by Selin Tagmat, All Digital.
In the ever-evolving landscape of Higher Education (HE), the integration of Artificial Intelligence (AI) stands as a transformative force, offering immense potential to enhance learning, teaching, and institutional operations. Academics and researchers can benefit from AI-based tools in their professional (i.e., communication, collaboration, engagement, reflection, lifelong learning) and pedagogical (i.e., teaching, learning, assessment) practices.
On the other hand, HE institutions need to prepare their students to be a part of the workforce that requires new skills every day, including AI. Besides the technical knowledge on how to use AI tools, HE students need to be equipped with AI literacy skills to become critical, productive, and ethical users of AI.
At the forefront of this digital revolution is the INFINITE project, a pioneering initiative aimed at addressing the digital transformation imperative within the HE sector. Through the development of digital readiness, resilience, and capacity, INFINITE seeks to equip academics and students alike with the skills and knowledge needed to navigate and leverage AI effectively in today’s world.
INFINITE – artificial intelligence for professional and pedagogical practices in Higher Education is a 30-month Erasmus+ funded project that was launched in December 2023 with the participation of University of Groningen (The Netherlands), University of Nicosia (Cyprus), University College Dublin (Ireland), University of the Aegean (Greece), ALL DIGITAL (Belgium) and CARDET (Cyprus).
The project aims to empower the HE community by preparing academics to use AI for innovative teaching and assessment, by promoting students’ understanding of the interdisciplinary nature and implications of this emerging technology and supporting students to leverage AI for their learning.
Digital transformation in HE is not merely about adopting new technologies. It is also about empowering individuals to harness the full potential of AI for both professional and pedagogical practices:
INFINITE will offer plenty of resources for HE academics to integrate AI tools into their professional and pedagogical practice with ethical responsibility, honesty, and integrity: AI Literacy Toolkit (with best practices and guidelines such as AI-readiness checklist and a framework for HE academics to properly select AI-based tools for professional and pedagogical practice), as well as an AI Digital Hub (an all-in-one digital learning space). These resources will serve as foundational pillars for enhancing the digital capabilities of HE academics, enabling them to seamlessly integrate AI-based tools into their teaching, learning, and research endeavors.
Central to the INFINITE project is the cultivation of AI literacy among HE stakeholders: Through targeted capacity-building efforts, academics will be equipped with the skills to utilize AI for communication, collaboration, lifelong learning, and ethical decision-making.
Moreover, the project extends its impact to HE students, providing them with a specialized course on leveraging AI for their own learning journey. By nurturing a generation of AI-literate individuals, INFINITE contributes to reducing the skills gap and preparing students for the demands of an AI-driven workforce and society.
By building capacity and digital resilience of HE staff and students, the INFINITE project aims to create a domino effect for the digital transformation of the HE sector and increase the employability of HE graduates.
Interested in the use of AI in HE and would like to stay in touch with INFINITE for future news, activities and capacity building opportunities for HE staff, students and other stakeholders? We invite you to subscribe to the INFINITE newsletter here and follow the project on LinkedIn, Instagram and Twitter!
Author
Selin Tagmat, Senior Project Communications Officer at All Digital.
