Kingston University recently hosted a landmark international conference aimed at equipping teachers from Kingston and the Republic of Korea with the skills to integrate artificial intelligence (AI) into their classrooms.

 Running for its second successful year, the event brought together educators from the Royal Borough of Kingston and the Daejeon Metropolitan Office of Education (DMOE) in the Republic of Korea.

Led by Dr Pushpa Kumarapeli, School Director of Learning and Teaching in Kingston's School of Computer Science and Mathematics, the conference featured a mix of lectures, workshops, and collaborative labs.

The programme also drew on the expertise of several other specialists from the School. Sessions explored AI literacy, cognitive science aspects, the pedagogical dimension, ethical considerations, lesson design, and the use of tools like Teachable Machines, which allows users to train a simple machine learning model without coding.

Highlights included a panel discussion on generative AI's opportunities and risks, a Critical Thinking Sprint to reimagine lessons with AI, and co-design activities where teachers developed an AI literacy toolkit.

The agenda also addressed cybersecurity in education and responsible AI use, ensuring participants gained a well-rounded understanding of both the potential and challenges of adopting AI into their teaching.

The conference was led by Dr Pushpa Kumarapeli, School Director of Learning and Teaching in Kingston's School of Computer Science and Mathematics (Image supplied)

The initiative, launched in 2024, stems from a Memorandum of Understanding between Kingston University and DMOE.

It was developed under the guidance of Provost Professor Amir Alani, with university-level coordination by Professor Jean-Christophe Nebel, and faculty-level support from Dr Damian Chapman (Deputy Dean of the Faculty of Engineering, Computing and the Environment).

It is further supported by multiple Knowledge Exchange, Innovation, and research teams across the University.

Teachers from local schools joined their Republic of Korea counterparts to explore how AI can enhance learning outcomes while preserving the human touch in education.

The international collaboration also included visits to UK schools, allowing the delegation to see the local education system in action.

Dr Kumarapeli said further conferences are planned for next year.

He added: "The conference supports teachers to understand the potential and limitations of AI and to develop their AI literacy skills in a wisdom-oriented and student-centred manner.

"A novel framework developed to facilitate the topic, L-CAP (Learning, AI, Cognition, Pedagogy), was explored during these sessions. Every teacher left the conference confident in mindfully and knowledgably exploring the integration of AI into their learning and teaching.

"We're planning to host further conferences next year for teachers from Daejon as well as Kingston. The event marks a significant step forward in the ongoing partnership, promising future innovation and shared learning."