PolyU and EdUHK co-host 2nd CILME Workshop to discuss application of metaverse and AI in future education

As educational technology continues to advance, it brings about tremendous changes and opportunities for the education sector. The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) and The Education University of Hong Kong (EdUHK) co-hosted the 2nd Centre for Immersive Learning and Metaverse in Education (CILME) Workshop (the Workshop) under the theme of “Metaverse and Artificial Intelligence for the Future of Education” on 21 February. Gathering leading scholars and experts from around the globe, it centred on the transformative impact of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and immersive technologies on education. The Workshop was co-organised by the PolyU-Hangzhou Technology and Innovation Research Institute.

Co-founded by PolyU and EdUHK in 2023, CILME aims to develop a collaborative infrastructure for conducting interdisciplinary research on technology-enhanced learning to impact education. The Centre focuses on exploring how technology like virtual reality (VR), metaverse and AI, can enhance students’ cognitive processing, attention, memory, brain function and, ultimately, their learning.

Prof. WONG Kwok-yin, PolyU Vice President (Education), said, “CILME is committed to promoting the application of metaverse and immersive technologies among teachers and educators through workshops, seminars and conferences. This workshop is an important chance for educators to share ideas and explore new concepts, building a collaborative environment that will have a considerable impact on education. As AI rapidly develops, we aspire to create a future where technology and education work hand in hand.”

In his remarks, Prof. Chetwyn CHAN Che-hin, CILME Co-Director and EdUHK Vice President (Research and Development), emphasised the importance of interdisciplinary and inter-university collaboration in advancing research and applications of AI and metaverse in education.

The Workshop featured two keynote speeches, by Prof. Sangmin-Michelle LEE of Kyung Hee University, Korea, and Prof. Yew-Soon ONG of Nanyang Technological University, Singapore. They discussed how AI technologies foster teaching innovations from different perspectives, and introduced the notion of developing digital human teachers that integrate VR and AI-assisted learning environments. Their speeches provided insights into the future development of AI-powered education, while also highlighting the critical role of metaverse technologies in this development.

In the plenary sessions, scholars from PolyU and EdUHK presented their research findings on educational innovation with both theoretical and practical applications. Prof. HU Xiangen, Director of the PolyU Institute for Higher Education Research and Development, and Prof. Henry DUH, Director of the PolyU Research Centre for Cultural and Art Technology, explored the use of AI as an “interactive learning partner” in subjects related to language and design. Prof. Philip YU, Associate Director of the EdUHK University Research Facility of Data Science and Artificial Intelligence, and Prof. Yanjie SONG, Associate Director of the EdUHK Centre for Excellence in Learning and Teaching, on the other hand, examined how VR platforms powered by large language models can improve both students’ language and communication skills, as well as their general knowledge.

At the end of the Workshop, Prof. LI Ping, CILME Co-Director and Dean of the PolyU Faculty of Humanities, chaired a dynamic round-table discussion of critical issues related to technology-enhanced learning. Both face-to-face and offline participants actively engaged in the discussion, covering inspiring topics that included pedagogical design principles for enhancing student engagement, the roles of AI in education and the applications of AI to augment students’ higher-order thinking, problem-solving skills and personalised education.

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