On October 21 and 22, Universidade Aberta hosted the Digital Learning Bootcamp dedicated to the theme “The new role of the teacher in light of technological developments”. The initiative was organised by SmartLearning, a Danish entity that aims to provide and promote online education.

More than two dozen teachers and administrators from Smart Learning and different Danish educational institutions were welcomed by the Vice-Rector for Innovation, Quality and Digital Transformation, Diogo Casa Nova, and the Director of the Department of Science and Technology, Vítor Rocio. Several other faculty members and an instructional designer also took part.

Topics such as the training of teachers for GenAI in online environments, creating AI chatbots for online higher education, thew role of the teacher and of teaching in five years were introduced and actively discussed.

The afternoons were reserved to the workshop AI in a Strategic Perspective: From Dilemma to Action. This workshopp was particularly targeted at senior management, who must develop an overall AI strategy and take ownership of the strategic and ethical decisions that the technology requires.

It gave all attendees the opportunity to explore the ethical, strategic, legal and, in the long term, operational challenges that artificial intelligence brings, while strengthening management’s ability to handle complex decisions.

SmartLearning, held by seven Danish universities of applied sciences, has previously collaborated with Universidade Aberta under the Erasmus+ project “Artificial Intelligence in Teaching and Learning” (2019-2021).