In order to address the impact of technology on higher education from a humanistic perspective, the Directorate of Educational Innovation of the Universidad Austral He organized a technology and innovation day last Thursday, August 24th.
During the meeting, a panel discussion was held with the participation of Santiago Cardarelli, a computer engineer who works as Delivery Center Data & AI Manager at Google; Ricardo Crespo, member of the National Academy of Economic Sciences; and Fernando Toller, director of the Law program at the Universidad Austral, and Santiago Bellomo, Dean of the School of Education.
The purpose of this meeting was to analyze how artificial intelligence is reshaping education in an environment characterized by constant change and challenges. During the day, professors from all academic units of Austral University gathered to reflect on and discuss this vital issue.
Florencia Moore, Director of Innovation and Academic Planning, reflected on the implementation of Artificial Intelligence in classrooms and highlighted that “it would be interesting to prioritize the meaning and purpose of its implementation so that it is conceived as a means to enhance teaching methods, plan activities/work assignments, develop support and/or study materials for students, create interactive educational materials, provide more personalized and timely feedback, among other possibilities.”
At the same time, he stressed that "it is very important to identify both the potential and the limitations that come with the incorporation of this type of emerging technology, as well as an explanation and exchange with the students regarding the reason for its incorporation and their expectations of use both inside and outside the classroom."
In the "Educational Experiences with AI" space, the teachers who participated were: Mariángeles Castro Sánchez, Bruno Ezequiel Zapico, Marcela Verzero and Lucas Petralli.
Bruno Zapico, a finance professor at the Faculty of Business Sciences, was surprised to see how each professor used creativity to implement AI. “I’m motivated by the cases and uses we shared. I observed many points of view on the technology, all with different opinions, always positive, and I believe that leveraging technology is key.” He added, “Everyone has a creative touch, and today we’re one step closer to moving forward.”
This meeting shed light on how artificial intelligence is impacting and transforming higher education. As technology continues to advance, it is clear that the educational community is committed to embracing these advancements ethically and thoughtfully to benefit students and society as a whole.
The closing remarks of the meeting were delivered by Julián Rodríguez, rector of the Universidad Australwho highlighted the importance of academic research at our university because “as long as we dedicate ourselves to research, no one will replace us,” referring to AI. Furthermore, he encouraged those present to explore new possibilities, given that “the Universidad Austral She has always been known for being innovative and entrepreneurial, and I know that she continues to be so.”
The Austral and AI
In Universidad Austral There is a fairly diverse landscape regarding its incorporation into teaching, research, and knowledge transfer functions. “While the cases are still few, there are professors who have already experimented with and implemented this technology and have incorporated some of its tools—primarily those offered by GPT Chat—for various actions: reorganizing and/or improving the syllabus of their subject, planning classes, developing a study guide as supplementary material for their classes, creating an interface to embed in Moodle, enriching and improving a presentation (as a replacement for the plain PPT), designing a BOT as a digital tutor, among other work instances that we were able to identify recently,” Moore explained.
However, this paradigm shift will require the university to continuously reflect on and provide training on the use of AI through workshops and training sessions for our professors.
