Marco Kalz is full professor of educational technology and Chief Information Officer at the Heidelberg University of Education. His research—positioned at the intersection of educational science, computer science and psychology—focuses on open education, pervasive technologies and formative assessment to foster lifelong learning and knowledge construction, addressing global societal challenges such as energy conservation, marine litter reduction, resuscitation support and cancer education. Marco has authored more than 150 peer-reviewed publications, and delivered over 60 keynote speeches worldwide. He serves as Associate Editor of the International Journal of Artificial Intelligence in Education and is editorial board member of the Journal of Computing in Higher Education. His advisory work spans European and global organisations, including the International Labour Organization, the United Nations Environment Programme, the European Commission and UNESCO, supporting educational innovation and digital transformation initiatives. Keynote Topic: Upskilling, Deskilling and Skillflation. A critical reflection on the AI skills discourse and implications for VET education

Prof. Dr. Marco Kalz

Karsten D. Wolf is a full Professor of ‚Media Education – Didactic Design of Multimedia Learning Environments‘ at Faculty 12 Educational Sciences at the University of Bremen. He heads the ‚Media & Education‘ lab at the Centre for Media, Communication and Information Research (http://zemki.uni-bremen.de/lab-medien-und-bildung/). From 2005 to 2011, he held a junior professorship for the research area of the same name at the University of Bremen and was previously a research assistant in the Business Education group at University of Bamberg and in the Vocation Education and Training group at University of Gießen. He completed his doctorate in educational sciences on the subject of „Design and Implementation of an Internet-based Learning Environment to Support Self-Organized Learning“. In current research projects, his group is working on the use of multimodal AI to generate highly informative feedback (e.g., in ePortfolios), on AI appropriation at schools, on analyzing audiovisual learning cultures on YouTube, TikTok & Co., on digital diagnostics in vocational basic education, and on learning processes in gaming communities.

Prof. Dr. Karsten D. Wolf

Andreas Breiter has been Professor of Applied Computer Science at Faculty 3 (Mathematics and Computer Science) at the University of Bremen since July 2008. He heads the ‚Socio-technical systems and critical data studies‘ lab at the Centre for Media, Communication and Information Research (https://zemki.uni-bremen.de/en/lab-soziotechnische-systeme-und-kritische-datenstudien/lab-socio-technical-systems-and-critical-data-studies/). He is also head of the Institute for Information Management Bremen GmbH, a non-profit research and consulting institute at the University of Bremen funded by the state of Bremen. From 2004 to 2008, he held a junior professorship for the research area of the same name at the University of Bremen and was previously a research assistant in the Telecommunications Research Group at the University of Bremen for four years. In 2002, he was a visiting scholar at Columbia University in New York and at the Center for Children and Technology. After studying sociology, computer science and law at the J.W.-Goethe University in Frankfurt am Main and at the University of Southhampton, he was a research assistant at the Fraunhofer Institute for Systems and Innovation Research in Karlsruhe (1995-1997). He then moved to the University of Bremen as a research assistant (1997-2000) and completed his doctorate in applied computer science on the subject of “IT management in schools”. His main research interests are datafication and digital transformation of educational institutions (media skills, e-learning, AI support, organizational development); IT governance, information security management, and IT service management; as well as user-centric information infrastructures. Keynote Topic Karsten D. Wolf & Andreas Breiter: Fostering Deep Learning Through Formative Feedback with AI: Toward a Learning Dialogue in VET

Prof. Dr. Andreas Breiter

AI Pioneers Project

The AI-Pioneers Project – a cross-sector Ersamus + project – under the Partnership for Innovation promote the use and teaching of artificial intelligence (AI) in adult and vocational education and traing (VET).

The project is being funded as part of the ‘Future Project’ funding priority „Forward-looking-project“. The main aim of the AI-Pioneers Project is to establish an European-wide Network of AI Pioneers in vocational and adult education.

A total of 10 project partners from the 7 different European countries Germany, Greece, Portugal, Italy, Spain, Estonia and Cyprus are involved.