The opening ceremony of the 4th International Education Conference, “Building Futures: Education in the Face of Global Challenges,” organized by the UIS School of Education, was successfully held. During the opening ceremony, Professor Olga Mercedes Álvarez Ojeda, Vice Rector for Academic Affairs, highlighted this congress as a valuable opportunity to transform realities and envision, through education, the construction of a better world. In her remarks, she recognized education as one of the noblest endeavors a society can embrace, capable of inspiring profound and sustainable change.
Likewise, Professor José Manuel Franco Serrano, director of the School of Education, emphasized the importance of creating these academic spaces to reflect on the contemporary challenges of education and its role in social transformation.
The conference centered on five thematic areas: technology and artificial intelligence (AI) in education, citizenship education, teacher training, health education, and climate and sustainable education. In a global context marked by profound transformations and multiple crises, this gathering provided a forum for analyzing the fundamental role of education in building a more equitable and sustainable future.
“The use of artificial intelligence in education is one of the central themes of the conference. We must learn to use AI in an ethical and pedagogically sound manner. Hence the importance of teacher training; educators must take the lead in guiding the use of these tools, which are now part of our lives and cannot be ignored,” said José Manuel Franco Serrano, director of the School of Education and conference coordinator.
The event brought together researchers, professors, and students with the aim of exchanging experiences and best educational practices, strengthening knowledge networks, and promoting innovative strategies to address global challenges, establishing itself as an academic forum that fostered dialogue, research, and professional development in a constantly changing world.
“We will participate in the conference through various presentations. The themes of this event caught our attention because of the topics to be discussed and the insights that can be gained regarding teaching,” commented Efraín Muñoz, professor at the National University of Loja, Ecuador.
As part of the conference, Keynote Lecture 1, titled “Training Teachers for an Uncertain Future: Challenges and Alternatives,” was delivered by Dr. Alicia Benarroch Benarroch, a tenured professor in the Department of Experimental Science Education and an expert in Chemistry Education and Sustainability. During her presentation, she addressed the need to rethink teacher education in the face of a dynamic, complex, and uncertain global context, proposing innovative approaches to address these challenges.
“We are living in a changing and complex world, and we must train teachers who know how to respond to these changes. The primary role of teacher training institutions is to remain connected to the reality of the school,” stated Alicia Benarroch Benarroch, professor at the Universidad Nueva Granada.
This conference provided a space for reflection on current educational dynamics, fostered the exchange of experiences among the academic community, and contributed to the strengthening of strategic partnerships between researchers and teachers.
