After an intense 8-month long professional capacity building programme, the ASEFClassNet17 project closed its curtain with an onsite-conference on “Learning with AI and Learning about AI” in Manila, Philippines that took place between 11-15 November 2024 in partnership with the Philippine Normal University (PNU), the Association of Southeast Asian Teacher Education Network (AsTEN), International Research Centre on Artificial Intelligence (IRCAI) under the auspices of UNESCO and Open Education for a Better World (OE4BW). The ASEFClassNet17 on-site Conference had 100+ attendees from 33 Asian and European countries, including 4 UNESCO Chairs, who actively drove critical conversation on ethical, effective, and responsible AI innovation in education at the secondary & vocational education levels.
What activities took place before the ASEFClassNet17 conference?
330 educators, in total, from 38 Asian and European countries were engaged in a rigorous 8-months long virtual professional capacity building on “Learning about AI and Learning with AI” directly under 2 programme tracks between April – November 2024:
- School Collaboration Track: Total 292 participants (196 for full programme, 56 for self-learning phase) and 40 mentors
- Faculty Collaboration Track: 34 participants and 4 advisors
Both tracks’ participants went through a 3-phase virtual training:
- Self-Learning Phase: This phase, focused on the dual themes of “Learning about AI” and “Learning with AI,” to provide them a foundational and practical knowledge base. The cohort included trainee teachers, teachers, teacher trainers, school leaders, academics, and researchers, all united by a common goal: to harness the power of artificial intelligence in education ethically, meaningfully, effectively and responsibly.
- Team Learning Phase: In this phase, participants learned from each other by sharing and exchanging knowledge. 50 teams worked with 40 mentors in the school collaboration programme track and 5 teams in the faculty collaboration progrmame track.
- Action Learning Phase: In this phase participants used their knowledge from the self and team learning phase to design relevant activities on AI and Education. Before coming to the conference the school collaboration team implemented their designed Innovative Teaching Practice in their schools, and the faculty collaboration teams worked on project proposal ideas that they plan to implement by early 2025.
Among the participants who successfully completed the virtual programme, the outstanding and highly motivated 100 ones have been invited to the on-site conference to further improve their knowledge and showcase their work and the impact they have created based on the training received virtually. These 100 outstanding educators were part of 55 teams (50 School Collaboration and 5 Faculty Collaboration) and worked together with each other in a peer-to-peer setting to take concrete actions on AI and Education
Highlights from the ASEFClassNet17 Conference
ASEFClassNet17 AI&ED Publication Launch:
During the conference on the opening day we were thrilled to introduce the latest #ASEFClassNet survey report titled “Artificial Intelligence and Education: The Views of Teachers form Asia and Europe”! Launched at the ASEFClassNet17 Conference, this report highlights insights from 458 teachers across 42 #Asian and #European countries who shared their views on the role of AI in education. The report captures the views of educators from Asia and Europe, offering critical insights into their expectations, concerns, and readiness to integrate AI into classrooms responsibly and meaningfully. It consists of seven chapters, each offering valuable perspectives. The report was authored by Professor Wayne Holmes (UCL, UK) and Dr Kyungmee Lee (Seoul National University, Korea) and edited by Ms Reka Tozsa (ASEFEdu) and Ms Jyoti Rahaman (ASEFEdu) this report aims to inspire discussion on teacher preparedness, capacity building, and the ethical implications of AI in classrooms across Asia, Europe, and beyond.
The report is available here: Link.
Our sincere appreciation goes to the Philippine Normal University (PNU) and the Association of Southeast Asian Teacher Education Network (AsTEN) for hosting this event in the Philippines and to all the sponsors for their contribution: The Global Citizen Education Group, Technological University of the Philippines, Rizal Technological University (Officia|), De La Salle Santiago Zobel School, Abiva Publishing House, Inc., C&E Adaptive Learning Solutions. We are also delighted to benefit from the intellectual contribution of EdTech Marketplace Asia and IRCAI – Unesco International Research Centre on Artificial Intelligence.
Immersion into Diverse On-site Learning Elements:
During the conference, participants embarked on exciting activities that include workshops, keynotes, roundtables and discussing their Innovative Teaching Practice (School Collaboration) results and Project Proposals (Faculty Collaboration) with their peers. This is a unique conference that brought together both the teachers and teacher trainers in one platform to engage meaningfully in timely relevant conversations on Artificial Intelligence and Education (AI&ED), as well as build leadership and confidence to take education innovation in their institutions to the next level.
School Collaboration Awards:
The ASEFClassNet Team (Ms Reka Tozsa, Ms Angie Toh, and Ms Jyoti Rahaman) was excited to celebrate the achievements of the #ASEFClassNet17 participants for their 8-month long hard work, dedication, resilience and creativity during the virtual phase. Both school and faculty collaboration participants were awarded for their innovative work during the conference. All teams participated in a 90 seconds long elevator pitch to showcase their Innovative Teaching Practices and Project Proposals to a team of Jury members who evaluated their work in terms of improving students learning outcome, impact and relevance in the field of AI&ED. In total 6 Awards were given to the outstanding teams.
Team Climate Alliance: The Climate Alliance International Teaching Practice implemented a 4-week program integrating climate change awareness and AI tools through collaboration between schools in Singapore, Austria, and Australia. The project focused on agency, advocacy, and activism while emphasizing responsible AI use in education. The implementation targeted secondary school students, including those with modified literacy needs, utilizing the SAMR model and project-based learning approaches. Various AI tools supported content creation and learning processes, though consideration of AI’s environmental impact was identified as an area for improvement. The project leveraged both global perspectives and local contexts, demonstrated by Austria’s connection to recent flood events, making climate issues tangible for students. Through online co-learning lesson, students demonstrated enhanced understanding of climate issues, improved cross-cultural competence, and increased confidence with AI tools. While time constraints posed challenges, the project’s success in engaging diverse learners suggests potential for broader application in similar educational contexts.
Team Blending AI Learning for Future Minds: After this ITP intervention, this team saw an impact on student learning such as an increase in their AI knowledge (ethic), AI skills (prompt engineering, generative Ai), content learning and understanding, marks, the variety use of AI tools as well as their confidence in using customized GPT for learning. It focused on flipped classroom pedagogy. This aspect has helped improve student independence and motivation for learning. Combining flipped classroom and customised GPT has shown the most improvement on student learning and understanding. In the pilot study; the team measured students’ personality, learning ability, gender and creativity, and noticed positive outcomes. In their observation, they have seen the most improvement in students’ answering Level 3 Application questions (Bloom’s taxonomy). The ITP benefited teachers by allowing more coverage of overall content, giving more time for collaborative tasks focusing on higher order thinking skills in school. The ITP gives teachers agency to design their own GPT according to their syllabus and curriculum thus guiding students.
Team Learnovators: This Innovative Teaching Practice (ITP) aimed to equip students with critical thinking skills and ethical awareness in using AI tools through collaboration between European and Asian students. Covering four stages from August 2024 to February 2025, the project engaged students in synchronous and asynchronous interactions and included teachers from various subjects. The project launched with an introductory session for schools, parents, and students, along with the setup of the project website. In the learning about AI stage, a collaboratively designed lesson plan introduced AI concepts, sparking discussions and brainstorming sessions. The team conducted a needs analysis to assess current AI usage and participants’ perspectives on its advantages and challenges in education. In the learning with AI stage, teachers implemented tailored lesson plans, gathering student feedback on AI’s pros and cons. Regular online meetings facilitated project planning and progress monitoring. The project will culminate in February 2025 with collaboratively developed ethical guidelines for AI use in education, promoting responsible and informed engagement with AI across learning environments.
Faculty Collaboration Awards:
Award on Research Category:
Award on Curriculum Category:
- Module 1: Introduction to AI in Education
To have basic awareness and knowledge of AI - Module 2: Leveraging AI in Education
To know how to optimize the use of AI tools to complete specific, standalone tasks in teaching and learning through prompt engineering - Module 3: Transforming Teaching and Learning with AI
To design learning experiences that integrate AI-enabled tasks guided by sound pedagogical content knowledge. - Module 4: Responsible and Ethical Use of AI
To evaluate and reflect on learning outcomes and evidences to draw new insights
The curriculum comprises five key learning components: knowledge, real-world application, peer feedback, quizzes, and further resources. As teachers advance through the modules, emphasis shifts from knowledge to authentic, practical application.
Contact the ASEFClassNet team via email if you have any questions regarding the conference and the ASEFClassNet project!
Learn more about the project here: ASEFClassNet17