The UNESCO Institute for Information Technologies in Education (IITE), in collaboration with the Education University of Hong Kong (EdUHK), Peking University (PKU), and the UNESCO Chairs Programme, successfully co-hosted the first event of the Learning Innovations and Emerging Technologies Forum Series on 10 December, 2024. The forum, titled “Technology-enabled Learning for Inclusive and Equitable Quality Education,” was organized by EdUHK’s Global Institute for Emerging Technologies (GIET) and brought together experts to explore the role of emerging technologies in advancing education equity and quality.
The event, held in a hybrid format, attracted over 300 academic researchers, practitioners, and policymakers in 23 countries and regions. It provided a platform for global discussions on leveraging technological advancements to enhance educational inclusivity and efficiency.
In his opening remarks, UNESCO IITE Director, Professor Tao Zhan emphasized the importance of collaboration in utilizing ICT to achieve Sustainable Development Goal 4: ensuring inclusive and equitable quality education and promoting lifelong learning opportunities for all. He highlighted the potential of this forum series in fostering innovation and best practices in ICT-driven education transformation.
The forum featured keynote presentations and discussions on innovative applications of emerging technologies, including empirical research from PKU on improving educational equity, case studies on ICT-mediated teacher professional learning, and insights into AI-driven video generation for diverse learning needs. Experts from EdUHK, PKU, UNESCO IITE, the Chinese University of Hong Kong, HeyHi Pte Ltd., the Open University (UK), and the Southern University of Science and Technology sharedvaluable perspectives.
As the first in a series of forums, this event marks a significant step towards strengthening international collaboration in education technology. UNESCO IITE remains committed to supporting initiatives that harness ICT for transformative educational practices and looks forward to further engagements in this important dialogue.