The Asia Europe Foundation (ASEF) took part in the Southeast Asian Ministers of Education Regional Centre for Higher Education and Development (SEAMEO RIHED) 2024 Inter-Regional Research Symposium conducted between 20-22 November 2024 in Bangkok, Thailand.
The three-day Symposium carried the theme “Transforming Higher Education: Towards Sustainable Development” and hosted over 200 participants from Southeast Asia and beyond who represented ministries, universities, international education organisations, and other higher education stakeholders. The programme had three main tracks: Digital Sustainability, Flexible Pathways, and Climate Action.
As a proud member of the organising committee, ASEF made strong contributions to the programme, chief among them sponsoring an engaging, spirited panel discussion and moderating one of their parallel sessions on micro-credentials.
On the opening day, ASEF presented a panel discussion themed “Digital Transformation: Will Teaching and Learning Benefit from Artificial Intelligence in the Next Decade?” as part of the ARC10 Policy Dialogue Series. The session, moderated by Ms Reka TOZSA, our Director for Education, featured experts representing various perspectives on the topic of technology in education, namely:
Our speakers took on specific debating roles and argued in favour of, or against, positions highlighting key issues on digital transformation and the use of AI in teaching and learning. Meanwhile, members of the audience expressed their sentiment (agree/disagree) about the statements via a live Mentimeter poll.
Around two-thirds of the respondents agreed that teachers should not use AI in classrooms until they have received appropriate training about how AI works and affects people. Slightly more (around 70%) then believe that AI tools help make education more inclusive by providing targeted personalized support to learners. Only a third, however, think that AI helps develop students’ critical thinking skills, while the rest disagree. Almost 80% of participants also support the use of commercial AI tools in formal education.
And while the gap in answers to our overarching question “Will Learning and Teaching Benefit from Artificial Intelligence?” diminished during the session, nearly 80% still agreed that it will ultimately be a force for good.
Finally, we were honoured to moderate one of the parallel sessions, where Southeast Asian researchers presented their papers on the latest findings in the area of lifelong learning and micro-credentials.
We want to thank all the organisers, participants and presenters we have met during these exciting three days and look forward to upcoming joint efforts in strengthening Asia-Europe higher education cooperation!
This event is part of the dialogue workshops we organised in the framework of the 10th ASEF Regional Conference on Higher Education (ARC10) Project, focused on exploring “[Un]debated Ways of Rethinking Higher Education”.