Panel Discussion
From Policy to Action - Initiatives Showing Impact
Date Thursday, Nov 28 Time – RoomCharlottenburg II
This panel discussion will explore the powerful international efforts of UNESCO and the European Commission to advance digital education by building strong public learning platforms and fostering collaborative communities of practice across borders. With insights from different regions and effective frameworks to promote knowledge and information sharing, participants will leave with practical ideas for building robust, collaborative networks and integrating digital education strategies into their own contexts.
Mark West
Education Specialist and Lead for the Gateways Initiative, Future of Learning and Innovation Division, UNESCO, France
Mark West works in UNESCO’s Education Sector in where he researches and writes about the future of education with a special focus on technology.
He develops projects and publications that help the international community identify opportunities and risks for education in an age of accelerating digital change.
Mark currently manages a team that seeks to clarify the educational implications of mainstream and frontier digital technologies, including AI. He looks at technological integrations in education through a broad and humanistic lens, considering their impacts on individual and community health and well-being, environmental and financial sustainability, and repercussions for the quality, equity, and accessibility of learning.
Mark coordinates the joint UNESCO-UNICEF Gateways to Public Digital Learning Initiative. It works directly with countries to help them ensure that education is supported online as well as offline. The Gateways Initiative facilitates international cooperation to strengthen digital learning opportunities that are free and open to learners, teachers and families.
Mark spent much of 2020 to 2023 researching the ed-tech experiences of the COVID-19 pandemic and exploring how practices and norms that emerged during this period are rippling into present and future of education. The culmination of this work is the UNESCO book 'An Ed-Tech Tragedy?'. The publication has been well received by education and technology experts as well as various news outlets, including the New York Times and the Financial Times.
Prior publications of note include 'I’d Blush if I Could' (2019); 'Reading in the Mobile Era' (2014); and 'UNESCO Guidelines for Mobile Learning' (2013).
'I'd Blush if I Could' prompted leading technology companies to make changes to the way AI voice assistants project gender. It clarified how education can help close digital gender divides and was praised by media organizations around the world.
'Reading in the Mobile Era' brought international attention to the ways governments, schools and families can leverage inexpensive mobile technologies to advance literacy.
The 'UNESCO Guidelines for Mobile Learning' helped governments understand how to leverage increasingly ubiquitous technology to expand learning opportunities and enrich the vital work that happens in schools and classrooms.
Mark West works in UNESCO’s Education Sector in where he researches and writes about the future of education with a special focus on technology.
He develops projects and publications that help the international community identify opportunities and risks for education in an age of accelerating digital change.
Rasmus Benke-Aberg
Team Lead – Digital Education Hub Community, Stifterverband, Germany
Rasmus is Team Lead of the European Digital Education Hub (EDEH) for the German NGO Stifterverband. In this role he works together with the European Commission to implement EDEH and to build up a community of practitioners of digital education in Europe.
Rasmus has previously been the Director of the Erasmus Student Network (ESN), Secretary General of OBESSU and Vice-President of the Lifelong Learning Platform. He has a Master’s Degree in European and International Relations from Linköping University.
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Moderator
Torunn Gjelsvik
Secretary General, International Council for Open and Distance Education, ICDE, Norway
Torunn Gjelsvik from Oslo, Norway, is the Secretary General of ICDE - International Council for Open and Distance Education. With specialization in open, flexible, distance and online learning, Torunn is a strong advocate for inclusive, scalable and sustainable education and lifelong learning opportunities for all.
Gjelsvik holds a Masters’ degree in Nordic languages and literature, and her education background includes French, History, Management and Strategic communication. She started working with development of distance and online education in 2000, and has held various national and international leadership positions within the field.
Gjelsvik’s international experience covers advocacy, policy advice, international networks and partnerships, global events and cross-country project management related to the global field of open, flexible, distance and online education. She is often seen as a speaker or panelist at international education conferences around the globe.