Paula MacDowell
Assistant Professor in the Department of Curriculum Studies at the University of Saskatchewan (Canada), widely recognized for her leadership in educational technology and design. Her research explores how people learn and teach with technology across the lifespan, with a particular focus on AI, XR, and digital games.
Dr. MacDowell’s professional interests center on designing innovative, evidence-informed pedagogies that integrate authentic learning, student agency, and creative expression to deepen engagement and foster meaningful educational experiences. Her excellence in research and teaching has been recognized through multiple awards for outstanding publications and proceedings. Her open-access books on AI and Instructional Design (co-authored with students) have received international recognition for advancing digital literacy and promoting values-aligned uses of emerging technologies. She serves on the Immersive Learning Research Network (iLRN) Board of Directors as Director of Immersive Practice and co-chairs the Immersive Learning Education and Design (iLEAD) stream at the annual iLRN conference.
Trustworthy AI in Education: Aligning Values, Pedagogy, and Innovation
Relentless developments in AI have transformed the traditional instructor–student relationship into an instructor–AI–student dynamic. This shift raises a critical question: How do we align AI systems with human values, educational priorities, student needs, and ethical intentions? As AI becomes an ambient presence in society, educators and institutions must adapt to new technologies while reimagining how we learn, teach, assess, and prepare students for participation in an AI-enabled world. The challenge is clear: How do we deepen student thinking without outsourcing it to machines?
This keynote gets real about what it takes to advance trustworthy AI in education. It highlights creative and responsible ways to integrate emerging and converging technologies (e.g., AI, XR, and game tech) to enrich learning while strengthening the human connections and values that define great teaching. Technology is not inherently trustworthy, nor is it naturally in service of humanity or societal well-being. Its impact on education will be decided by our learning design, our leadership, and our shared vision for the future.
Konstantinos Katsiapis
Konstantinos (Gus) is a senior accountable lead for the Waymo Foundation Model, and focuses on data, infrastructure and evaluations. He also founded and runs Waymo’s engineering education in areas of software engineering, large scale data engineering and machine learning (ML) engineering.
Before joining Waymo he spent more than a decade working in applied ML at Google. He was introduced to ML infrastructure as an avid user of it while leading Mobile Display Ads Quality. He then transitioned to helping build Sibyl, and later serving as the über tech lead of its successor, TensorFlow Extended (TFX). These were Google’s most widely used end-to-end ML platforms at the time.
Prior to Google, Gus gathered knowledge and experience at Amazon, Calian, Ontario Ministry of Finance, Independent Electricity System Operator, and Computron.
Gus earned a master’s degree in computer science with a specialization in artificial intelligence from Stanford University. He also earned a bachelor’s degree in mathematics, majoring in computer science and minoring in economics, from the University of Waterloo.
Transportation Autonomy with Waymo: A Look Behind the Scenes
Waymo is on a mission to be the world’s most trusted driver. Making it safer, more accessible, and more sustainable to get around — without the need for anyone in the driver’s seat. Waymo operates its service of autonomous vehicles across several major cities in the U.S, and is also testing internationally.
In this talk we will get a glimpse of the positive impact of Waymo’s operation on transporatation safety and accessibiltiy. We will also take a quick tour of how Waymo tackles the problem of solving transportation autonomy, and the education program it uses for its engineering workforce to help it achieve that.
Daphne Economou
Senior Lecturer in Computer Science at the University of Westminster (UK), with over 25 years of experience in higher education. A Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy and recipient of the 2019 Westminster Learning & Teaching Excellence Award, her work focuses on user experience (UX), human–computer interaction, immersive learning, and serious games.
Dr. Economou’s professional interests centre on the design of gamified and immersive learning experiences that enhance engagement, motivation, and inclusion across education, health, and cultural heritage. She leads the Serious Games at Westminster (SG@W) Research Group, where she collaborates on interdisciplinary projects that combine user-centred design, emerging technologies, and rigorous evaluation.
Her contributions span over 100 peer-reviewed publications, invited talks, and editorial work, including Associate Editor roles for special issues in Frontiers in Digital Health, the Journal of Universal Computer Science, Personal and Ubiquitous Computing, and Computers and Education: X Reality. She serves on the Immersive Learning Research Network (iLRN) Board of Directors and on the Executive Board of the IEEE Technical Committee on Immersive Learning (TC-ILE), where she helps shape the global agenda for immersive learning research and practice.
Advancing Interactive & Immersive Learning Media in Higher Education: Insights from a Systematic Expert Review
Interactive and immersive learning media are reshaping higher education, redefining how we design learning and how students engage with knowledge. As XR, enhanced simulations, and generative AI rapidly converge, one question becomes urgent: How do we ensure these technologies deepen learning rather than simply amplify novelty?
Experts across disciplines identified enhanced simulations as a major catalyst for change. High-fidelity realism, multi-sensory immersion, and dynamic interactivity create powerful experiential learning opportunities, while generative AI enables real-time scenario creation, personalised pathways, and adaptive complexity for safe, high-stakes practice. Real-time feedback, analytics, and collaborative XR environments were also highlighted as crucial for strengthening reflection, communication, and global teamwork.
At the same time, the review underscores persistent challenges: infrastructure gaps, ethical concerns around AI and data, limited staff readiness, and the need for inclusive design.
At a time when higher education is redefining its digital future, this talk offers timely, evidence-based insights that speak directly to TECH-EDU’s mission: guiding institutions toward immersive learning innovations that are both pedagogically meaningful and technologically responsible — right now, when the choices we make will shape the next decade of educational transformation.
Fostering teachers’ digital competencies in Greece. Initiatives, frameworks, tools and case studies
The rapid digital transformation of education has increased the demand for educators with robust and continuously evolving digital competences, as schools expand digital infrastructures, adopt innovative pedagogical approaches, and respond to changing technological and societal conditions. This presentation examines the current landscape of fostering teachers’ digital competences in Greece. It first outlines the key digital competence frameworks, particularly the European DigCompEdu, and considers their relevance and adaptation to the Greek educational context. It then reviews major national initiatives, including large-scale professional development programmes, policy-driven digital transformation strategies, and targeted actions supporting educators’ engagement with technology-enhanced teaching and learning. Special attention is given to MOOCs as a widely used mechanism for teacher development.
Drawing on international research and Greek experiences, the presentation explores how MOOCs can contribute to the technological, pedagogical, and social dimensions of teachers’ digital competence development, highlighting both their potential and challenges for their meaningful integration into national training systems. By synthesising these elements, the presentation aims to offer a comprehensive perspective on Greece’s evolving digital education landscape and propose key directions for future professional development policies.