2025 Keynotes
Prof. Fatos Xhafa
Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (UPC), Spain
Editor in Chief: Elsevier Book Series "Intelligent Data Centric Systems"
Editor in Chief: Springer Book Series "Data Engineering and Communication Technologies"
Editor in Chief: Internet of Things; Engineering Cyber Physical Human Systems, Elsevier
Biography: Fatos Xhafa, PhD in Computer Science, is Full Professor at the Technical University of Catalonia (UPC), Barcelona, Spain. He has held various tenured and visiting professorship positions. He was a Visiting Professor at the University of Surrey, UK (2019/2020), Visiting Professor at the Birkbeck College, University of London, UK (2009/2010) and a Research Associate at Drexel University, Philadelphia, USA (2004/2005). Prof. Xhafa has widely published in peer reviewed international journals, conferences/workshops, book chapters, edited books and proceedings in the field (H-index 62). Prof. Xhafa has an extensive editorial service. He is founder and Editor-In-Chief of Internet of Things - Journal - Elsevier (Scopus and WoS Science) and of International Journal of Grid and Utility Computing, (Scopus and WoS Science). Prof. Xhafa is a member of the IEEE Communications Society, IEEE Systems, Man & Cybernetics Society and Founder Member of Emerging Technical Subcommittee of Internet of Things. His research interests include IoT and Cloud-to-thing continuum computing, massive data processing and collective intelligence, optimization, and machine learning, among others. Please visit http://www.cs.upc.edu/~fatos/ and http://dblp.uni-trier.de/pers/hd/x/Xhafa:Fatos.
Prof. Piet Kommers
University of Twente, The Netherlands
Biography: Dr Piet Kommers is an emeritus professor at the University of Twente in the Netherlands and a UNESCO professor of Learning Technologies. His research focuses on the conditions for mediated learning: collaborative, vicarious, web-based, AI- and VR-enabled. The foundation of Piet’s learning theories is the structure of knowledge and its conceptual nature as needed for problem solving and creative thinking. In the late 70ies, he explored the various rationales for adaptive hypertext. Students who tend to digress on the outskirts of episodic memorization tended to suffer from a typically weaker short-term memory and thus need a considerably longer time-on-task. However, they developed a much more interconnected semantic memory in the long run and became better problem solvers. The students who accept the linear-prescribed order of information showed a better short-term memory and learned quicker, however suffered from a more brittle long-term memory. Similar patterns were seen in the fields of 3D spatial learning games, such as surgical training and group heterogeneity in collaborative learning tasks. One deficiency in learning modality causes secondary effects that help the learner survive the more complex task performance in real life. This lecture will bring you to the ideational question of learning optimization: what instructional and curricular measures are plausible interventions that are likely candidates for a better learning condition? The recent book ’Sources for a better Education’ has recently been published and surpassed the expectations worldwide.
Speech Title: A.I.: The Need for Conceptual Thinking in Education
His lecture addresses the challenge of upgrading criteria for new student assessment procedures, as artificial intelligence now provides the most up-to-date understanding and application of human expertise.
•What new didactic measures are needed to encourage students to reconcile new with prior knowledge?
•How to fully exploit STEAM (the thematic integration among curricular pillars like Science, Technology, Engineering, Art and Mathematics)?
•What future facilities for teachers and learners are needed in Open A.I. to stimulate intuition and imagination?
•Demystify ‘Conceptual Thinking’ to let students work together in creative problem-solving.
•How to instigate ‘critical thinking’ to make students resilient towards fake news?
•‘Existential awareness’ and ‘learning by heart’; how to arrange Problem-Based Learning for social-cognitive development?
Prof. Demetrios Sampson
University of Piraeus, Greece
Biography: Demetrios Sampson is a Professor of Digital Systems for Learning and Education at the Department of Digital Systems, School of Information and Communication Technologies, University of Piraeus, Greece (since 2003), Director of the Master of Science (MSc) Program on Digital Learning, and Director of Research Laboratory Digital Systems in Learning and Education. Previously, he was a Professor of Learning Technologies & Director of Research at the School of Education, Humanities Faculty, Curtin University, Australia (2015-2017) and a Senior Researcher at the Information Technologies Institute of the Centre of Research and Technology – Hellas Greece (2000-2003).
His research in Learning Technologies and Digital Education has recognized significant global impact, as he is included in the list of the World’s Top 2% of Scientists in their fields according to the latest Stanford ranking based on Scopus data.