Conference Agenda

Overview and details of the sessions of this conference. Please select a date or location to show only sessions at that day or location. Please select a single session for detailed view (with abstracts and downloads if available).

Please note that all times are shown in the time zone of the conference. The current conference time is: 8th Oct 2025, 03:31:42pm IST

 
 
Session Overview
Date: Friday, 30/May/2025
9:00am
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9:30am		 Registration Day 2
Location: Reception Area
9:30am
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10:30am		 Keynote - Professor Ale Armellini: Beyond the myth of future-proofing: engaging students for uncertain futures
Location: Auditorium
Chair: Dr Eamon Costello, Dublin City University

Higher education is frequently challenged to "future-proof" its practices. Yet, the very concept may mislead institutions, educators and students. In this keynote, I argue that future-proofing is not only a fallacy but a distraction from our common goal: fostering and sustaining student engagement through active, resilient and creative pedagogic practices. Engagement, I propose, is best understood as a sustained cycle of initiative, purpose, action, reflection, responsiveness and resilience. Generative AI has made the future-proofing fallacy even more evident.


I will explore what "learning in a modern university" should feel like: a transformative process where students engage with complex problems and tools, take ownership of new ideas, critique and apply knowledge in diverse, inclusive environments. Whether synchronously or asynchronously, individually or collaboratively, on- or off-campus, learning must transcend content delivery and become a co-created, reflective journey - empowered by a new toolkit we did not imagine only a few years ago. 
10:30am
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11:00am		 Morning Coffee & Poster Session
Location: Atrium
 

AI for all: can AI-augmented learning improve employability outcomes for non-traditional pathway university students?

Bernie Burke


Unlocking Universal Design for Learning through the Power of the Podcast

Suzanne Stone
11:00am
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12:00pm		 Practitioner Papers, 11
Location: Room F01 'Tramore'
Chair: Dr Tom Farrelly, Munster Technological University
 
11:00am - 11:15am

Collaborative rollout of the National Forum UDL badge: Challenges and Opportunities

Nataliya Romanyatova, Suzanne Stone


11:15am - 11:30am

Enhancing Pharmacology and Bacteriology education for healthcare students through digital engagement: a Vevox-based approach

Zina Alfahl, John P. Kelly


11:30am - 11:45am

Enhancing Academic Engagement: CAT1 (crucial academic training) and student support teams

Blaithin Duggan, Patricia Flynn


11:45am - 12:00pm

Perspectives on Generative AI for the Higher Education Sector

Marian Murphy

 Practitioner Papers, 12
Location: Room F02 'Dunmore'
Chair: Damien Raftery, South East Technological University
 
11:00am - 11:15am

Enhancing digital literacies while planning RUN-EU blended programmes

Bernard Goldbach, Filipe Santos, Frances O'Donnell


11:15am - 11:30am

SmartAss - figuring our innovative assessment in HE

Zeta Dooly, Irene McCormick


11:30am - 11:45am

Generative AI and online quizzes: adapting an assessment strategy

Damien Raftery

 Practitioner Papers, 13
Location: Room F03 'Ardmore'
Chair: Conor O'Neill, SETU
 
11:00am - 11:15am

Yes, and…EdTech: using theatrical improv techniques to spark creative collaboration in the digital marketing classroom

Michelle Clancy


11:15am - 11:30am

(Engaging)Lesson (Engaged)Learner: Technology and Creativity in the Third-Level Language Classroom

Noeleen Dooley


11:30am - 11:45am

Introducing AI Assess

Thomas Aherne

 Practitioner Papers, 14
Location: Room F04 'Lismore'
Chair: Dr Gina Noonan, SETU
 
11:00am - 11:15am

Small sprints, big impact: Embedding agile in a team project module

Julie Power, Frances Sheridan, Dermot Bradfield


11:15am - 11:30am

Facing the challenges of AI through undergraduate research - an authentic and reliable tool for assessment

Therese Montgomery


11:30am - 11:45am

HELP- a multiformat study skills programme

Gina Noonan, Sue Meehan
12:15pm
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1:15pm		 “Arrival or Apocalypse?” Navigating the AI Moment in Education
Location: Auditorium
Chair: Ken McCarthy, South East Technological University

Generative AI has been described as an “arrival” technology—sudden, ubiquitous, and seemingly inevitable. But arrival for whom, and at what cost? In this provocative panel, we challenge the narrative of inevitability and examine the complexities of GenAI’s rapid integration into Irish higher education. Are we witnessing the dawn of a more equitable and innovative era—or a moment of unchecked disruption, distraction, and deprofessionalisation?

Drawing on a range of institutional, pedagogical, and policy perspectives, our panellists will explore how educators, technologists, and leaders are responding with agency, caution, creativity, and critique. Together, we will ask not only “Are we there yet?” but also “Where are we going—and do we want to go there?”

Join us to hear from four diverse voices grappling with what this “AI moment” means for the future of education: opportunity, overreach, or something more complex entirely?
1:15pm
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1:30pm		 Jennifer Burke Award
Location: Auditorium
Chair: Dr Alison Egan, MIE

The Jennifer Burke Award for Innovation in Teaching and Learning. This award celebrates unique or pioneering approaches to teaching and learning, novel in a specific discipline or context. Importantly, innovation doesn’t have to involve technology—it’s about innovative and effective examples that showcase how to enhance the learning experience.
1:30pm
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1:45pm		 Conference Close, Announcement of Venue for 2026
Location: Auditorium
Chair: Dr Eamon Costello, Dublin City University
1:45pm
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2:00pm		 Lunch - To Go
Location: Hot House Bistro