On 5 and 6 November 2024, a conference on Challenges in Transforming Education and Enhancing the Future of Education in the Gulf Countries, organized by the Gulf Arab States Educational Research Center, was held in Kuwait.

The conference, for the fourth time, gathered representatives and researchers from a number of education-related institutions in the Gulf countries, as well as several international experts and researchers. It provided an important opportunity to discuss and exchange experiences related to the most pressing issues in contemporary education, like ensuring equity, using AI to our advantage, and streamlining investment.

On the first day of the conference, Professor Blaženka Divjak took part in a round table discussion on challenges of transforming education and enhancing the future of education in the Gulf countries. She stressed the importance of equal opportunities in education and pointed out the significance of understanding AI in order to be able to use it to our benefit.

On the second day, Professor Divjak held an inspiring keynote speech entitled Reimagining Education: What is the Role of Humans in the Era of AI? In the very well-accepted speech, important questions were posed and discussed, like: Where is the human-only territory? What skills and competences do we need to foster in the AI-era? What values are essential? How do we approach assessment in the new context, shaped by the influence of AI?

The conference was also an opportunity to present the work of the Learning Analytics Laboratory and the ongoing iLed and TRUELA projects. In particular, the research and development work related to the Balanced Design Planning tool (learning-design.eu) was presented in a research poster in the exhibition part of the conference.