Empower AI Project Meeting Held at the University of Tartu to Develop AI Training Materials for Educators

Tartu, Estonia – The Empower AI project held a productive two-day meeting at the University of Tartu on November 25-26, 2024, bringing together partners from the University of Tartu, Tampere University, the University of Turku, and Kaunas University of Technology. The meeting focused on advancing the creation of study materials to support educators in integrating artificial intelligence (AI) into their teaching practices.

The event began with an overview of current AI practices in teaching and learning, followed by short presentations and a panel discussion featuring project members. This was followed by an introduction to the Empower AI consortium and a co-design workshop led by Anna Beitane, Manager of Online Learning and Continuing Education Projects, and Yurii Kondratyk, Project Manager for Digital Skills.

As noted by Anna Beitane:
“We were thrilled to host our Empower AI partners in Tartu, where we discussed enhancing AI literacy for teaching staff. The workshop provided a valuable opportunity to explore practical AI applications in social sciences and humanities education, and we were honored to hear from Jaan Aru about the transformative potential of AI.”

The second day focused on collaborative brainstorming sessions, where participants identified the needs of teaching staff in adopting AI, outlined learning outcomes for the training materials, and worked on drafting a concept note for the development of study resources.

The meeting concluded with a wrap-up session, highlighting key takeaways and outlining the next steps for the project.

The Empower AI project continues its work toward creating high-quality educational resources that help educators leverage AI to enhance teaching and learning. We sincerely thank the Nordplus Programme for funding the project and supporting the ongoing efforts of our consortium.