The need for critical responses to AI within and by Higher Education
Channel: e/merge Africa
Date: 2024-04-08

This webinar that delves deep into the transformative impact of AI on higher education. In an era where AI, including advanced language models like OpenAI’s ChatGPT, can swiftly produce assessments, sparking questions about the future of universities, our panel of experts will explore this crucial intersection. The first set of speakers, Neil Kramm and Associate Professor Mags Blackie, will discuss how AI challenges conventional views of higher education and assessment, urging us to rethink its purpose beyond mere credentialing. Meanwhile, Dr. Nicola Pallitt and Sioux McKenna will examine universities’ role in shaping the societal implications of AI and the necessity of fostering critical AI literacy among students. Join us to engage in thought-provoking discussions on the evolving relationship between AI and higher education, from assessment practices to broader societal impact, as we collectively navigate this AI-infused educational landscape.

Panellists:  


Professor Sioux McKenna is the Director of the Centre for Postgraduate Studies at Rhodes University where she also manages a nationally funded PhD programme and a number of internationally funded projects. Her interest in postgraduate studies includes a concern with how nations build postgraduate numbers with retention and throughput.
Mags Blackie is an associate professor in the Centre for Higher Education Research, Teaching and Learning. She holds a PhD in chemistry from the University of Cape Town and a PhD in education from Stellenbosch University. Her main research interest is in tertiary science education.
Dr Nicola Pallitt supports academics to use technologies effectively for teaching and learning. She supervises postgraduate students and co-teaches on formal courses and professional development offerings in Higher Education. She values contextual and culturally responsive approaches to learning design and educational technology usage. 
She seeks to expand critical perspectives on educational technologies in Higher Education.
Neil Kramm is part of the EdTech team in the Centre of Higher Education Research, Teaching and Learning (CHERTL) at Rhodes University and has been working with educational technology since 2015 in a teaching and development function that served both students and academic staff. Neil is a researcher on educational technology focusing on Artificial Intelligence in higher education, assessment and research working on a PhD in AI and how it will change assessment in Higher Education.