AECT Awards and Keynote: Unlocking the Potential to Become More Human

Full Session: Governance Meeting

Short Description

Keynote Abstract: At the intersection of tradition and modernity, the contemporary education landscape requires that we grapple with the juxtaposition of technological advancements, and deep-seated human values and ancient wisdom. This presentation questions uncritical uses of the state-of-the-art educational tools, such as augmented reality, virtual learning, and AI, as to whether and how they can serve our intrinsic human needs for connection, creativity, empathy, and collaboration. Emphasizing the importance of maintaining authentic human interactions in an increasingly digital realm, it underscores the role of indigenous teachings in enriching education. These teachings, which prioritize community, holistic understanding, and interconnectivity, can enhance our digital tools, creating a more balanced learning experience. If we want technology to authentically support teaching and learning practices that help us realize a more profound human potential in our digital era while staying rooted in ancestral lessons, we must examine, disrupt, and transform our tendencies to uncritically embrace technological innovations.

Speaker: Dr. Angelina Dayton is the Executive Director at the Virtual World Society and an Aspen Institute Tech Policy Fellow. She was recently named one of the Top 100 Women of the Future. She is a virtual reality researcher, user experience designer, speaker, consultant and trainer. Her specialty is design and deployment of XR and AI technologies into complex organizations for the purpose of large-scale deployment and mass adoption. Her expertise in human computer interaction is based on an anthropological assessment of how best to integrate emerging technology into highly structured, low-resourced environments. She has worked with over 50,000 first time virtual reality users to create an XR and AI-skilled workforce.
Dr. Dayton's research focuses on creating an efficient and productive XR and AI-skilled workforce through understanding the environments in which people thrive. Some of her current passion projects involve XR and AI development and training in rural communities within indigenous communities.

Sub Unit

• AECT

Chairs

• Joi Moore, University of Missouri

• Tutaleni I. Asino, Oklahoma State University

• Amy C Bradshaw, University of Oklahoma

Facilitator

• Mohammad Shams Ud Duha, Purdue University