FUTURE OF OPEN EDUCATION 

The UNESCO Chair for Social Sustainability at the Doctoral School, University of Szczecin, Poland, is organizing an international seminar on the 17th of May, 2023. The theme of the event is the Future of Open Education.

To solve contemporary issues such as threats to global peace, climate change, growing inequality, health problems, and economic crises, we need to apply innovative open models of research and teaching approaches. The purpose of education is not always career-oriented or profit-oriented and it should go beyond limited boundaries. Thanks to progressive human innovations, tools and methods such as open data platforms, artificial intelligence, and generative machines are ready to help us. Those are the fundamental elements of the emerging educational paradigm.

During the seminar, researchers from Egypt, Georgia, India, Poland, South Africa, and Sri Lanka will cover the following topics:

• What is the role of new technologies, AI and algorithms in creating access to knowledge?

• How do we understand the future of open education – under pressure from nation-states, corporations and international organizations?

• How do we envision social justice in conjunction with access to education?

If you would like to participate, please register: >>>

Programme:

Discussants:

Dr habil. Kinga Flaga-Gieruszyńska, Professor of University of Szczecin, the Vice-Rector for Organization of the University of Szczecin; the Head of the Research Team on Civil Procedural Law and Informatization of the Justice at the Faculty of Law and Administration; the Deputy Chairman of the Scientific Council of the Institute of Legal Sciences of the University of Szczecin; a legal advisor; a member of the Scientific Council of the Scientific and Training Center at the National Council of Bailiffs; a member of the Scientific Council of the Polish Notary Institute; the President of the Court of Arbitration in West Pomerania in Szczecin; an arbitrator at the Permanent Consumer Arbitration Court operating at the West Pomeranian Regional Inspector of Commercial Inspection in Szczecin.

In her scientific work she deals with civil procedural law, arbitration and mediation, bankruptcy and restructuring law, medical law, and new technologies in law.

Dr habil. Maciej Kowalewski, Professor of University of Szczecin, Head of the Institute of Sociology and UNESCO Chair for Social Sustainability Chairholder. His research and teaching works are in the domains of urban sociology and protest politics. His current research focuses on relation between politics and urban imaginary.

Dr. Amira El-Deeb (El-Dib) is the director of the Career Development Department (CDD) at AUC’s School of Continuing Education (SCE). She has +20 years of experience in training, instructional design and education management.

Dr.El-Deeb obtained her doctorate degree in business administration in the field of talent training and development. She holds two master degrees; in Business administration and in International and Comparative Education Policy. She received many international awards in education and business like Women Economic Forum 2020, Stevie award USA 2020, Women in International Education-Germany 2020, Wintrade award UK 2021 and was selected among top 50 inspirational women in Egypt in 2021. She is a member in many various international organizations working in the field of Business, Education and Women empowerment.

Dr. Glenda Cox is a senior lecturer in the Centre for Innovation in Learning and Teaching (CILT: http://www.cilt.uct.ac.za/) at the University of Cape Town and her portfolio includes postgraduate teaching, Curriculum change projects, Open Education, and Staff development. She holds the UNESCO chair in Open Education and Social Justice (2021-2024). She is on the editorial board of the International Journal of Students as Partners (joined in 2022). She is passionate about the role of Open Education in the changing world of Higher Education. Dr Glenda Cox is currently the Principal Investigator in the Digital Open Textbooks for Development (DOT4D) initiative. Her current research includes analysing the role of open textbooks for social justice.

Dr. (Mrs.) Prashanthi Narangoda, is a Professor in Fine Arts in the Department of Fine Arts of the University of Kelaniya. Currently she takes the seat of the Director, National Centre for Advanced Studies in Humanities and Social Sciences under the purview of the University Grants Commission of  the Ministry of Education.

She is one of the pioneering research scholarS in the field of Fine Arts covering many areas and seeking the interconnectedness of the Art, society and the culture, specially focusing on Sri Lanka and Asia. She was graduated from the University of Kelaniya in 1992 and obtained her Master of Science Degree from the Post Graduate Institute of Archaeology, of the same University in the year 2000. She pursued her PhD at the University of the West, California in the USA from 2008-2012 and earned her PhD with a merit due to the research scholarship she demonstrated throughout. Apart from that she bears several memberships in renowned organizations: member of the American Association for Religious Studies (AAR), member of the UNESCO International Dance Council, and a Life member of the Royal Asiatic Society, Sri Lanka Branch. She is also a member of the Advisory Board of South Asian Institute for Advanced Research and Development (SAIARD) in South Asia. 

Dr. Yashoda Durge has Twenty Six Years’ Experience, of which 11 Years is in Industry and 15 Years in Academics. She has a Ph.D. in Management & is an Alumni of the Faculty Development Program in Management from Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad (IIMA) Currently an Associate Professor at GNVS Institute of Management, Mumbai, India. Her areas of interest are Marketing, Retail, International Business, Environment, Communication, Research & Training. She is a registered member of the IICA Independent Director data bank.

Dr habil. Anna Odrowąż-Coates is an Associate Professor at the Maria Grzegorzewska University in Warsaw, Poland. She is also the Head of the UNESCO/ Janusz Korczak Chair in Social Pedagogy.

Since October 2020 she is the Vice-Rector for Development, responsible for International Relations. She holds MA in Sociology 2002, Post-diploma specialization in PR 2002 and a PhD in Political Sciences 2005, followed by Associate Professorship 2016 in Educational Research. She sits on the Board of Directors for RC25 ISA (Language and Society), the Board of Directors for the Polish Educational Research Association and the International Janusz Korczak Association (IKA), as well as ESA RN10 (Sociology of Education). Her main areas of scientific achievements centre around education, social inclusion, critical and social pedagogy, human and children’s rights. She is an experienced researcher, peer reviewer, and team leader. Before committing to Polish academia, she worked in Italy and the UK. Her main research achievements were field research with female military pilots and navigators in Poland and the UK, 2-year ethnographic study in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and recent study in Portugal. Expert evaluator for National Science Centre (Poland) and EU Commission (Horizon 2020). PhD supervisor at a Doctoral School.

Dr. Kalina Kukiełko – sociologist, cultural studies scholar, doctor of humanities, represents the Institute of Sociology at the University of Szczecin, Poland. Enthusiast and promoter of Marshall McLuhan’s media theory. Author of Between science and art. Artistic theory and practice depicted by Marshall McLuhan honoured with the Pierre Savard Award in 2016 (International Council for Canadian Studies); scientific editor of the first Polish translation of Gutenberg Galaxy by Marshall McLuhan (2017), recognized by the Polish Sociological Association as the best translation of the year (2018); Visiting Scholar at Concordia University of Edmonton (2019) and the Robarts Centre of Canadian Studies in Toronto (2023). Her latest book Contemporary War in the Photographs of Rita Leistner was published in 2021 (she has been analyzing Rita’s art projects for over seven years). Academically and privately engaged in a socially responsible fashion. Interested in storytelling, especially textile storytelling and the communicative function of clothing. Coach and tutor. Involved socially and voluntarily. 

Dr. Prof. George Khatidze, LLM, Dean of the Faculty of Law at the Caucasus International University. George is a Professor at the Caucasus International University, Faculty of Law and Associate Professor at Georgian Institute of Public Affairs (GIPA), School of Law and Politics. He is a Member of the Scientific Advisory Committee under the Ministry of Justice of Georgia; Member of Editorial Board at “International Journal of Social Sciences” of Caucasus International University and Member of Georgian Academy of Criminology Sciences. 

George was working in various public and private institutions, including National Bank of Georgia (2004-2005); Silk Road Group, as a Deputy Director General in Legal Affairs (2012-2016); International Finance Corporation (IFC), as a Legal Advisor in Investment Climate Project Georgia (2014-2016). In 2016-2020, George was a Member of Parliament of Georgia (member of Legal Issues Committee, Foreign Relations Committee and Committee on European Integration).