WSIS Action Line C7: e-Learning: Empowering Educators and learners: Enhancing Teacher Training and e-Learning for Digital Inclusion

Bridging the Digital Divide: Empowering Educators and Learners through E-Learning at WSIS Plus 20

At the WSIS Plus 20 event, a session chaired by Zeynep Varoglu focused on Action Line 7, which addresses the empowerment of educators and learners through digital inclusion and e-learning. The panel featured a range of distinguished speakers, including Tawfik Jelassi from UNESCO, Carol Roach from the Government of the Bahamas, Dr. Emmanuel Mansi from ITU Africa, and Dr. Emilija Stojmenova Duh from Slovenia.

The discussion highlighted the digital divide as a multifaceted issue encompassing gaps in technology, information, knowledge, and education. This divide was recognized as exacerbating inequalities, particularly affecting vulnerable groups such as women, girls, and persons with disabilities, as well as indigenous communities and those in conflict-affected areas. The panelists emphasized the need for inclusive access to quality education and digital resources to mitigate these disparities.

Open Educational Resources (OER) were identified as a critical tool for promoting gender equality and empowering marginalized communities. Tawfik Jelassi from UNESCO shared examples of initiatives in Burkina Faso and Rwanda, where teachers with disabilities were equipped with digital skills, showcasing the tangible impact of OER on the ground.

The COVID-19 pandemic’s impact on education was a significant concern, with panelists reflecting on the challenges faced during the transition to digital learning. The pandemic revealed a lack of preparedness within the education system for such crises. Concerns were raised about the post-pandemic return to traditional education methods, with advancements in e-learning and hybrid learning made during the pandemic not being sufficiently maintained.

The importance of government commitment to education and digital infrastructure was underscored, with a call for increased budget allocation to these areas. Dr. Emmanuel Mansi emphasized the need for substantial government investment in education to prepare for a future that will require a digitally skilled workforce.

The integration of digital and physical worlds in education was recognized as essential. Dr. Emilija Stojmenova Duh argued that the digital world is an integral part of children’s lives, and education systems must adapt by equipping both educators and learners with the necessary digital skills and competencies.

The potential and challenges of AI in education were also discussed. While AI was acknowledged as a powerful tool for enhancing learning efficiency, concerns were raised about the risk of technology fostering laziness among students. The panelists called for a balanced approach to using technology in education, ensuring it enhances rather than hinders the learning process.

In conclusion, the session highlighted the critical role of digital technologies in education and the necessity for collaborative efforts to ensure digital inclusion. The panelists called for a future where digital readiness is integrated into the fabric of education systems, preparing a workforce competent for the digital challenges ahead. The session ended with a collective recognition of the need for continued dialogue and action to bridge the digital divide and empower educators and learners globally.

Zeynep Varoglu:
Yes, indeed recording in progress already. Welcome to this session on action lines on action line seven on high level dialogue empowering educators and learners enhancing training and e learning for digital inclusion. Today we’re very honored to have you today. With us, we have distinguished speakers with us today. We have Mr jealousy, who is the assistant director general for communication and information at at UNESCO. We have also with us, Miss, Doc, Miss Carol roach undersecretary cabinet office, government of the Bahamas, and UN IGF mag chair. We also have with us, Dr. Emmanuel men say regional director for Africa, it you regional office for Africa, and we have online. Miss Mary and Lisa chief executive officer light for the world. And we, I will give the floor now to Dr jealousy to make the welcoming remarks.

Tawfik Jelassi:
Thank you. Good morning, esteemed colleagues, distinguished guests. First of all, I would like to express our sincere appreciation to all individuals and organizations who have contributed to the organization of this event here in research plus 2020 24. We are here to delve into an important concern, the empowerment of educators and learners through comprehensive teacher learning and e learning. In order to achieve digital inclusion. This is very important, especially in the context of the ongoing digital revolution, since the first edition of recess in 2003. And the second edition of recess. Tunis in 2005, which I had the honor to speak at. Having witnessed myself the last 20 years of WSIS, but more importantly, maybe at a personal level, three decades as university professor, as business school dean, as former minister of higher education, I can see the importance of enhancing teacher training and digital learning, but also how to provide accessible learning opportunities to all. In this rapidly evolving digital landscape, clearly one of the primary challenges we face is the digital divide. It’s not only a digital divide, it’s an information divide, it’s a knowledge divide, it’s an educational divide. In addition to the gender divide also through lack of access to ICT. This disparity threatens to widen existing inequalities because these divides do not only separate rich and poor nations, but also they marginalize vulnerable groups within society. Among these vulnerable groups, I can mention girls and women, persons with disabilities, indigenous communities, ethnic minorities, migrants, refugees, displaced persons, and people living in remote rural area or people in regions affected by wars, conflicts and natural disasters. Clearly unequal access to quality education and digital resources obstruct inclusive development and therefore perpetuate social disparities. Open educational resources in this context play a crucial role to promote gender equality by providing… women and girls with greater access to quality educational material. These resources can help bridge the educational gap, especially in regions where women and girls face significant barriers to education. I can mention here the case of Afghanistan since August 2021. By making learning materials freely available, Open Educational Resources empower girls and women to pursue their educational goals and ultimately to participate more fully in their communities and in the digital economy. Recognizing the pressing need to tackle these challenges, UNESCO has taken proactive steps to promote digital inclusion and ensure fair access to quality educational resources. Let me here briefly mention some initiatives that UNESCO has taken, which include the development of Open Educational Resources to cultivate inclusive learning environments and to empower educators and learners and marginalized communities. I’ll share specifically two or three examples. Number one, in collaboration with the NGO Light for the World, and you have a speaker from this NGO intervening this morning with us. In collaboration with the NGO Light for the World, UNESCO launched a pilot project in Burkina Faso designed to equip teachers having disabilities with essential digital skills. Another example, in partnership with the Rwanda Basic Education Board, UNESCO engaged experts and teachers in four workshops to develop a curriculum tailored for teachers with visual and hearing impairment. These interventions give you an idea of what you have been doing on the ground, and we have witnessed remarkable strides, both in Burkina Faso and Rwanda, marked by heightened access to educational resources. Our efforts have extended beyond these two sub-Saharan African countries. They have extended to Egypt, Guyana, Kenya, Nigeria, South Africa, Tunisia, Turkey, Zambia, Zimbabwe, and the Philippines. The promotion of open educational resources, in line with WSIS Action Line 7, has resulted in the development and sharing of freely available educational resources. This past fall, we presented to the UNESCO Executive Board a consolidated report based on inputs from member states regarding the implementation of the UNESCO 2019 Open Educational Resource Recommendation. This report showed that 60 member states have adopted open educational resource policies and strategies. Additionally, 44 member states have a focus on capacity-building interventions related to the use or creation of open educational resource repositories and tools. Since 2022, 194 participants from 44 African countries have actively engaged in open educational resource events. This clearly demonstrates widespread and growing interest in leveraging OER for educational advancement across Africa. Efforts to contextualize the ICT competency framework for teachers have supported 20 African countries aiming to strengthen teachers digital skills and competencies. Let me conclude with some key messages. First, at the core of UNESCO initiatives lie the principle of promoting equitable access to quality knowledge for all, as well as universal access to information. This closely aligns with UNESCO mandate of building inclusive knowledge societies. Second, by fostering collaboration, capacity building and policy development, UNESCO strives to advance its goals of promoting quality education, gender equality and inclusive digital cooperation. Thirdly, through the implementation of the UNESCO 2019 Recommendation on Open Educational Resources, a recommendation which is the only United Nations instrument adopted in the area of e-learning. Through this recommendation, UNESCO supports the implementation of the commitment to leave no one behind concerning digital inclusivity and the reinforcement of education and lifelong learning. Fourthly, and lastly, this instrument, this recommendation also supports commitment to improving digital cooperation and the Global Digital Compact, which aims to establish digital commons as a global public good through openly licensed educational content, which is recognized as digital public good. Let me close by sharing a quote from Dr. Cable Green, Director of Open Education Creative Commons, who said, Open Educational Resources are a gateway to democratizing knowledge, empowering educators, and fostering a culture of sharing and collaboration. collaboration. By embracing OER, we pave the way for a more equitable and accessible education system for all.” Let’s continue our collaborative effort in promoting digital inclusion and equitable access to education. Each of us has a role to play in shaping a more inclusive and sustainable digital future. Let’s move forward with determination and solidarity towards our shared goals. Thank you.

Zeynep Varoglu:
Thank you very much, Dr. Jelassi. I would like to now give the floor to Dr. Emmanuel Mansi, Regional Director for ITU in Africa. Dr. Mansi, the floor is yours.

Emmanuel Manasseh:
Thank you very much, UNESCO, for preparing this important session, and I’m really grateful for the ITU to be invited to be part of this AWSIS Plus 20 event talking about enhancing teachers’ training in e-learning for digital inclusion. Digital ecosystem in education involves, among others, connectivity, devices, e-learning platform, educators’ capacity, policy environments, and learners’ engagement. The uptake of digital technologies for education reveals challenges and inequalities between those who have access to digital technologies and those who do not. The challenges related to overall levels of digital skills and competencies of educators. This calls, among others, equipping educators for inclusive digital teaching and learning. Meaningful connectivity and access to affordable and secure ICTs. is a prerequisite for sustainable digital inclusion. Connectivity opens new pathways for learning and innovation. According to the recent studies, there will be 230 million digital jobs in Sub-Saharan Africa by 2030. And that by 2040, Africa will have the largest workforce in the world. The ITU statistics show that only 37 of the population in Africa has access to the internet compared to the global average of 67%. Even in areas where internet connectivity is available, many do not have access to ICT devices such as computers, laptop, or tablets. This limits the ability to participate in the digital space. The question that remain is, how can we collectively bridge these gaps? Recognition is our starting block. Commitment to connect, educate, and empower is our path forward. First, the need to empower educators cannot be overemphasized. Educators are key agents of change. Learners will only get the most out of digital technology when it is skillfully deployed to support their learning. It is vital, therefore, that educators have the skills, confidence, and knowledge to know how digital technologies can be deployed effectively. It is quite critical to ensure that a range of formal and informal professional learning opportunities are available to educators at all stages, to equip them with the skills and confidence. to utilize digital technologies appropriately and effectively in line with relevant standards. The ITU Academy provide a range of opportunities for educators and learners to develop their digital skills. This is the need to ensure that all learners are not restricted in accessing appropriate online content that can support and enrich their education. However, learners need to be able to remain safe online. This means not only having technical measures in place for online security, but also teaching learners and educators to be prepared for online threats, ensuring that they can respond and recover if they are encountered. The second thing that I would like to talk about is scaling up digital access. Digital access divide stands between those educators and learners who have equitable, sustainable access to connectivity, device, digital content, and those who do not have. The availability of reliable and affordable connectivities, as well as hardware, is crucial for making digital learning accessible and effective for all. If we are unable to provide educators and learners with smart devices, computer, or laptops, they won’t be able to participate in the e-learning process. To scale up investment in connectivity, as well as devices, is key. Innovative financing could be one of the approach to invest in a sustainable digital infrastructure and access. To ensure all educators and learners, including those with additional supports and special needs, are able to access appropriate digital technologies. for learning and teaching. We need also to ensure that all learners become resilient users of digital technologies and can stay safe online. We need to encourage and facilitate development of partnership that will promote and improve digital access and digital skills development opportunities for educators and learners. The third thing I would like to talk is scaling up of adoption platform e-learning platforms specifically. Imagine a school with a state-of-the-art computer lab and quality internet connectivity but the facilities are not effectively and efficiently used. Without customized digital content digital infrastructure has little to do for education. Availability of local content and services that are relevant to the users educators and learners are critical for adoption. People go online because they expect the internet to be useful and interesting. Thus relevant education content that responds to the demand and needs of learners drives digital adoption and growth. I believe that the scaling strategy should intentionally change over the scaling journey be it connectivity devices or adoption. Last as I’m concluding I’d like to say that the principle that everybody should have access to the internet and digital skills with no one left behind has been well spoken. We need to move from principles to practice. Thank you.

Zeynep Varoglu:
Thank you very much Dr. Manseh. I’d like to now I have the honor to introduce to you Dr. Her Excellency Dr. Emilias. Stojmanova Du, Minister of Digital Transformation of Slovenia, who has now joined us, and give the floor to Dr. Du.

Emilija Stojmenova Duh:
Thank you so much, and I’m very sorry for being late. I was at the breakfast of women leaders, and we had excellent discussions, so dear Tafik, I’m very sorry I missed your speech. I hope that we will have some time later, you will tell it to me once more. Dear Emilija, you did not miss much. I don’t agree, but in Slovenia, we are strong supporters of open educational resources. Probably, you have heard already that we organized the Second World Congress on Open Education Resources 2017, then Ljubljana Open Educational Resources Action Plan was adopted, and after that, the work didn’t stop. Many of our researchers at Jozef Stefan Institute at University of Novogorica continued their work. They have launched a program called Open Education for a Better World. So, they are bringing developers of educational materials and experts as well who act as members, and the program has been running since 2017, until now, they have completed 262 projects all over the world. We are participating in many different programs when it comes to open educational resources. So, good work what you’re doing at UNESCO, but what I would like to focus more today is to share what we as Slovenia, as a country, are doing to make sure that these open educational resources will be actually used in practice as well. And whenever we’re speaking about digital transformation, I always say we cannot have digital transformation if we don’t have connectivity. If we want to use open educational resources, it is very important that everybody has access to connectivity. In Slovenia, already now at this moment, 94% of our households have access to high-speed broadband, which is excellent. And another thing that I’m very proud of is that access to connectivity in Slovenia is a universal service, which means that every citizen has the right by law to get access to the Internet at their permanent residence. So this is something that the government is doing, making sure that people have access to information, access to knowledge, and this is exactly what open educational resources are. The next thing, if we have Internet but we don’t have equipment to use the digital technologies, then again we have a problem. And all the time we are speaking about no one left behind, and if we want to make sure that no one is left behind besides access to connectivity, we need to provide them access to computers. So last year, the government of Slovenia has funded a so-called computer fund. This fund is aimed for socially vulnerable people. They are priority groups, so in the first top priority are children that are in primary school. Then we have other children, we have also elderly people and so on and so on. There are not so many of them, but still there are people in Slovenia who cannot afford this equipment. That is why we have a computer fund where they can borrow this equipment for free and they can use them. And this is very important for young children, because nowadays, even not with open educational resources, but with all educational resources, they need computer equipment at home to be at least, to have the same opportunities with their colleagues, same age. If we move further… When we have the digital skills for all, so we have the connectivity, we have the equipment, the next thing we definitely need are the digital skills and competences, because we want to make sure that young children, young people, everyone, lifelong learning, they know how to use, first they know how to search for different resources and they know how to use them. And another very important thing, because now, especially after COVID, there are many resources available online, so we must make sure that people know and they critically value which resources are definitely useful, are worth, and which resources not really, because during COVID time there were many educational resources that were created, provided online, and if you have something that is wrong, you teach children wrong, and then you’re doing a lot of damage out there. So it is important that we have media and information literacy, that we have at least basic digital skills for everyone, and this is another thing where Slovenian government is helping, we are funding a lot of different trainings for free for all generations, starting from the young people, then finishing with the elderly ones, where we want to increase the digital literacy in our country. And one last but very important thing I would like to focus on is the teacher’s digital literacy, because most of the teachers that are now in the classroom, when they were studying, there were no digital technologies, they didn’t learn how to not even use digital technologies and not create educational materials using digital technologies. So it is very important not only to make sure that the young people that are studying today to be teachers tomorrow, that they receive the right skills and competences, but also to make sure that the teachers that are in the classrooms at this moment, they receive the knowledge that is needed and that they know first how to use open educational resources, but also to create such open educational resources. This is what we are trying to do with our colleagues at the Ministry of Education. There is a huge project funded by the National Recovery and Resilience Fund. Also, this is European funds, but also we’re using a lot of funding from our government as well to make sure that the teachers get the right skills and competences, not only for digital skills, but also for the green skills that are really needed. So that’s very short. If we want to make sure that open educational resources are available for everyone, we must make sure that everyone has access to connectivity, access to computer equipment, and access to digital skills and competences. Thank you.

Zeynep Varoglu:
Thank you very much, Your Excellency. And now I’d like to give the floor to Ms. Carol Roach, Undersecretary, Cabinet Office, Government of the Bahamas, and UNRTF Magin. Dr. Roach, the floor is yours.

Carol Roach:
Thank you very much. Distinguished participants, colleagues, ladies and gentlemen, it’s my pleasure to be here today. And thank you for joining us so bright and early this morning. So I’m the chair of the UN Internet Governance Forum Multistakeholder Advisory Group. It’s quite a lot to say, but we call ourselves the MAG. Together with the 40 members that form the IGF MAG, we advise the Secretary General on the program of the IGF, tackling digital policy issues by providing diverse perspectives. For those who do not know, the IGF, the forum, operates on a multistakeholder and multidisciplinary basis and serves as a social connection point to forge new or strengthening existing partnerships, exchange best practices, and inspire policymakers. But the IGF is more than an annual forum. It is an ecosystem that gathers a community of diverse stakeholders who collaborate throughout the year on activities covering full digital policy spectrum. One of these IGF intersessional activities are the so-called dynamic coalitions. These are open multi-stakeholder and bottom-up initiatives that deal with that deal digital governance issues. By now, the IGF serves as a platform for over 30 active dynamic coalitions. Assistant Director General Jelassie, let me take this opportunity to congratulate you and your team, including Ms. Viragru, for the fantastic work that the Dynamic Coalition on Open Educational Resources is doing. The Dynamic Coalition is one of our new additions from last year and is a valuable and active contributor to the IGF. We hope that our forum community and network of over 170 national and regional youth IGF initiatives can be leveraged to extend possible to propel progress on ICT, the e-learning. Digital transformation enables economic and social development. However, groups that are disadvantaged economically, socially, and educationally also tend to be disadvantaged digitally. As such, the potential of digital transformation is significantly reduced as the levels of inequalities and exclusion, even seen offline, also reflected online and sometimes magnified. We strongly believe that at the IGF, that collaborative efforts at local, regional, and global levels forge partnerships and facilitates the exchange of best practices and innovative strategies to build inclusive knowledge societies. Education has the potential to break the vicious cycle of poverty, foster personal development, and ensure equality and empowerment. It builds stronger communities with citizens, actively contributing to society and making informed decisions. E-learning provides great potential for democratization of equality education with open educational resources as enablers. They empower a society as a whole, including individuals with disabilities or coming from marginalized or disadvantaged groups. However, in order to improve access to quality education and enhance digital literacy, we need to guarantee connectivity, equity, quality, and inclusion in the digital space. Addressing these gaps in access is a central issue in building an inclusive internet. The goal of digital inclusion is to level up on online environment so that everyone can embrace equitable digital development and socioeconomic growth. Digital technologies offer great potential to address the most relentless challenges. Technology is here to stay, and we must look at it as a tool or asset that is an integral part of our daily routines no matter where a person stands socially or economically. The UNESCO recommendations on open educational resources address five areas of action. One is the strong collaboration of UNESCO’s Dynamic Coalition on Digital Innovation. with the IGF, as we believe that our forum and intersessional work can indeed, one, support with capacity building activities, two, facilitate the development of supportive policy, three, drive inclusive and equitability, four, nurture a sustainable ecosystem, and five, enhance international cooperation. Human education resources have an important role to play in raising awareness and digital literacy skills, and we would like to urge governments and other stakeholders to help ensure the quality of teaching. It will require policymakers to embrace the concept of digital innovation and inclusion as a priority policy goal, and to include it as a national strategies, policies, and implementation plans. I wish to emphasize here that capacity building should not be an afterthought, but a forethought. Educational and training systems need to be revamped. They need to be more innovative and agile and inclusive of science and technology. There should be a deliberate effort to leverage science and technology to take advantage of social and economic opportunities. This is critical to reaching the unserved and underserved communities. Resourcing initiatives are paramount. Non-traditional financing approaches can support and build networks, including community networks in areas with little or no connectivity, such as libraries and parks and other public spaces. This was an approach used in the Bahamas with the Wi-Fi in the Park initiative. A public-private sector endeavor, public spaces in remote communities are equipped with Wi-Fi. While much has to be done for the world’s to really reach the potential of digital supporting sustainable development. The good news is that we have already created good platforms and partnerships to enable this. The IGF, UNESCO and WSIS are certainly good examples. With this, I’m looking forward to having UNESCO and the Dynamic Coalition on Educational Resources participate in the IGF 2024, taking place on the 15th to the 19th of December in Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, under the overarching theme of building a multi-stakeholder e-learning digital future. I thank you very much.

Zeynep Varoglu:
Thank you very much, Ms. Roach, for this important intervention. Now, I would like to take an executive decision, if you don’t mind. We have one more presentation that’s in video, but I think I would like to suggest that we move to the discussion right now, because we have a full room, which is incredible. It’s 9 o’clock in the morning, the session started, and it’s a very hard room to find, so this is great. I think it’s only fair that we open the floor to discussion right now, if anybody would like to have any questions or comments or anything. Yes, Céline, would you like to introduce yourself?

Audience:
Thank you very much for all these very good remarks and interventions. I’m Céline Val from the IGF Secretariat, and I’m assisting also Ms. Carol Roach, who is our MAG member. As she said, we do have a network of 170 national regional youth IGF initiatives, which are basically IGFs, but taking place at the national regional level. Perhaps you can share your plans or potential synergies on how to leverage NRIs and further strengthen open educational resources now and in the future. Mr. Jelassi, for example, mentioned your active work in Afghanistan, have an Afghanistan IGF that’s operating on a national level. Thank you so much.

Zeynep Varoglu:
Thank you, Celine. Any other questions?

Tawfik Jelassi:
Just a comment following your remarks. You mentioned the case of Afghanistan. Since the Taliban took power in August 2021, and they banned girls and women from going to schools and universities, of course, digital learning became a very effective way to help them continue their education. But I want to say that’s not the only approach that UNESCO has taken. UNESCO also has helped some media outlets, especially radio stations, to add educational programs for girls and women. So through radio stations across the country, we have supported millions of Afghan girls and women to continue learning, to continue their education through radio-based curricular content and educational programs. But digital learning, of course, plays a key role. So for us, these are ways to go around this new law and ensure, of course, that half of society, women and girls, can continue learning or their education.

Zeynep Varoglu:
Thank you, Mr. Jelassie. Ms. Roach, would you like to add anything?

Carol Roach:
So we’re very proud of the IGF, national and regional IGFs, because they are there. They’re the boots on the ground. They are our bottom-up soldiers. So we would like to encourage persons to participate in the NRIs. We’re also looking and hoping that the NRIs could have more synergies with governments, because at the end of the day, it’s the government that makes the decision. It’s the government that needs to to make learning a priority. It’s the government that has to put the resources behind it. So it’s very important that we have this collaboration. I know during the pandemic, I worked from home and my sister who had gone through Hurricane Dorian was actually living at the homestead. And of course there was the whole e-learning and I could see the struggle of the teachers. They were not used to this. And since it was not a norm for the students as well, my sister would be saying, so-and-so where are you? Are you having breakfast? Come back. This is not the time to bathe, sit down in class. So I think that the, but she’s somebody who’s always been computer literate, but her counterpart was not. And it was a struggle. Also the learning platforms, they weren’t used to it. And I think in this day and age, this would be something that is the everyday thing for our teachers and for our students. I keep telling people that when a parent packs a bag for a student, a child, even in primary school, there should not only be a book and a pencil, but there should be some kind of device. It should be part of their everyday learning. The same thing for teachers, not the, you see them struggling with all these books and papers. Why? Save some trees. So it’s very important for us to champion this e-learning. Thank you.

Tawfik Jelassi:
Thank you for your remarks about the COVID era. I think for me as a former university professor, have we learned enough from the COVID era as far as teaching and education is concerned? Yes, you’re right. We, when March. 2020, COVID started. No professors, no teachers, no students, no pupils can go to a physical school place. If we don’t move digitally, there won’t be any education. And as you said, we are not prepared. We didn’t have the content fit for digital uploading, downloading, learning, what pedagogy to use, what skillsets, what equipment, what infrastructure. And back to what Minister Dou said, it’s digital connectivity, it’s the device, the computer, the tablet, it is the content, it’s the digital skills, it’s a totally different game. It was a paradigm shift and we had to do it because without that, we would have stopped teaching and learning. Now, of course, we know COVID has ended and it was almost like back to normal, business as usual. As you said, the heavy backpack with all the printed material and whatever, not necessarily a hybrid learning. We are back to school, back to face-to-face, one size fits all, education, delivery of content and knowledge. So again, I think in some countries, COVID put the digital, including the e-learning at the top of the agenda. All of a sudden, we had the means financially, we had the infrastructure, we had the legal framework, we had the recognition of credits obtained online to award degrees, but then it seems like went backwards. And I think, God forbid, what happens if we’ll have another pandemic down the road? What will we do? I mean, again, this is all about contingency planning and scenario preparation and risk reduction. I’m not sure that we have learned enough from the COVID crisis as far as teaching, learning and education. This is my humble opinion, but of course, I have here, as I said, a minister and former university professor who may have different view, but I think we need to build on what we have. have achieved during COVID, if we want, because the real personalized learning value is one-to-one. It’s not a one professor delivering to the masses, even if the masses are only 20, 30 students. The real, the highest learning value is highly personalized, meaning one-to-one, professor with one student, because he or she has some specificities, has some knowledge, some assimilation capacity. Of course, in a classroom, that is not economically viable to put a professor with a single student. In a classroom, this is a no-go, a no-starter. Online, it can. Let me stop here.

Emilija Stojmenova Duh:
This was excellent, what you said. I just want to add something more. What we’re experiencing in Slovenia at the moment is a lot of foreign students. It is because of the war in Ukraine, because of the migration, and so on, and so on. In many of our schools now, we have one-third of the class that are foreign students. Especially in primary schools, it makes it very hard for the teachers. I agree completely with you. Especially foreign students, they need one-to-one teachers. This is not possible. Here, we can see the real value of open educational resources, of using technology to help these children, because this way, you’re helping not only the foreign students, but you’re helping everyone in the classroom. Maybe we should take a look, and we’re speaking about inclusion, about no one left behind. We must make sure that every student in the classroom, no matter the background, gets the access to the education that is needed.

Zeynep Varoglu:
Thank you very much, Dr. Du, please.

Emmanuel Manasseh:
Yeah, thank you very much for this very important question. One thing I can say is, number one, when you look at the Sustainable Development Goals, now we are behind in fulfilling this. that have a catalyst of multiplying effects on other SDGs is among others is education and connectivity. So you can see that education cannot wait, connectivity cannot wait. We need these two things to attain other sustainable development goals. But I like what Carol said, that the biggest challenge we’re having is still with connectivity and initiatives that partners are doing, commitment of the governments. Each government’s gonna ask, what is the budget for education? That’s a very, very important question that we need to ask ourselves because sustainability doesn’t come from just connecting. Sustainability comes from maintaining and ensuring that the service is available. You can provide devices, you can provide connectivities, but government commitment is determined by the budget they put in education. That is very, very important to put substantial amount. I was looking at African countries, some the budget was 25% in education of their total budget, but now it went to 14, some even less than 10%, which really, when you look at the future of Africa, as I was telling you that by 2040, one third of the workforce in the world is going to be from Africa. And then the same by 2030, 230 million jobs in Africa will require digital skills. You see that without investing in education, we’ll not have the appropriate and fit for purpose workforce to take these digital jobs. So this is quite important, quite critical. From ITO, what we’re doing now through the Giga project, by 2030, we are striving to connect all the schools that we’re working with UNICEF, but also we have the partner to connect and connect to recover. All these efforts is we need to connect to make sure that. All schools are connected. But the bottom line to me is government should understand and put more commitment on the budget for education if they want really to see big results. Thank you.

Zeynep Varoglu:
Thank you very much, Dr. Mansi. Yes, please.

Audience:
Thank you so much. And I am Jia Zhou Ni from Shanghai, going by year. And we provide different projects to the students from the primary school to the universities. Like he’s just a middle school student and I am a university student. And I want to learn from you about that is when we are talking about how to use the ICTs to help our learning from the internet. And that is we need to start from how to use the phone, the AI tools, and the laptops. And that is to some extent that is difficult for people, for students who never used that technology before. So if there is any advices or suggestions on how to promote the application of these technologies into a low level of students which have no, which have no such abundant information on their use. And we want to help them to use such as artificial intelligence technologies and more accessible. Like I just click on one button and I can get my answers. And that will easier our education process. Thank you.

Zeynep Varoglu:
Thank you. Who would like to respond? Please.

Emmanuel Manasseh:
Yeah, thank you. That question is very picky, but I like it because one thing that we believe is as we bring education online, it’s also should be attractive to the learners. So content should be attracting, but also know most of the youth, they learn fast and they like these skills. So you can create a network of empowering each other, because honestly speaking, most of the youth, especially in China and Shanghai, as you can see, they are really good and tech savvy, all people. So what we need to have is more appealing content that is relevant to them, so that they can access. But one thing also that we need to be careful with is, AI and these technologies are aimed to make smart people more smarter, but not to make them to be lazy, because all of these behind is human who are developing them. So critical issue is create some, in schools, you have some clubs that you are attracting each other, but also as tech savvy, we need you to drive the digital world by learning, and also coming up with new solutions.

Tawfik Jelassi:
I would like just to make a footnote, you use the word laziness. I think this is one of the dangers that through advanced digital technologies and AI, and generative artificial intelligence, I think students and pupils are becoming lazier. You give them homework, an assignment, they go to chat GPT, and they give you the answers. They don’t even think through, they don’t even give it a try. I know one professor, he said, no, to combat chat GPT, I want my students to hand to me, hand-written answers to make sure they wrote the answers themselves. Said, don’t use word or whatever word processor. No, you have to handwrite it. I know a student used a 3D printer to have the assignment handwritten. So Chet GPT gave the answers and 3D printer did the handwriting. And here’s the assignment, Mr. Professor or Ms. Professor. So I think that the issue of laziness, unfortunately, it’s becoming part of the learning process for students. I mean, before they Google search, now they go to Chet GPT, which is, of course, much more sophisticated. And professors, teachers have to factor that in. How do you assess your students? Can you give a take-home exam? And the thing with Chet GPT, even different students submitting the same exam question to Chet GPT, Chet GPT can come back with different wordings, framings, but the right arguments. The professor cannot really detect that those different students use that software. Before we used turned in, many of you know turned in software to detect cases of plagiarism. Today, it’s very, very hard to use that or a version of that with Chet GPT. So you raised an important question, especially at 9.50 a.m., our Chinese colleague, but I think it really raises a number of questions. And that’s why UNESCO played a key role two years ago in the TES, the Transforming Education Summit, which took place at the UN for the first time at the heads of state and head of government level. The transforming education, it’s not reforming education, it’s transforming. This is not a continuous improvement in the era of Chet GPT and generative AI. It’s a disruptive change that needs us to transform the way we teach, the way students learn, the way professors assess them, et cetera.

Carol Roach:
So I’m gonna go against the flow a little bit here. Okay. So, we tend to, as parents and aunts and so on and so forth, we look at our children, we look at our nieces and nephews and we say, go outside and go and play, get off these devices. And the other day I said, no, you need to stop yourself because this is their future. This is what they need to know. So, when you see the baby, because I say, oh, why does this parent have this child on this device already? But they need to be on the device. They need to be comfortable with that. That is their new tool. That is their new toy. And therefore, we need to not be so apprehensive about letting them use it. They may look lazy in our eyes, but in the future, this is what they need. If they don’t have it, they don’t survive. Also, you need to, I have a nephew who did animation and he was in an uproar with everybody else with how AI is taking over. And I tried to convince him, okay, AI is here to stay. What you need to do is to learn how you can use it to perform what you need to do. And so, we have the AI for good. So, there is AI for good. So, we need to start looking at how to use these tools, maybe how to use a device outside. I don’t know. Thank you.

Audience:
The generative AI is really a good tool for the e-learning process. And actually, we want to use AI to promote our speed and efficiency in large documents, like hundreds of pages. And we can find the details. framework of it and then what we are talking about is to train our own brain but not the artificial brain and that is our development and that helps we deal with our daily lives and help with if there is no Wi-Fi or Internet here and I can also do my decision and that is what the AI can help us for our lives I think and thank you for your answers. Thank you so much.

Zeynep Varoglu:
We have Minister Duh who’s going to give the final word.

Emilija Stojmenova Duh:
In one minute. So until recently most of us including myself I was speaking about the digital world and the physical world and I wanted my son to be in the physical world and not but now we realize it’s only one world and the digital and the physical ones they mix together it’s part the digital world it’s part of their world and even when we are speaking about children it’s not like they’re having different friends in these two worlds it’s one world only when we as soon as we understand that it will be better for all of us and then what about Dr. Gelasi was saying whether teachers know if the students use chat GPT or no again we need to train the teachers they need to learn how to use these technologies and I asked chat GPT if he can if a teacher can detect and it says it can be challenging but not impossible and here are some methods and he suggested the methods the teacher so if the teacher know how to use these technologies then he or she will know whether the student used chat GPT.

Zeynep Varoglu:
I’d like to thank all of the panelists and all of the participants in chat GPT for joining in on this discussion it’s been very rich I won’t even try to summarize especially since I have no minutes left and but I thank you very much Dr. Duque, Dr. Gelasi, Ms. Roach, Dr. Manseh for joining us today and I wish you a very happy YSYS plus 20. Thank you.