Different innovative solutions, especially using digital technologies and media, have become among the main factors driving the most significant change in educational practice. According to UNESCO (2023), "the COVID-19 pandemic has pushed education out of schools and into educational technology at a historically unprecedented pace and scale. For hundreds of millions of students, formal learning has become completely dependent on technology - digital devices connected to the internet, TVs or radios”.
Innovative solutions are also becoming one of the critical elements defining features of the school of the future. For example, the relationship between people and technology is visible in the four OECD scenarios for the future of schooling (Back to the Future of Education, 2020). In particular, one of the four scenarios is called “Learn-as-you-go,” which prompts reflection on what it might mean if society turned fully to the power of machines, i.e., artificial intelligence, virtual and augmented reality, and the Internet of Things, to create new human-machine interfaces. In this scenario, technology is seen as something that can not only bring innovation in educational practice but also replace educational professionals and is closely linked to the child's agency. Technology in the future school might organize, teach, educate, and, above all, determine the relationship between the human being and its environment.
Educational researchers and New London Group conveners Mary Kalantzis and Bill Cope (2015) argued that using technology and media in educational practice is not an innovative solution. However, an essential aspect of new media and new technologies is that they can promote learner participation and engagement, which, as these authors put it, creates potential opportunities for practices of the ‘New Learning’ in schools. Different technologies such as board or computer games, virtual reality, and artificial intelligence can promote ubiquitous learning, multimodality, active knowledge-making, recursive feedback, metacognition, and opportunities for differentiated learning.
So, what innovations do different technologies and media bring to educational practice? How can teachers apply specific innovative solutions in the classroom, and what possible results can they expect? What is the role of teachers in achieving innovative solutions in teaching/learning practice? What are the potential challenges and threats that these innovations may bring? These questions will be the focus of this scientific-practical conference. The first day of the conference will offer the opportunity to hear the insights and practices of Lithuanian and foreign researchers in applying innovative solutions. It will stimulate discussion on the opportunities and challenges of innovative solutions. Meanwhile, the second day of the conference will be dedicated to workshops and discussions on specific innovative solutions in different Lithuanian schools that researchers and practitioners will lead.
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"Optimization of the network of higher education institutions and improvement of the quality of studies by merging Šiauliai University and Vilnius University” (No. 09.3.1-ESFA-V-738-03-0001). The project is funded by the European Social Fund.