On 5 June 2024, the administrators of Sukhothai Thammathirat Open University (STOU), led by Asst. Prof. Dr. Phanompatt Smitananda, Acting President of STOU, participated in the ICDE Leadership Summit 2024 in Geneva, Switzerland. Other members included Asst. Prof. Dr. Gan Chanyawudhiwan, Acting Vice-President for Academic Services, Cultural Preservation, and International Affairs, and Mrs. Rattip Phukkeson, Acting Director of the Department of International Affairs.
The ICDE Leadership Summit is a leadership-focused international conference that explores contemporary challenges and opportunities facing today’s educational leaders and innovators in the globally connected digital era. The Summit offers a vibrant, inclusive space for unique networking and development opportunities. The 2024 Summit focused on the theme “Ethical Leadership in the Age of AI: Rethinking Futures of Education”. During the workshop sessions, Dr. Phanompatt exchanged views and experiences on the use of AI in STOU’s teaching and learning. The discussion focused on several key areas such as copyright infringement detection, research ethics, generative AI for text-to-speech, and English closed captions for video lectures.
The first-day event also included the Plenary Session featuring a themed opening panel. The key points from the session are as follows:
- Higher education requires leaders who are ethical, responsible, and honest, and who consider the impact of AI on knowledge and understanding, education systems, and human existence.
- AI can lead to division, so there is a need to raise awareness and promote ethics rather than focusing on technology.
- Digital innovation must go hand in hand with lifelong learning, with an emphasis on critical media literacy to address bias and injustice, and adapting AI to develop relationships, critical thinking, emotions, and education.
- Education is a fundamental foundation for building cross-cultural cooperation, exchanging ideas, and fostering good relations between humanity.
Sukhothai Thammathirat Open University took this opportunity to promote the upcoming 2nd International Conference of Digital Business, Society & Economy (ICDBSE 2024) at the event. The conference will be held on November 13-14, 2024, at STOU under the theme “Innovation and Technology Towards Sustainability and Lifelong Learning.” STOU is co-hosting
the conference with Asia Pacific University of Technology and Innovation (APU), Malaysia. The conference is supported by a network of partners, including UNESCO, SEAMEO, ICDE, and AAOU. For more information, please visit the conference website.
