IVETA co-organised a learning festival called “Futureland” during March 6-7, 2023 with Warnborough College Ireland at Trinity College Dublin, Ireland. The event was supported by Failté Ireland and MeetinIreland, and was part-funded by the Erasmus+ projects of Adaptive Expertise and INCLUSION2.
The overarching theme was to discuss the future of education and learning, especially after the challenges experienced by educators and students during the COVID-19 pandemic. What can educators do to better prepare themselves to support learning? Among the other key themes covered were inclusion and sustainability in schools.
Over two days, many speakers from around the world came and shared their expertise and ideas. Regent House was the venue for the first day of the festival. IVETA president, Dr Julian Ng, welcomed everyone before laying out some contexts for the conference and discussions. Andrew Brownlee, the CEO of SOLAS Ireland, spoke about the Irish drive to transform TVET in the country and echoed many of the challenges TVET professionals face around the world.
Qualifications and how they are transforming the world of education was the topic of Dr Cloud Bai-Yun, the head of ENIC-NARIC. The Skillman Alliance’s CEO, Dr Giovanni Crisoná, demonstrated a forward-looking (and digital) way of ensuring credential transferability. Skillman is an IVETA partner. Following this, Dr Urs Hauenstein challenged us all to transform our teaching for sustainable learning.
Dr Frank de Jong of Aeres University (Netherlands) and Rik Vanderhauwaert of DHOS Brugge (Belgium) both broached the concept of professional learning communities and using these to co-create knowledge. IVETA Journal editor Dr Julie Furst-Bowe presented case studies about Hyflex Teaching and Learning, while other notable speakers included Gigi Pontejos-Morris (Philippines) who talked about family farm schools as a sustainable form of education in rural areas, Dr Andrea Laczik and Kat Emms who presented research on how online learning could help students, Paul Higgins who shared a ‘recipe’ for successful learning, and Ronan Haughey who described some of the megatrends and skills in Ireland.
Day 1 culminated in a Gala Dinner in the spectacular 400-year old Dining Hall where nominees and winners for the Women Educational Leaders awards were announced, with trophies being given out. IVETA Immediate Past-President, Dr John Gaal, and former IJVET editor, Dr Luke Steinke, received awards of appreciation. Networking continued throughout dinner and a celebratory time was had by all.
Day 2 switched to Emmet Theatre, with two side classrooms being used for workshops. Antonio Fernandez Perez demonstrated how Augmented Reality can be used to train potentially dangerous and expensive skills. IVETA Vice-President for East Europe and Central Asia, Rumyana Shalamanova, stressed the importance of good guidance counselling at a young age, while Kirsten Cuppen demonstrated why she is Dutch Teacher of the Year with a masterclass on developing talent.
Markus Feichter talked about enhancing education using a green and social approach, while Dr Simona Brickers and Dr Pamela Hatton talked about the senses in education. Dr Souha Akiki of France questioned if artificial intelligence was a boon or threat to education, while Sergio Gonzalez shared how the Spanish government is encouraging entrepreneurship as an antidote to unemployment.
Eight workshops were run on topics such as adaptive expertise, formative assessment, learning leadership, instructional design, and mental health resilience in the classroom.
As the feedback has proven, Futureland was a great success. We look forward to running another European regional event next year under the Futureland banner.
Last but not least, we would like to extend our gratitude and thanks to Pamela, Olga, Tanya, Brenden and Linda for their immense work and support getting Futureland ready. Thank you also to the IVETA Executive Committee and members who supported the event: Dr John Gaal, Dr Julie Furst-Bowe, Dr Luke Steinke, Dr Urs Hauenstein, and Rumyana Shalamanova. Some photographs are the copyright of Markus Mari Feichter, and used with thanks. All other photos are copyright of Warnborough College Ireland.
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