The Second Arab International Conference on AI in Education
From October 29th to 30th, 2024, the Second Arab International Conference on Artificial Intelligence in Education was successfully held by the Arab League Educational, Cultural, and Scientific Organization (ALECSO) at its headquarters in Tunisia, with UNESCO-ICHEI serving as a co-organizer, both online and offline. Key participants included Professor Mohamed Ould Amar, Director-General of ALECSO; Professor Mohamed Jemni, Director of the ICT Department at ALECSO; Professor Bellamine Bensaoud Narjès and Professor Azedine Zagrouba, representatives from Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research of Tunisia; Professor Sherif Keshk, advisor to the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research of Egypt; and Professor Ayman Ghoneim, Deputy Secretary-General of the Arab Digital Economy Union from the UAE, among other global representatives from UNESCO, business, higher education institutions, and top scholars from the educational sector.
Mr. XU Yifan, the Course Product Manager of the UNESCO-ICHEI, was invited to Tunisia to participate in this conference and deliver a keynote speech. He primarily shared the latest progress of the UNESCO-ICHEI and the International Institute of Online Education (IIOE) in promoting the digital transformation of higher education in the generative artificial intelligence era.
The theme of the conference was “Genrative Artificial Intelligence and Large Language Models (LLMs),” showcasing the latest advancements in generative AI and LLMs in the technological sector. The conference also highlighted and analyzed the major successes of AI applications in education within the Arab region and internationally, providing a platform for experts, scholars, and educational policymakers to discuss and exchange ideas. Furthermore, it explored the ethical challenges and opportunities of using generative AI in educational applications.
Professor Mohamed Jemni, Director of the ICT Department at ALECSO
ALECSO has initiated several projects including “AI in Education” and the “Arab Open Educational Resources Platform,” aimed at providing students and teachers with free comprehensive educational content. The conference also announced the “Skills for Innovation” project, a collaboration with Intel, the Millennium Foundation for Sustainable Education, and Classera Smart Learning Company. This project aims to equip Arab youth with the innovative skills required in the digital era, integrating 21st-century skills into the educational system through technological educational solutions.
Discussions at the conference also covered the latest developments in AI, particularly generative AI and LLMs, exploring their future impact on education in the Arab region and their broad applications in automated text generation, writing assistance, translation, and interactive dialogue systems.
Mr. XU Yifan, Course Product Manager at the IIOE Management Centre
In his keynote speech on October 30th, Mr. XU Yifan, the Course Product Manager of the UNESCO-ICHEI, thoroughly introduced the IIOE Micro-Certification Project for Higher Education Workforce Digital Competency Building, IIOE “1+X” Generative AI course series, Smart Classroom Project, the upcoming high-level policy dialogue in Africa in December, as well as the UNESCO-ICHEI’s practical experiences in higher education, AI, and digital transformation. He invited experts and professors from Arab-speaking countries and organizations to join in building cooperative projects with the UNESCO-ICHEI to further advance collaborations in AI and education. Moving ahead, UNESCO-ICHEI plans to launch a series of digital teaching and generative AI courses in Arabic and French to improve the AI competencies of higher education workforce in the Arab region.
The Arab League Educational, Cultural, and Scientific Organization (ALECSO), established in 1970 with its headquarters in Tunisia, is a specialized agency of the League of Arab States. Its primary mission is to promote intellectual unity in the Arab world through education, culture, and science and to enhance the overall levels in these fields, enabling the region to contribute positively to global civilization. ALECSO’s core objectives include enhancing the human resource levels in the Arab region, promoting development in education, culture, science, environment, and communication, promoting the Arabic language and culture, and strengthening dialogues and communication with other global cultures. ALECSO operates through various affiliated bodies across Arab countries, covering areas such as Arabization, translation, and scientific research, aiming to enhance the global competitiveness of Arab nations through cultural and educational cooperation and coordination. The partnership between the UNESCO-ICHEI and ALECSO began in 2022, with an official memorandum of understanding signed in January 2023. The two sides have achieved positive outcomes in several key areas, including the Arabic Micro-Course Competition and the Joint Research on Digital Transformation of Higher Education Teaching in the Arab Region, aiming to advance the digital transformation of higher education in the Arab region, and improve the quality and equity of education. |
