Mondragon University addresses the challenges and opportunities of digital education in a conference at Bilbao AS Fabrik
Mondragon University addresses the challenges and opportunities of digital education in a conference at Bilbao AS Fabrik
Mondragon University addresses the challenges and opportunities of digital education in a conference at Bilbao AS Fabrik
Mondragon University Faculty of Humanities and Education Sciences professor and researcher Amaia Arroyo Sagasta, and National University of Distance Education (Universidad Nacional de Educación a Distancia, UNED) professor and expert researcher in the field Cristina Sánchez Romero took part in the conference.
More and more details are coming to light regarding the relationship between education and digital technology. Often, the focus is on the risks and adverse consequences of this relationship, but there are also opportunities that cannot be overlooked. For these reasons, the Faculty of Humanities and Education Sciences of Mondragon University held a conference on May 17 entitled Digital education: opportunity and challenges at Bilbao AS Fabrik with the aim of reflecting constructively and focusing on the opportunities and challenges that digitalization brings to education. The event was led by Mondragon University professor and researcher Amaia Arroyo Sagasta, together with National University of Distance Education (Universidad Nacional de Educación a Distancia, UNED) professor and expert researcher in the field Cristina Sánchez Romero. Among other issues, they stressed that focusing on the problems and risks of digital technologies can lead us to create dark discourses, and Arroyo added that “it is better to offer networks and examples of good practices in the use of technology so that students and children can see what opportunities they offer.”
The National University of Distance Education (UNED) is heading a project called CIBERPROXY that focuses on the prevention of bullying through the metaverse. This does not mean using digital technologies and the metaverse to detect bullying, but rather working on prevention and being able to raise awareness among students through immersive experiences. We know that young people use digital channels that are more linked to experiences like video games, experiences in the digital world that allow them to experiment and learn in a different way. The project, funded by the Spanish Government’s Research Agency and led by Cristina Sánchez Romero as primary researcher, aims to take advantage of these experiences to promote the prevention of this problem, addressing it from a standpoint closer to the population that suffers it the most. “We are designing an immersive experience through gamified educational strategies so that people can become aware of the manifestations of harassment and cyberbullying, so that they can they work on the topic in the classroom based on that modeling,” explains Sánchez. Mondragon University is taking part in this project, specifically through the KoLaborategia laboratory of the Faculty of Humanities and Education Sciences, with Amaia Arroyo Sagasta as a researcher in the work group.
In this maelstrom that we experience regarding the digitalization of education (in the new curriculum, digital competence is a basic competence; the digital competence of teachers must be accredited, etc.), the environment of digital technologies evolves very rapidly and permanently. Changes driven by digitalization have no turning back and it is necessary to look to the future with critical optimism, that is, to be familiar with and take advantage of the opportunities that digital technology brings to education, while remaining aware of the risks.