Conference programme

Professor Miles Berry

Generative AI and academic writing: Baymax or Terminator?

Artificial intelligence (AI) is rapidly reshaping higher education, offering new ways to support learning and research while raising complex ethical questions. Tools such as large language models can democratise access to personalised, tutorial-style learning and streamline academic tasks, from literature reviews to writing support.
Yet these opportunities come with risks. Academic misconduct, fabricated data, and AI “hallucinations” threaten integrity, while questions of authorship and responsible use remain unresolved. Environmental costs and debates over AI in assessment add further challenges.
This keynote explores how higher education can harness AI’s potential without losing sight of core academic values. By guiding staff and students to engage critically and ethically, institutions can ensure AI enhances, rather than undermines, learning and scholarship.

Biography

Miles is Professor of Computing Education at the University of Roehampton, where he runs the secondary PGCE in computing course, teaches on the University's digital media and social science research methods degrees, and is a member of the University's AI development and innovation group. Prior to joining Roehampton, he spent 18 years in four schools, much of the time as an ICT coordinator and most recently as a head teacher.
He helped write England's national curriculum computing programmes of study. He gave evidence to the House of Lords AI select committee, was an expert advisor to the US-based AI4K12 project, and supported Georgian universities in developing academic integrity policies. Miles chairs the BCS England computing curriculum committee, and until recently was chair of the National Centre for Computing Education's academic board. He is in demand for keynotes and workshops in the UK and internationally.

Ishan Kolhatkar

Beyond the Essay: Embedding Oral Assessment as a Core Discipline for Future-Ready Graduates

The old adage that two things can be true holds here. This keynote does not argue for the abolition of written assessment, nor that it be diminished to almost insignificance. Both written and oral skills are crucially important to graduates. So let’s ensure that they are taught both and are assessed using both methods in a meaningful way.

Assessment in higher education is predominantly based on the written word. From early schooling through to university, we ask students to demonstrate knowledge and application almost exclusively through writing. This has produced comfort, confidence, and capability in written assessment, but also an imbalance. In the workplace, in public life, and in professional practice, it is spoken and written communication that shapes influence, collaboration, and leadership. If we want graduates who are genuinely future-ready, oral assessment must become a core discipline within higher education, not an occasional or specialist exception. Future-ready is more than ready for the world of work. It’s part of the wider remit we share for graduate outcomes as a member of society.

In this keynote, I argue that it is time for the sector to move beyond written assessment. While there is a movement towards more oral assessment, it can’t and won’t reach the critical mass required without systematic institutional backing, or perhaps even making it a mandatory part of a varied assessment diet. We need to reshape the norm away from ‘Written, but you can do something different’, to requiring a variety that includes oral assessment until it becomes part of a new norm.

Oral assessment, from structured micro-vivas to dialogic examinations, presentations, and professional conversations, offers rich evidence of understanding, builds student confidence and identity, and develops capabilities different and complementary to producing written work.

Drawing on my background as a Barrister and keynote presenter, I will explore why fear of speaking is not a personal failing but an inevitable product of not making oral assessment a central pillar of education. We have built a system where teaching people how to write and improve their writing is normalised, but not how to present.

While universities can act now to rebalance assessment, long-term change requires us to recognise how deeply this imbalance is rooted in schooling. If we want learners who can think, articulate, collaborate, and challenge ideas in an AI-shaped world, we must design assessment that helps them develop and use their voices on a par with how they express themselves on a page.

Biography

Ishan is the Global Client Evangelist at Inspera and an education technology leader. With over a decade of experience in the intersection of technology and education, Ishan is committed to driving positive change and inspiring the adoption of modern assessment methodologies worldwide.
Before joining Inspera, Ishan was a legal academic following a career as a Barrister. He was Deputy Dean of Learning and Teaching and Director of EdTech which led to him purchasing and implementing Inspera. He has a deep understanding of how pedagogy needs to be enabled by technology through experience before and while at Inspera. He was on the Department for Education T-Level panel for law. Ishan is an internationally recognised industry expert in education, digital assessment, digital transformation, digital enablement and change management.
As an author, Ishan writes for national and international education publications such as Times Higher Education. He has been a speaker at numerous leading education conferences, including Assessment in Higher Education and Association for Learning Technology, THE Campus Live and THE Digital Universities in the UK, MENA, Asia and ANZ, EDUtech Asia and ANZ, InstructureCon and CanvasCon, and a number of University run events across the globe. Away from work, Ishan's a keen amateur chef, posting pictures of his food online.

Professor Irwin King

Title:

The critical role of AI in learning analytics and assessment in the future of education

Overview:

The increasing adoption of AI in higher education presents both opportunities and challenges for institutions, teachers, and students. As AI-driven tools for personalised learning and alternative assessment approaches are poised to replace or transform traditional methods, this presentation delves into the transformative impact of AI on the future of education. We will explore current trends in learning and assessment, examining how AI technology is redefining these practices. This presentation aims to provide a comprehensive understanding of how AI is reshaping assessment practices and driving the future of educational success, catering to learners, educators, administrators, and policymakers.

Bio:

Irwin has a diverse research portfolio in machine learning, social computing, artificial intelligence, and data mining. His scholarly contributions include publications in prestigious journals and editorial board memberships with international publishers. He has received numerous accolades, including Test of Time Awards at ACM CIKM, ACM SIGIR, and ACM WSDM, and the Dennis Gabor Award from INNS for his pioneering work in machine learning within social computing. As a Fellow of ACM, IEEE, AAAI, INNS, and HKIE, he has demonstrated exceptional leadership in the field.

Irwin has held significant positions, including President of the International Neural Network Society and General Co-chair for premier international conferences like WebConf, ACML, and RecSys. He is also the Director of the ELearning Innovation and Technology Centre, the Trustworthy Machine Intelligent Joint Lab, and the Machine Intelligence and Social Computing Lab. His academic journey began with a Bachelor of Science degree from Caltech, followed by a MSc and Doctor of Philosophy in Computer Science from the University of Southern California.