)"
Integrating information technologies in the classroom is always a great challenge in teaching in general and in languages in particular. The key is to combine traditional methodologies with the use of technological tools and artificial intelligence. These tools are not the method, but the means to achieve the desired skills. It is important to highlight the importance of selecting the technological resource thinking about the content to be worked on, the group and age to which it will be exposed, and, above all, the educational nature that it will provide. Many teachers try to motivate the student with an AI application and in this way, achieve learning. But don’t confuse fun with motivation. Fun does not have to result in learning, just as poorly understood motivation does not lead to the acquisition of learning. ICTs and AI do not guarantee learning.
Master in Advanced English. Degree in Early Childhood Education. 23 years of experience in an English foreign language. 7th Finalist of the Best Teacher Awards Spain 2019 and 9th in 2020 Educa ABanca. A3media National Award for innovative LAL Tics Methodology. Finalist for the Castilla y León Master Action awards for the Inclusive Recreation Service Learning project “Let me get to know you Playing”. Author of the Dictionary of Technological Resources for Education she wrote four bilingual children's stories, one of them about sexuality. She currently works at CRA Domingo de Guzmán, Doñinos Salamanca (Rural School). She has been preparing for primary and early childhood English teachers' State exams for 12 years at the Preparadores Academy. She has years of experience working with the European eTwinning platform. She obtained two Erasmus plus projects and she has been collaborating with a group of international schools for several years. Nowadays she is an Erasmus plus Accreditation Coordinator.
Juan Ruiz Subirán
Baby Erasmus (Spain)
"English teaching methodologies in the classroom, use of educational technologies, and its impact on education, particularly Artificial Intelligence. (Round Table)"
Although teachers and families generally understand that the use of educational technologies in the classroom is an added value for education that will train students in the skills necessary for their future, this is not always the case. During the infant stage (0-6 years), and especially during the first cycle (0-3 years), many education professionals and paediatricians advise against the use of technology or screens in this more experimental and discovery stage of education. However, also during this phase, technology as an educational tool for pupils and teachers can be a great support. Moreover, technology is not only about using screens; with the advent of artificial intelligence, teachers can generate their own educational resources adapted to the needs of their students or their educational programme, such as stories (GPT chat) to read in class with the English vocabulary they want to teach their students. Well-applied technology, adapted to each educational stage, can exponentially improve the quality of education.
Director of "Baby Erasmus" British International Preschool, an English-speaking kindergarten (0-6 years) in Badajoz (Spain). Associate Lecturer at the Faculty of Teacher Training of the University of Extremadura (2020). President of the Association of Early Childhood Education Centres of Extremadura. He has coordinated and participated in many European educational research projects related to bilingualism and early childhood education. He is the author of the book of activities for learning a second language "Babo the Dragon" which won the "Bronze Award" at the "Nursery World Awards 2019" held in London.