With a focus on identifying the promise of futures of education, Beijing Normal University (BNU) and the UNESCO Institute for Information Technologies in Education (UNESCO IITE), extensively supported by higher education institutions and distinguished field experts, organised the 2021 Global Smart Education Conference on 18 – 20 August 2021.

The fascinating developments of digital technologies raise discussions on the potential they have to transform human life, but also the dangers emerging from their use. Further, it appears that Humans were always far better at inventing tools than using them wisely (Harrari Loc 227, 2018). However, acknowledging the importance of "wise use", the discussion on Smart Technologies in education and beyond, brings into the foreground not only the transformational powers of this technology, but also the importance of the human factor. Specifically, efficient, useful and socially acceptable use of smart technologies is envisaged to take place in a hybrid space where the powers of human and machine intelligence are paired (Chen et al., 2020) and where control over important decisions is handed into humans (OECD, 2021). While these points refer mainly to AI, they are applicable in the broader spectrum of digital technologies. But what is required for humans to be in control of important decisions on technology use and how this can apply to education?

A key answer here involves the development of digital competences which focus not only on how these technologies can be used but also thinking at a meta level which involves when, why and where to use them. To this end, Self Reflection tools like SELFIE are designed to support the school community to reflect on how technology is used in a school.

REFERENCES

Chen, L., Ning, H., Nugent, C. D., & Yu, Z. (2020). Hybrid Human-Artificial Intelligence. Computer, 53(8), 14–17. https://doi.org/10.1109/MC.2020.2997573

Harrari Y.N. (2018) 21 lessons for the 21st Century . Jonathan Cape. London Kindle Edition

OECD. (2021). OECD Digital Education Outlook 2021: Pushing the Frontiers with Artificial Intelligence, Blockchain and Robots. OECD. https://doi.org/10.1787/589b283f-en