Dr. Lourdes Guàrdia addresses the role of emerging technologies and AI in engineering education at the Universidad Simón Bolívar, Colombia

Dr. Lourdes Guàrdia from the Edul@b Research Group, Research Centre on the Futures of Education in the Digital Era (UOC-FuturEd), was an invited keynote speaker for the second consecutive year at the “2nd Virtual Education in Engineering Gathering“, organized by the Universidad Simón Bolívar in Cúcuta, Colombia.

Her conference, titled “Tecnologías emergentes en ingeniería virtual: enfoques y estrategias para la mejora educativa” (Emerging technologies in virtual engineering: approaches and strategies for educational enhancement), addressed the evolution of online education and the transformation of educational models driven by the possibilities offered by digital technologies—particularly generative artificial intelligence (GenAI). The session placed special emphasis on the importance of learning design as a strategic element to create innovative, active, flexible, and student-centred learning experiences, as well as on the trends and frameworks guiding the transformation of higher education.

The talk also explored the potential of emerging technologies and their practical applications within engineering education, presenting real-world examples and research/innovation projects that integrate GenAI into learning design. Finally, she outlined some of the key pedagogical, technological, and ethical challenges arising from this transition, highlighting the need to advance toward educational models that balance technological innovation with pedagogical rigor, inclusion, and the development of core competencies for emerging professional contexts.