Category: Student Fellows Project

Participating in Digital Learning Week 2026 in Paris as part of the UNESCO program was a deeply meaningful experience for my professional and personal development. The opportunity to engage in dialogue with teachers, researchers, educational technology specialists, international representatives, and ministers of education broadened my perspective on the challenges that education currently faces as a result of the development of artificial intelligence (AI). Beyond national borders, education systems share concerns that require collective responses, sensitive to social differences and oriented toward people’s well-being and the sustainability of our planet.

However, this experience meant much more to me than learning about new tools or listening to innovative proposals. As a primary school teacher in Mexico, I am interested in creating meaningful learning experiences that respond to my students’ needs and contribute to their holistic development. From my position in the classroom, I have come to understand that education involves much more than transmitting knowledge; it means accompanying learning processes, recognizing differences, awakening curiosity, and providing opportunities to those who do not always have the same conditions to learn.

For this reason, arriving at an international space where the future of education was being discussed also led me to ask myself: What is my role in this transformation? I am excited by the possibility that artificial intelligence can help us find new ways to teach, address educational needs, and expand learning opportunities. At the same time, I am concerned that its adoption may advance more quickly than our ability to understand its consequences, particularly in communities where access to technology, connectivity, ongoing professional development, and ethical training remains unequal.

From this perspective, I returned with a strong conviction: we cannot talk about the future of education without listening to those who experience its everyday challenges, but neither can we remain on the sidelines of the changes that are already transforming our society.

One of the main lessons I gained from this experience was understanding, through the perspectives shared by teachers, researchers, ministers, and educational technology experts, that artificial intelligence is already part of our educational and social reality. Therefore, collective efforts should not focus solely on trying to prevent its presence in schools, but rather on learning how to integrate it responsibly, ethically, and consciously, while recognizing the fundamental role of teachers’ judgment, creativity, and critical thinking in everyday teaching.

This realization led me to reflect from my own perspective as a teacher. In my educational context, we often focus our efforts on preventing students from using these tools as support for schoolwork. However, if AI is already part of our educational reality, our true responsibility should be to create the necessary conditions for its integration to be responsible, safe, equitable, and oriented toward the well-being of the educational community.

I recognize that technology can provide information, generate texts, suggest activities, and facilitate certain tasks; however, it cannot replace teachers’ judgment, creativity, critical thinking, or the deep understanding that we seek to develop in our students. An answer generated by artificial intelligence does not guarantee that learning has taken place, just as using an innovative tool does not, by itself, guarantee educational improvement.

One of the most significant moments of this experience was the opportunity to participate in a session with ministers of education focused on the real cost of artificial intelligence. This conversation sparked both curiosity and concern in me, as I realized that the impact of AI extends far beyond its technological and economic benefits. Its implementation involves resources, energy, water, connectivity, data protection, and, above all, decisions that affect people and the environment.

As a teacher, I found myself asking: How can we talk about educational innovation when schools do not have the same opportunities? I am concerned that a technology designed to facilitate learning could actually deepen existing inequalities if equitable access is not guaranteed. At the same time, I am excited by the possibilities it can offer when it is used responsibly and responds to genuine educational needs.

This reflection helped me understand that the true cost of artificial intelligence cannot be measured solely in monetary terms. We must also consider its social, environmental, educational, and ethical consequences. I left this conversation with a commitment to approach innovation with enthusiasm, but also with a critical perspective, remembering that technology should serve people, rather than the other way around.

Another important lesson I gained from this event was the importance of teachers in the field of innovation related to artificial intelligence. We are the ones who face the challenges of teaching and learning, educational gaps, and inequalities in access to technology on a daily basis. Therefore, I believe that our participation should not be limited to using tools developed by others. We should also have opportunities to express our needs, contribute our experience, and actively participate in the design of technological solutions that respond to real educational contexts.

During the event, I had the opportunity to learn about different applications, devices, and innovative proposals that incorporate artificial intelligence to address specific educational needs. Among them, I was particularly interested in a tool designed to teach students about weather and climate through a chatbot, as well as an application based on a point system that uses artificial intelligence while also seeking to reduce the consumption of natural resources; these examples made me realize that innovation does not always mean creating increasingly complex technologies. Sometimes, innovation means finding new ways to use what we already have to solve real problems and generate benefits for students, society, and the environment.

As a teacher, this experience strengthened my interest in participating in innovation processes that begin with the needs of the classroom. I am convinced that the experience of educators can provide an essential perspective for developing technological solutions that are more accessible, contextualized, and human-centered.

Another moment that I had been particularly looking forward to was the opportunity to present my work entitled “AI Skills of New Generations of Students: Horizons for Ethics and Open Education.” For me, sharing research on artificial intelligence and academic stress in an international setting represented an important challenge, but also an opportunity to learn from other perspectives and discover whether the questions that had emerged from my educational context were also present elsewhere.

Before my presentation, I had several expectations and questions. I wondered: How do other teachers perceive the integration of artificial intelligence into education? How are students experiencing academic stress in other contexts? What role can artificial intelligence play in addressing these situations, and what are its limitations?

I also felt some uncertainty. I wondered whether the topic I had researched would resonate with people from educational realities different from my own and whether I would find points of connection with their experiences. At the same time, I was excited about the possibility of hearing different opinions, receiving questions, and discovering new ways of interpreting my research findings.

Rather than expecting definitive answers, I arrived with the intention of creating a conversation. I wanted to understand whether the relationship between technology, learning, and educational well-being was a shared concern and what questions were emerging in other educational systems. This expectation made the presentation much more meaningful to me than simply explaining research findings. It meant putting my ideas to the test and allowing other voices to enrich them.

During the exchange with teachers from different parts of the world, I realized that many of these concerns go beyond a specific educational context. However, I also observed that the responses cannot be the same for every educational community. Conditions of access to technology, students’ characteristics, academic demands, and institutional realities influence the way each community faces these challenges.

When the presentation ended, some of my questions had not disappeared; instead, new ones had emerged. I believe that this was precisely the most valuable part of the experience. I returned with greater curiosity to continue researching and with the conviction that education needs spaces where we do not simply present answers, but also formulate better questions about the future we are building with artificial intelligence.

Without a doubt, this experience enriched my perspective on the different applications of artificial intelligence in education and reinforced my understanding of the importance of contributing, from our own societies, to the development of proposals that allow us to take advantage of its benefits in ethical, responsible, and inclusive ways.

This experience reminded me that participating in a global conversation does not mean leaving our local realities behind. On the contrary, it means returning to them with new questions, perspectives, and tools for action. Major educational transformations also begin with the everyday decisions we make in the classroom, the opportunities we provide to our students, and our willingness to continue learning alongside them.

If there is one thing I take with me from Paris, it is the certainty that the future of artificial intelligence in education should not be built solely by those who develop technology or make policy decisions. It must also be built from schools, with the participation of teachers, students, and communities, through dialogue that recognizes both its possibilities and its risks. Ultimately, the purpose of innovation should not be to demonstrate how far technology can go, but to discover how we can use it to build an education that is more just, conscious, sustainable, and human.

Acknowledgments

This experience was developed within the framework of the UNOE Student Fellows Project, funded by the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation and coordinated by the University of Nantes. I am grateful for the support provided to promote professional development, educational research, and innovation through open education.

I would also like to acknowledge the Benemérita Escuela Normal de Coahuila for its institutional support and for promoting the development of research competencies. In particular, I would like to express my deepest gratitude to Dr. María Soledad Ramírez Montoya and the entire team representing Mexico for their guidance, support, and continuous accompaniment throughout this process.

Participating in UNESCO’s Digital Learning Week 2026 in Paris was an experience that meant much more to me than presenting research at an international academic event. It represented an opportunity to step outside the usual spaces where I develop as a teacher and researcher and to meet people, ideas, and educational realities that are very different from those I know. At the same time, experiencing this opportunity alongside my colleagues gave the learning a collective meaning, as each of us arrived with our own research, perspective, and academic journey, yet we shared the opportunity to learn and participate in the same international space.

This opportunity was made possible thanks to the support of the Benemérita Escuela Normal de Coahuila and the UNOE project, as well as the work and guidance of Dr. María Soledad Ramírez Montoya, coordinator of the project in Mexico, who guided and supported us throughout its different stages. Her support was essential in helping us arrive at this space with the necessary preparation, but also with the confidence to recognize ourselves as young researchers capable of contributing to international conversations about education, technology, and the future of learning. For me, this support also represents an example of the importance of educational institutions when they create opportunities for their students to move beyond the classroom and bring their knowledge into other spaces.

Even before Digital Learning Week began, we started experiencing this journey as a team. On the Monday before the opening, we had a preparation meeting with the project coordination team, where we were able to gain a clearer understanding of the activities we would be involved in and prepare for our participation. From that moment, I began to understand that this was not simply about traveling to Paris to present a research project, but about becoming part of an international community in which we would have the opportunity to listen, engage in dialogue, and learn from other people, institutions, and contexts.

During Digital Learning Week, we attended the opening conference and different sessions related to artificial intelligence, digital transformation, open education, equity, ethics, digital sovereignty, and the futures of education. What particularly caught my attention was that conversations about artificial intelligence did not focus solely on its technical possibilities. Instead, they repeatedly returned to questions about people and the purpose of education: What role do we want these technologies to play? How can we ensure that their benefits are accessible to different communities? What principles should guide their integration? And, above all, what do we want to preserve in education as we transform the way we learn?

These questions were also present in our own participation, especially during the Living Gallery, where we had the opportunity to share our research over two days. On Tuesday, we presented our work in English, and on Thursday, we shared it again, this time in Spanish, together with Agustina Mignaco, Rebeca Mesquita, Gabriela Alvarado, Yaretzy Calamaco, and myself, Yovanna Leija.

The Living Gallery format was different from a conventional academic presentation. Instead of giving an extended presentation in front of an audience, we welcomed small groups of participants who approached our space to learn about our research for approximately three minutes. The groups would then rotate, and we would begin the exchange again. At first, I thought three minutes would be far too little time to explain a research project. However, as the rounds progressed, I discovered that this limitation actually made the experience much more dynamic. Each group arrived with different interests, experiences, and questions, so we could not simply repeat exactly the same speech.

We had to listen, observe, and find the best way to connect our research with the person in front of us. This made every round a different experience. In my case, this led me to reflect on how communicating research also means learning to translate our ideas without losing their depth, while making sure they can be understood and discussed by people who may not belong directly to our field of study.

For me, this was one of the experiences that best represented the value of dialogue within open education. Sharing knowledge did not simply mean transmitting information; it meant allowing others to ask questions, contribute their own experiences, and help us view our research from different perspectives. Presenting research related to artificial intelligence, ethics, open education, and new generations took on a special meaning when doing so in front of people from different parts of the world. Each conversation allowed us to recognize both the particularities of our own contexts and the concerns we share.

During these encounters, we had the opportunity to speak with participants from Tunisia, Kenya, Romania, England, Brazil, and other places. Although our educational realities were different, we found common themes related to access to technology, teacher education, digital inequalities, ethics in the use of artificial intelligence, and the need for technological transformations to genuinely respond to educational and social purposes. This diversity of perspectives helped me understand that many of the challenges we observe within our own contexts are part of much broader conversations, in which each region contributes particular experiences that can enrich the global discussion.

In addition to the formal presentation spaces, we had many spontaneous conversations throughout the week, some brief and others that lasted much longer than expected. On several occasions, we began by talking about our research and ended up sharing experiences about our institutions, our countries, our projects, and even our ideas for the future. In fact, some of these conversations led to possible collaborations that we hope to continue developing later on. This allowed me to recognize that an international experience does not end when a conference comes to an end. Often, it is precisely through these encounters that new possibilities begin to emerge.

As a result of these interactions, my understanding of open education also changed. Before, I mainly associated it with access to knowledge, educational resources, and the possibilities that technologies offer for sharing information. After this experience, I began to see it also as a willingness to meet others, listen to different perspectives, and build knowledge collaboratively. The Living Gallery allowed me to experience this in a very concrete way. Every time we explained our research, we also opened it up to new questions. Sometimes, a participant would offer a perspective we had not considered or connect our work with an experience from their own context, making knowledge no longer something static, but something that could be enriched through dialogue.

Another lesson I take from this experience is the value of participating as a student and researcher in training within an international space. Sometimes, we may think that we need an extensive academic trajectory before feeling that we have something to contribute to an academic conversation. Being at UNESCO allowed me to question this idea and understand that research developed within our own contexts can also generate questions, interest, and connections with people from other parts of the world.

For me, it was especially meaningful to share work that emerged from my educational reality in Mexico, because in every conversation I also carried with me part of my teacher education and what I have learned at BENC. For this reason, I believe that this experience not only strengthened my academic development, but also my sense of belonging to the institution that made it possible for me to be there. At the same time, experiencing this journey alongside my colleagues was fundamental. We shared our nervousness before presenting, prepared together, listened to each other’s research, and, after each day, discussed what had happened during the different conversations. In this way, learning was also constructed through our experience as a team.

The experience also led me to reflect on the responsibility we have as people who are being trained in the field of education. At a time when artificial intelligence is rapidly transforming the ways in which we learn, teach, conduct research, and produce knowledge, I believe it is not enough to ask what technology can do. We also need to ask who it is developed for, what purposes it serves, who can access it, and under what principles we want to incorporate it into education. From this perspective, technological innovation should not be understood merely as the incorporation of new tools, but as an opportunity to question and build better ways of learning and teaching.

Digital Learning Week did not leave me with definitive answers to all these questions. Instead, it left me with new questions, new connections, and new possibilities. I believe that this is precisely one of the greatest lessons an open education space can offer: understanding that learning does not always mean finding answers, but rather expanding the questions through which we observe our reality.

Upon returning home, I am left with much more than the satisfaction of having participated in an international event. I carry with me the conversations, the people we met, the ideas we shared, and the possibilities that emerged from those encounters. I also carry the certainty that research can become a bridge connecting very different educational realities and that, when we open our knowledge to dialogue, we also open the possibility of transforming it. This experience became even more meaningful when I connected it with the purpose of Digital Learning Week itself, which in its 2026 edition sought to keep human agency, equity, and the public purpose of education at the center of educational futures in the face of the expansion of artificial intelligence (UNESCO, 2026).

Acknowledgments. This experience took place within the framework of the UNOE Student Fellows Project, funded by the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation and coordinated by Nantes Université. We acknowledge the support provided to promote educational training, research, and innovation through open education. We also recognize the Benemérita Escuela Normal de Coahuila for its institutional support and for promoting the development of research competencies.

Prune Sochard, a student at the University of Nantes and a member of the UNOE (Unitwin Network on Open Education) international Student Fellows programme, had already had an exceptional opportunity when she was invited to speak at the Ministerial Round Table as part of the UNESCO Forum on Youth in the Digital Age, held in early September in Paris.

On Friday 25 September, Prune was also among the fortunate few invited to take part in the official visit of His Holiness Pope Leo XIV to UNESCO headquarters in Paris, as well as in the round table discussion at the UNESCO Forum on Youth in the Age of AI – a universal reflection on Magnifica Humanitas.

“I am deeply moved and grateful to have had the opportunity to speak at UNESCO. I take away from this day a profound sense of hope for the future, fuelled by the richness of the discussions and speeches that characterised the event.”

Prune Sochard

During the forum, Prune Sochard had the chance to present and chair the event’s first round-table discussion, entitled “Apprendre à l’ère de l’IA : opportunités et défis”.

During her speech, she was able to share the concerns as well as the hopes of the students from the UNOE network and the experts with whom she had interacted during the ministerial round table in early September. The round table she subsequently chaired explored the importance of putting safeguards in place regarding artificial intelligence in schools so that it remains a support rather than an obstacle to learning.

In the afternoon, the student from Nantes had the exceptional privilege of attending, in the midst of a packed and captivated audience, the official address by His Holiness Pope Leo XIV. This was a rare opportunity, the significance of which she fully appreciated, particularly as the Supreme Pontiff’s address resonated directly with the morning’s discussions, confirming and broadening reflections on the ethics of AI on a scale encompassing the whole of humanity.

Read Prune Sochard’s “Diary of an extraordinary day”

You can also watch Prune’s television interview on Télénantes (in French)

The official invitation extended to Prune Sochard for the ceremony presided over by Pope Leo XIV at UNESCO marks the culmination of a journey of student engagement on an international scale. On this occasion, Prune Sochard represented the youth and student community of the UNOE network alongside another student from the same network: Lucky Geluk, from the University of Cape Town in South Africa.

A student of Foreign Languages, Literatures and Civilisations (English) at the University of Nantes, Prune Sochard is training to become a teacher. Passionate about sharing knowledge and fostering critical thinking, she wrote a highly acclaimed ‘report of surprise’ as part of the UNOE project, entitled ‘Creating a sustainable culture of openness in universities’, in which she examines the role and future of learning in the face of new technologies.

Supported by funding from the Hewlett Foundation, the UNOE network’s Student Fellows project – coordinated by the UNESCO RELIA Chair at the University of Nantes – brings together 26 students from 9 countries (South Africa, Brazil, France, Lebanon, Morocco, Mexico, Slovenia, Tunisia and Uruguay) who express themselves in seven languages.

This innovative programme offers students a scholarship and an international platform to make their voices heard on all topics relating to the future of education, such as the future of advanced technologies and artificial intelligence in higher education, and the role of Open Education and Open Educational Resources (OER) in ensuring equitable and inclusive access to knowledge

The invitation extended to several female students involved in the project to participate in the highest diplomatic and ministerial forums at UNESCO illustrates the strength of this network: positioning students not merely as beneficiaries of educational transformation, but as genuine co-creators and agents of change.

Reflections from UNESCO Digital Learning Week 2026

Some experiences begin long before arriving at the place where they take place.

My experience participating in UNESCO’s Digital Learning Week 2026 began with an invitation from Dr. María Soledad Ramírez-Montoya, head of the UNESCO Chair on Open Educational Movement for Latin America, for Master’s students from the Benemérita Escuela Normal de Coahuila (BENC) to participate in the UNOE Fellowship Program. The directors and a team of BENC faculty members placed their trust in my colleagues and me and considered us for the Fellowship Program, which gave us the opportunity to take part in this international experience that would eventually take us all the way to Paris. Behind our participation were guidance, support, and, above all, the opportunity to become part of a community committed to open education, collaboration, and the collective construction of knowledge.

An experience that, until then, had seemed distant, almost like one of those events we observe from afar and assume belong to other places, other people, and other realities. And yet, there we were, in Paris, taking part in UNESCO’s Digital Learning Week 2026.

For a primary school teacher in Mexico and a current Master’s student, arriving at an international space of such magnitude represents much more than travelling from one country to another. It also means crossing an intellectual boundary and discovering that what happens every day in our classrooms is part of much broader conversations about the future of education. Perhaps that is why, as I listened to the different presentations and interventions, I could not help but feel like a small boat navigating through new horizons.

It was not a feeling of smallness as a synonym for inability, but rather an awareness of standing before an immense ocean. An ocean of knowledge, research, experiences, projects, questions, and possibilities that extended far beyond what I had previously been able to imagine.

This experience was made possible by the fellowship granted by the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, coordinated by the University of Nantes, which enabled our participation in UNESCO’s Digital Learning Week 2026 in Paris. More than financial support, that fellowship represented a gateway into an international space where we were able to listen, engage in dialogue, and share our own educational experiences.

Artificial Intelligence and the Question of Humanity

We had the honor of attending and participating in a meeting with the UNESCO team and the UNOE Fellowship Program, where the results and experiences of the work carried out throughout the program were shared, along with projects related to UNITWIN and the UNESCO Chairs. The meeting provided an opportunity to exchange ideas, questions, and perspectives among participants from different contexts, while also allowing us to gain a broader understanding of the initiatives, programs, and work plans being developed in collaboration with institutions, educators, and researchers.

Artificial intelligence was at the heart of many of the conversations, but rather than finding only fascination with technology, I encountered something I consider far more important: questions. Questions about ethics, access, equity, teacher education, design, costs, and infrastructure questions that allowed us to consider artificial intelligence not only in terms of its possibilities, but also in terms of the conditions required for its integration into education to be responsible, relevant, and genuinely inclusive. Questions about the capacity of educational systems to adapt and about the place we want artificial intelligence to occupy in our societies. Talking about AI in education cannot be reduced to asking which tool to use or which platform to adopt. The discussion is much deeper than that.

If artificial intelligence can produce information, then we must strengthen our ability to analyze it. If it can generate content, we need to educate people who are capable of questioning it. If it can automate certain processes, we must ask ourselves which tasks are worth automating and which require precisely those qualities that make us human: judgment, empathy, creativity, interaction, and an understanding of context.

That is why, when I think about the future of education, I do not imagine a school replaced by technology. I imagine a school where technology can expand human possibilities without displacing the essence of the educational act.

From Open Resources to Open Communities

This experience also strengthened a conviction that has accompanied my work: knowledge becomes more valuable when it can be shared, transformed, and placed at the service of others.

This idea is deeply connected to my own research, Toward Open and Inclusive Teacher Education in Artificial Intelligence Environments: A Cross-Sectional Descriptive Correlational Study, in which I analyzed competencies related to open education among pre-service teachers, particularly regarding inclusive access to knowledge and Open Educational Resources (OER). Through this study, I explored dimensions related to capacity building, policies, inclusive access, sustainability, and cooperation, seeking to understand the extent to which these competencies are present among those preparing to enter the teaching profession.

During UNESCO’s Digital Learning Week 2026, many of the conversations I witnessed directly resonated with these concerns. I attended sessions as a listener such as Curriculum and Learning Design in the Age of AI, where discussions focused on how to teach about AI, how to teach with AI, and how to rethink learning design; Putting Teachers in the Lead: Designing AI Tools from Classroom Realities, which placed teachers’ experiences and needs at the starting point for the design of AI tools; and Where Frameworks End and Teaching Begins, which encouraged reflection on the distance between conceptual frameworks and the complexity of educational practice. These discussions led me to reconsider teacher education once again: it is not enough for future teachers to become familiar with new technologies; they need to develop the criteria to decide how, when, and for what purpose to use them.

I also attended discussions related to Strengthening Gen AI Responsiveness for University Teachers: Framework and Cases and Transforming Higher Education in the Age of AI: Mapping the Issues, which broadened my perspective on the challenges that artificial intelligence poses for institutions, teacher education, and teaching and learning processes. In particular, the session Frugal AI for Equitable Learning: Small Models, Offline Solutions, Wider Access made me reflect on an issue closely connected to open education: innovation loses part of its meaning if the conditions required to access it remain profoundly unequal. The discussion around small models and solutions capable of functioning even in contexts with limited connectivity showed that equity must also be considered as part of technological design.

All these conversations found a point of connection with my research. If artificial intelligence is transforming the ways in which knowledge is produced, accessed, and shared, then it is essential to strengthen teachers’ competencies so that they can participate critically in these processes. Within this context, Open Educational Resources acquire particular relevance: it is not simply about finding materials that are freely available, but about understanding their conditions of use, open licenses, possibilities for adaptation and redistribution, and, above all, the responsibility involved in sharing knowledge.

In addition, I had the opportunity to work and spend time with colleagues from different contexts, including Uruguay, Nantes, Brazil, Saudi Arabia, and Mexico. Some of us were able to meet in person in Paris, while others, although unable to attend physically, continued participating and collaborating in the different activities. This experience made tangible for me something I had encountered so many times in theory: an open community can be built beyond borders and physical presence. It can emerge when different people contribute their knowledge, experiences, and perspectives to build something together.

For this reason, my experience in Paris led me to move from thinking about open resources to thinking about open communities. An OER can be a starting point, but it is collaboration that allows knowledge to travel, adapt to other contexts, and generate new possibilities. And perhaps one of the greatest lessons I take from this week is the realization that educational transformation does not occur only within major institutions or international organizations. It also emerges from classrooms, from a teacher who shares a strategy, from a student who discovers a new way of learning, from research that identifies a problem, and from a community that decides to bring together what it knows.

Opening knowledge, then, also means opening pathways. And perhaps that is what I take with me most from this experience: the certainty that we do not need to navigate alone. We can share maps, build networks, and learn from those who are navigating from other places. Because when an experience, a research project, or a resource is shared, it no longer belongs solely to the person who created it; it becomes part of a community capable of transforming it and carrying it much farther.

What I Bring Home to Share

An important part of this experience was listening to and learning about proposals that demonstrate different ways of incorporating technology and artificial intelligence into education. Among the sessions that particularly caught my attention were:

“The UNESCO AI Competency Frameworks in Practice,” which provided an opportunity to learn how artificial intelligence competency frameworks can be translated into educational practice and guide the development of capacities among teachers and students.

“Human-Centered AI for Inclusive Education,” a proposal that placed people and inclusion at the center of discussions on the use of artificial intelligence in education, highlighting the importance of designing solutions that respond to real educational needs.

“Expanding Access to Personalized Feedback Through Simulation-Based Learning,” which presented possibilities for expanding access to personalized feedback through simulation-based learning experiences.

“Gamification Platform Built by Teachers Using AI for Environmental Action,” where we learned about the Eco-In Project, an initiative developed by Korean primary school teachers who integrated gamification and artificial intelligence to address environmental issues and encourage students to participate in environmental actions. I found it particularly meaningful to see how a proposal created by teachers from within the classroom can become an innovative experience with the support of technology.

“Making Climate Education Tangible Through Microclimate Adaptive Learning,” which explored new ways of bringing climate education closer to students through experiences connected to their surroundings and to microclimatic conditions.

These were only some of the many proposals I had the opportunity to listen to throughout the week. Each one showed, from a different perspective, that educational innovation does not depend solely on incorporating new technologies, but on finding meaningful and appropriate ways to use them in response to concrete needs. These are experiences that I want to carry with me on my return to Mexico, continue exploring, and share with educational communities through the lessons I have learned and the insights I have gained.

The Small Boat

There were moments throughout this experience when I inevitably returned to the image of a boat. A small boat facing an enormous horizon. That is how I felt while listening to specialists from different parts of the world speak about issues that, although they are part of my academic interests, I was only beginning to understand from other perspectives. Each panel, each research project, and each conversation seemed to expand that horizon a little further. There were new questions about artificial intelligence, education, curriculum, assessment, teacher education, access to knowledge, and, above all, about the paths we need to build so that digital transformation can also become a more open and inclusive educational transformation.

But there was a moment when that boat ceased to be merely a metaphor for observing the world and became an opportunity to set my own knowledge in motion: sharing my research.

Presenting my work in an international setting was a deeply meaningful experience. Behind that presentation was also the guidance and trust of a team of doctors who made this journey possible, encouraging and supporting me as I brought to Paris research that was born from my own context of teacher education in Mexico, at BENC. Explaining one’s own research to people from different contexts has something about it that compels you to look again at what you believe you already know.

When we present our work, we expect questions about methodology, results, or the decisions we have made. But some questions do something deeper: they make us question ourselves. Each question opened up a possibility. Some made me think about aspects I had not initially considered; others allowed me to find points of connection with different research projects and experiences; and some gave rise to ideas that may strengthen future stages of my work. Through this exchange, I understood that research does not mean constructing definitive answers, but entering into conversation with other perspectives so that our own ideas can continue to evolve.

And it was precisely through these conversations that open education acquired an even more concrete meaning for me. While discussing my research, I was able to observe something that I consider particularly relevant: not everyone involved in education has an in-depth understanding of what Open Educational Resources are, what it truly means for a resource to be open, or what conditions are necessary to share, adapt, and reuse educational materials.

Some conversations even began with the realization that a resource that is freely available on the internet is not necessarily an Open Educational Resource. This may seem like a simple distinction, but in reality, it involves a deeper understanding of knowledge and the ways in which it can circulate.

Talking about OER also means talking about open licenses, copyright, possibilities for reuse and adaptation, and the different ways in which a resource can be made available to others. It means understanding that openness is not limited to free access, but is connected to the conditions that allow knowledge to be legally and responsibly used, transformed, and shared.

These conversations also led me to remember the international recommendations that have promoted open education and, particularly, the importance UNESCO has placed on Open Educational Resources as a means of fostering more equitable access to knowledge, strengthening the capacities of teachers and students, and promoting cooperation and the exchange of resources.

Realizing that some of these ideas were still not widely known led me to an important reflection. Perhaps one of the tasks ahead of us is not only to create more resources, but also to strengthen the culture that enables people to understand, use, adapt, and share them. Because it is not enough to open a resource if those who could benefit from it do not know that it exists, do not know how to use it, or are unaware of the conditions under which they can modify and share it again.

Open education, then, also requires education and training. It requires literacy around licensing, knowledge of copyright, and digital competencies, but above all, it requires a culture of collaboration. And this is where I found a particularly powerful connection with the conversations about artificial intelligence that permeated the week.

At a time when artificial intelligence is transforming the way we produce, search for, and share knowledge, understanding what it means for content to be open becomes even more important. Technological possibilities can greatly expand our capacity to create and distribute educational materials, but they also compel us to ask questions about authorship, sources, licenses, quality, and the conditions under which these materials can be reused.

For this reason, leaving my presentation with new questions was perhaps one of the most valuable lessons of the experience. As the sessions progressed, that initial feeling began to transform. The boat was still small. The ocean was still immense. But now I knew that there were more routes, more ports, and more possibilities for navigation.

I understood that I did not need to know the entire ocean in order to begin exploring it. I needed to be willing to listen, ask questions, learn, and share the journey with others. Sometimes, professional growth means precisely accepting that we still have much to learn. The international experience did not diminish my certainty about what I know; it broadened my awareness of everything I still want to discover.

And that awareness became motivation. Motivation to conduct further research, to read more, to ask questions, to experiment, and to strengthen my professional development. Motivation to continue exploring open education and Open Educational Resources, but also to return to my own context and ask myself what I can do with everything I heard, saw, and felt.

Because I did not want Paris to remain merely as a beautiful memory. I wanted what I had learned to return home with me. I wanted the questions to travel back. I wanted the conversations to become actions. I wanted shared knowledge to find new spaces and the experiences I had the opportunity to live to somehow become opportunities for someone else.

And perhaps that is when I understood something essential about open education: opening knowledge also means opening ourselves to the possibility of learning from others. A resource can be shared, research can be discussed, an idea can be transformed, and a question can travel from one country to another. When this happens, knowledge no longer remains in a single place; it begins to build community.

That is why, today, I look once again at that image of the small boat. I no longer see it standing still before an unknown ocean, but navigating through it, aware that there are still many routes left to discover. We need the willingness to learn from those who have already travelled some of its waters, to share our own experiences, and to build, together, new routes toward a more open, inclusive, and collaborative education.

Because when we discover a new route, perhaps our greatest responsibility is not to keep it for ourselves, but to leave it open so that someone else can travel it.

The Journey Continues

I returned from Paris with new questions and insights about the challenges and opportunities facing education in the context of artificial intelligence, open education, and digital transformation. UNESCO’s Digital Learning Week allowed me to encounter different perspectives, share my research, and recognize the value of collaborating with teachers, students, and researchers from diverse contexts. I now return to Mexico with new ideas to continue learning, researching, and sharing the findings and lessons from this experience with educational communities, while also bringing them into my own educational practice. The journey ends, but the work continues.

Acknowledgments. This experience took place within the framework of the UNOE Student Fellows Project, funded by the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation and coordinated by the University of Nantes. I am grateful for the support provided to promote teacher education, educational research, and innovation through open education. I also acknowledge the Benemérita Escuela Normal de Coahuila for its institutional support and for promoting the development of research competencies.

Gabriela Alvarado is part of the Student Fellows project. She is pursuing a Master’s Degree in Pedagogical Innovation and Educational Management at the Benemérita Escuela Normal de Coahuila, Mexico. She is passionate about reading, enjoys practicing sports, and participating in artistic activities such as dancing. She dedicates a significant part of her time to teaching children and adolescents, using play as a key tool in their educational process. Throughout her professional career, she aspires to become an educator who leaves a meaningful impact on the lives of her students.

The rapid evolution of Artificial Intelligence (AI) is transforming the way teaching and learning processes are developed, becoming one of the main innovations currently shaping higher education. In this context, understanding how AI influences students’ motivation and how it can be responsibly integrated into educational processes represents a challenge for both educators and students.

With the purpose of reflecting on this reality, the webinar “Motivation and the Influence of Artificial Intelligence on Learning” was held as part of the UNOE Mexico Team Student Fellowship program, with the participation of speakers from Mexico, Brazil, and Uruguay.

Webinar Development: “Motivations for learning and AI influence”

During the webinar, the relationship between learning motivation and the influence of Artificial Intelligence in educational processes was explored. It was highlighted that AI can become a tool that promotes students’ interest, autonomy, and participation by providing personalized resources, immediate feedback, and new ways of interacting with knowledge. However, the importance of maintaining a conscious and balanced use of technology was also emphasized, ensuring that AI complements personal effort rather than replacing students’ reflection, creativity, or commitment.

One of the main ideas discussed was that motivation does not depend solely on the use of digital tools, but rather on how these tools are integrated into meaningful learning experiences. AI can enhance motivation when it responds to students’ needs, facilitates content understanding, and supports the development of skills that allow learners to become more autonomous and responsible in their learning processes.

Final Reflections: New Challenges and Opportunities in Digital Education

Participation in this event allowed us to broaden our perspective on the challenges and opportunities that emerge from the integration of Artificial Intelligence into educational processes. Through the exchange of ideas and experiences, we understood that educational transformation does not depend only on incorporating new technological tools, but on using them with pedagogical purpose to improve learning experiences.

This experience allowed us to recognize the essential role of teachers as guides in the responsible use of Artificial Intelligence, promoting students’ development of skills such as critical thinking, autonomy, and informed decision-making. We analyzed that AI represents an opportunity to enrich teaching practices, as long as it is accompanied by values, reflection, and a human-centered perspective.

We would like to thank the UNOE Student Fellowship program and everyone who contributed to making this learning and collaboration space possible. We hope that these types of academic encounters continue promoting dialogue about the future of education and the role of technology in creating more innovative and meaningful learning experiences.

Zeineb Ben Azzouz  is a Tunisian PhD student at the University of Sousse. Her research focuses on adaptive assessment, generative AI, gamification, instructional design, and open educational resources. She is passionate about innovation in education

Hiba Haj Mahmoud is a first-year doctoral researcher at ISITCom, University of Sousse, Tunisia. She holds a Master’s degree in Artificial Intelligence (2025).Her research focuses on adaptive assessment and AI in collaborative learning environments.

Rabeb Sayadi is a Master’s student in Artificial Intelligence and Data Analytics at ISITCOM, University of Sousse, Tunisia, where she is affiliated with the Prince Lab research group.She is passionate about AI and emerging technologies, and their potential to transform education and knowledge access. She aspires to pursue a career as an AI researcher.

Every year, thousands of student theses and dissertations are produced around the world. However, many of these valuable works remain invisible, uncited, and legally unprotected.

Many students publish their dissertations without any license because they do not know their rights. They often do not know how to share their work while protecting their authorship.

To address this challenge, three UNOE Student Fellows from the University of Sousse (Tunisia) organized a webinar entitled “Savoirs Ouverts et IA : Protéger ses Droits, Partager ses Idées.” The initiative aimed to raise awareness about Creative Commons licenses, Open Educational Resources, and responsible use of artificial intelligence.

The Webinar: “Open Education, Responsible AI & Knowledge Equity”

The webinar helped participants discover:

• Creative Commons licenses;
• Open Educational Resources (OER);
• Responsible AI.

To make these concepts easy to understand, we adopted an active and engaging approach based on:

• storytelling;
• real-life examples;
• interactive questions;
• practical activities.

Participants learned that it is possible to share knowledge while keeping control over their work.

An interactive and practical approach

One of the strongest parts of the webinar was the practical application. Participants were invited to:

• Choose a Creative Commons license;
• Apply it to their own thesis or project;
• Share their work with others.

This transformed the webinar into real action.

We also discussed Open Education and the importance of the 5R principles: Retain, Reuse, Revise, Remix, and Redistribute. Participants discovered how open educational practices can increase access to knowledge and support learning.

Finally, we explored the relationship between Open Education and responsible AI. In the age of artificial intelligence, openly shared and properly licensed knowledge can help create more equitable and responsible educational systems.

This initiative showed that students are ready to share their knowledge when they understand their rights and the available tools. In the age of AI, teaching students how to share responsibly may become as important as teaching them how to create.

                           

Yaretzy Gabriela Calamaco Munguía is part of the Student Felllows project is studying for a Master’s degree in Pedagogical Innovation and Educational Management at the Benemérita Escuela Normal de Coahuila, Mexico. She is interested in educational innovation, digital technologies and artificial intelligence applied to learning.

Bringing Together Innovation and International Collaboration

Innovation in education is born when ideas, people, and technologies come together to reimagine how we learn and teach. A webinar entitled “Innovating Education with AI and OER”, organized by the UNOE Mexico Team Student Fellowship, was held on 13 June 2026 in a virtual format via Zoom, with the participation of approximately 45 attendees.

The session, coordinated by academic leaders from Mexico and developed in collaboration with international participants from Uruguay, created a meaningful space for academic dialogue on the integration of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Open Educational Resources (OER) in contemporary education.

The webinar was led by two student speakers: Yaretzy Gabriela Calamaco Munguía, a master’s student in Pedagogical Innovation and Educational Management at the Benemérita Escuela Normal de Coahuila (Mexico), and Agustina Sofía Mignaco Hernández, a student from the Universidad de la República (Uruguay). Their participation fostered an intercultural exchange of perspectives, enriching the discussion on educational innovation from diverse academic and cultural contexts.

Key Topics and Participant Engagement

The webinar brought together speakers and participants from diverse educational backgrounds, fostering collaborative reflection between Mexico and Uruguay. Key themes included the pedagogical use of Artificial Intelligence in education, highlighting its potential to support personalized learning, instructional design, and educational innovation, while emphasizing the importance of ethical, transparent, and responsible implementation.

The discussion also explored Open Educational Resources (OER) as a strategy to promote open access to knowledge, educational equity, and collaborative knowledge creation through open licensing and resource sharing. In addition, Universal Design for Learning (UDL) was presented as an inclusive framework that supports learner diversity through flexible educational experiences adapted to different needs and contexts.

Participants also reflected on the development of essential digital competencies, including digital literacy, communication, content creation, collaboration, and critical thinking in increasingly technology-mediated learning environments.

Interactive participation was a central component of the webinar. Through Mentimeter activities, attendees identified key digital competencies for professional development, while a collaborative brainstorming exercise enabled participants to collectively define OER through concepts such as accessibility, inclusion, collaboration, open access, and educational innovation.

The session was conducted primarily in Spanish, with English subtitles available to support accessibility and international participation, reinforcing its commitment to inclusive and global dialogue.

Reflections for the Future

More than an academic event, the webinar became a space for reflection, connection, and shared purpose, where participants exchanged experiences and envisioned more inclusive and innovative educational futures. The dialogue between Mexico and Uruguay highlighted the value of international collaboration in addressing the challenges and opportunities of education in the digital era.

Ultimately, this experience reminds us that educational transformation is not driven solely by technology, but by the human commitment to learn together, share knowledge, and build more open, equitable, and meaningful learning communities.

Yovanna Leija is part of the Student Fellows project. She is studying for a Master’s degree in Educational Innovation and Management at the Benemérita Escuela Normal de Coahuila, Mexico. She is interested in educational research, particularly in areas related to artificial intelligence, ethics and learning.

As student teachers from the Benemérita Escuela Normal de Coahuila in Mexico, participating in the UNOE Student Fellowship has been a valuable opportunity to explore current challenges and opportunities in education. One of the most meaningful experiences of this journey was organizing and hosting the webinar “Fair and Ethical Use of Artificial Intelligence in Assessment.”

Artificial intelligence is becoming increasingly present in educational environments. While AI offers important benefits, such as personalized feedback, learning support, and assistance with assessment processes, it also raises ethical concerns related to academic integrity, transparency, bias, privacy, and fairness. These issues motivated us to create a space for dialogue and reflection.

Organising the Webinar: “Fair and Ethical Use of Artificial Intelligence in Assessment.”

During the webinar, we had the opportunity to learn from speakers from different countries and educational contexts. Their perspectives helped us understand that ethical AI use is not only a technological matter but also a human one. Educators, students, and institutions all share responsibility for ensuring that AI is used in ways that support learning while respecting ethical principles.

One of the key ideas we discussed was the importance of developing clear guidelines and fostering digital ethics. Rather than viewing AI solely as a threat or a solution, we explored how it can be used responsibly to enhance assessment practices and support meaningful learning experiences.

Beyond the Event: Strengthening Essential Skills

Organizing this event also allowed us to strengthen our collaboration, communication, and leadership skills. Working with an international audience and engaging in conversations about global educational challenges reminded us of the importance of intercultural dialogue and collective learning.

This experience reinforced our belief that the future of education will require not only technological knowledge but also ethical awareness. As future educators, we recognize the importance of promoting responsible AI use and helping students develop the critical thinking skills needed to navigate an increasingly digital world.

We are grateful to the UNOE Student Fellowship, our speakers, and all participants who contributed to this enriching discussion. We hope that conversations about ethical AI in education continue to grow and inspire positive change in teaching and learning.

For the past several months, 26 students from nine different countries have been participating in the UNOE Student Fellows project, organized within our UNITWIN Network on Open Education.

Build a Global Community of Students

Supported by a grant from the Hewlett Foundation, the project aims to build a global community of students from the countries where our UNESCO Chairs are based. Together, they engage in discussions and develop new imaginaries about the future of advanced technologies in education and the role that “openness” can play in the future of higher education.

As project coordinators and Chairs of the network, we deliberately chose to intervene as little as possible in the fellows’ discussions and activities in order to preserve their freedom of expression. This has not always been easy. We have had to learn to trust them, step back, and create a space where ideas can emerge freely, without the influence or oversight of teachers and supervisors.

26 Fellows, 9 Countries, 7 languages

Nico Pampier, a student at the University of Cape Town in South Africa, took on the leadership of the group. It is no small challenge, given the nine countries represented, the multiple time zones, and the diversity of languages involved.

Indeed, seven home languages are spoken across the fellows. While this linguistic diversity inevitably brings challenges, participants consistently make every effort to communicate, collaborate, and engage actively in the monthly meetings and project activities.

They were given just one instruction: select a topic from the many proposals submitted by the Chairs. Beyond that, the fellows were free to organize their work, discussions, and initiatives as they saw fit.

Students then organized themselves into small groups of four to six members, each focusing on a shared theme. The result is a set of multinational, multilingual, and multicultural teams whose diversity promises a wealth of perspectives and ideas. We look forward to discovering their final outputs, which are expected by the end of 2026.

Some Initiatives by the Fellows

The students, however, did not simply wait for the project to unfold. They quickly embraced the responsibility entrusted to them and launched several initiatives of their own. Today, we are proud to present:

A first individual deliverable, entitled Rapport d’étonnement (literally, an “astonishment report” – a pedagogical exercise used in France)

This exercise encourages students to take a fresh and reflective look at education by focusing on something that surprised, intrigued, or challenged them. They are invited to adopt a curious perspective and allow themselves a degree of naivety—whether genuine or intentional—in order to question practices, assumptions, and routines that are often taken for granted.

These reports explore a wide range of inspiring topics: critical perspectives on the relationship between assessment and learning; questions surrounding the emergence of generative AI and its implications for the future of education; reflections on the challenges of accessing Open Educational Resources (OER); more personal stories on the factors that spark the desire to learn and to succeed.

Take a moment to refresh your perspective and explore their contributions.

A great initiative developed by the Student Fellows from Universidad de la República in Uruguay. Discover here the “FANZINE PAVO REAL”, a collaborative project designed to help students around the world discover Open Educational Resources (OER) and learn how to create, adapt, and share their own openly licensed materials.

A series of international collaborative webinars, entitled “Reimagining Learning: Global Student Dialogues for the Future.” The first webinar took place on 13 June, and two more webinars are scheduled for 20 and 27 June (registration link below). These webinars provide an opportunity for students to share their thoughts, experiences and visions for the future of education on a global scale.

• 13 June 2026: Innovative Education with AI and OER
• 20 June 2026, 17:00 (CEST): Fair and Ethical Use of Artificial Intelligence in Assessment
• 27 June 2026, 17:00 (CEST): Motivations for learning and AI influence

Register here for the webinars

A webinar by 3 Tunisian Fellows, entitled “Transforming Student Research into Multilingual Open Educational Resources.“ Mainly aimed at students, the webinar will outline the characteristics of an OER and encourage the students to apply open licences to their final-year dissertations.

• 19 June 2026, 19:00 (CEST) : Transforming Student Research into Multilingual Open Educational Resources

Register here for the webinar

These first achievements already demonstrate the creativity, commitment, and diversity of perspectives brought by the Student Fellows. Through their reflections, initiatives, and exchanges, they are helping to shape a pluralistic and international vision for the future of open education. We look forward to continuing this journey alongside them and to discovering the projects and outcomes that will emerge before the end of 2026.