Prof. Piet Kommers
University of Twente, The Netherlands
Dr. Piet Kommers is an early pioneer in media for
cognitive- and social support. His doctoral research
explored methods for hypertext and concept mapping
in learning. Since 1982 he developed educational
technology for teacher training. His main thesis is
that technology is catalytic for human ambition and
awareness. His main function is associate professor
in the University in Twente, The Netherlands and
adjunct/visiting professor in various countries. He
taught more than fifteen bachelor-, master- and PhD
courses and supervised more than 30 PhD students. He
instigated and coordinated the NATO Advanced
Research Workshop on Cognitive Technologies in 1990
and a large series of Joint European Research
Projects in: authoring multimedia, web-based
learning, teacher education, virtual 3d worlds,
constructivist learning, social media, web-based
communities and international student exchange.
UNESCO awarded his work in ICT for Education in
Eastern Europe with the title of Honorary Professor.
The Capital Normal University in Beijing awarded his
work with the title of Honorary Doctor. He is member
of advisory boards in ministries of education and
academia of sciences in Singapore, Finland and
Russia. Piet Kommers is the initiator of the
international journal for web-based communities and
overall chair of the IADIS conferences on societal
applications of ICT. Since the late nineties he gave
more than 40 invited and keynote lectures at main
conferences in the fields of education, media and
communication. His books and journal articles
address the social and intellectual transformations
at each transition from “traditional” into the “new”
media. Instead of regarding media as extrapolating,
supplanting, vicarious or even disruptive, Piet’s
view is that new media elicit and seduce both
individuals and organizations to reconsider human
nature and challenge existential awareness at that
very moment. His workshop templates and experiences
have been implemented into the UNESCO IITE reports,
policy briefings and Master Course. The books and
journal articles of Piet Kommers reach the level of
5012 citations and the h-index of 30. He was
recently nominated by seventeen countries for the
prestigious 2017 UNESCO King Hamad Bin Isa
Al-Khalifa Prize for the Use of Information and
Communication Technologies (ICTs) in Education.
His new book:
Sources for a Better Education
Speech Title: Societal Demands for Artificial
Intelligence in Education
Abstract: The Covid-19 era unexpectedly made
all sectors dependent from remote communication,
virtual- and vicarious learning.(This lecture is
based upon the new book: “Sources for a Better
Education: Lessons from Research and Best
Practices”.) It signals parallels in society,
technology, and demonstrates the risk for biased
information; not just lacking knowledge or naïve
misconceptions. Starting from abundant information
access we now see tempting options for learners to
restructure and even reconceive existing
information. From the perspective of cognitive
growth, the last four decades let learners
‘re-construct meaning’ to stimulate highly
individualized understanding: Simulations,
modelling, concept mapping, and lately the
cultivation of storytelling; they have been promoted
as an extra to just absorbing new knowledge. So far,
education still underestimated the flip side of
constructivist learning practices: Critical thinking
seemed to be a good candidate for a more active
learning attitude; It may create more authentic
students who build upon existential drive: “What do
I need to ‘make a difference’ in life. Problem- and
challenge-based learning are the keywords. The book
appetizer “Sources for a better Education” exposes
the landscape of learning theories and how teachers
can benefit from the larger spectrum of A.I. tools:
big data, data mining, deep learning, machine
learning, learning analytics and multi-variate
inductive reasoning? This lecture will guide you to
the main questions: What didactic measures allow
teachers to make students resilient to fake news?
What scenarios for thematic- rather than
mono-disciplinary courses need to be developed? For
instance, in the attempts to implement and
disseminate STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering,
Arts and Mathematics)? What social media mechanisms
lead to web-based communities? And: What are valid
ways to assess the quality of learning outcomes? |