Third ELaRA Conference 2024

"Technologies and Techniques to Support Sustainable Education in the Academic Sphere

PEDAGOGY 5.0 - Creativity, Entrepreneurship, Flexibility and Thinking Outside the Box

12 - 14 December 2024, TU-Sofia (in a hybrid mode)

The Fourth Industrial Revolution was and is still focused on the digitalisation of processes and the use of AI to increase productivity. Industry 5.0, on the other hand,  focuses on the human factor and the human as the centre of the production process. According to the new paradigm, technology should serve to the benefit of humans, and humans, in turn, should actively collaborate with machines. In other words, while Industry 4.0 is based on the relationship between machines and IT systems, Industry 5.0 brings together the strengths of humans and machines. 

Following this train of thought, and encouraged by the highly successful outcomes of our two previous conferences (held in December 2022 and December 2023), we are determined to further promote the dialogue about the future of teaching and learning in the field of higher education, (which will figuratively be called PEDAGOGY 5.0) at this year's edition of the forum Technologies and Techniques to Support Sustainable Education in the Academic Sphere which aims to explore the use of new technologies to provide more humanised teaching, with a focus on students' social and emotional development. We therefore believe that the title chosen "PEDAGOGY 5.0 - Creativity, Entrepreneurship, Flexibility and Thinking Outside the Box" offers ample opportunity for dialogue, discussion and reflection.

The rationale behind this forum is determined by our understanding that in the 21-st century, higher education must engage in an entirely different way of teaching, learning, and conducting research activities. The diverse range of social, economic and environmental challenges, along with the ever-increasing need for economic models that are sustainable and inclusive, call for creating different and innovative learning spaces conducive to the development and exchange of ideas. The goal is to bring education closer to technological advances already in use by society and companies, as well as to create more direct communication with new generations, who no longer can live without technology. Pedagogy 5.0 is the outgrowth of this idea. While not discarding the proposals of Pedagogy 4.0, it adds a more human perspective to learning, including a wide range of social and emotional abilities. Pedagogy 5.0 emphasises the development of well-rounded individuals with not only cognitive skills but also emotional intelligence, social awareness, and ethical values. It leverages technological advancements to personalise learning experiences, offers interactive content, and facilitates lifelong learning. 

Of equal importance is providing an inclusive stimulating and empowering environment where students should feel free to formulate their insights, challenge the status quo and engage in a critical dialogue supported by reasonable and practical arguments, thus developing the awareness that their views and opinions also matter. And more importantly, students should be encouraged to drive change and think of innovative ways to work together so as to identify multiple angles and solutions to problems, leading towards education that aligns with the transdisciplinary paradigm.

Learner-centred education refers to the opportunity for learners to be prepared as active citizens, able not only to gain and reproduce knowledge, but also to generate it under the guidance of a tutor, and to use this knowledge creatively and pragmatically for their own development, moving towards new innovative solutions for sustainable education.

An important fact that deserves to be highlighted here is that this event successfully maintains and continues the strong tradition established within the ELaRA framework of organising a series of insightful and inspiring scientific forums aimed at opening up new avenues of research. As already mentioned, our research event started in 2022, and we have already published our First book of the series Technologies and Techniques to Support Sustainable Education in the Academic Sphere (ELaRA Conference Proceedings) Please look here..

This research event seeks to encourage a critical dialogue between students, academics and researchers. We aim to promote the student voice within the context of sustainability with a student - centered approach.  It also intends to popularise, inspire and share best practices with the purpose of questioning and exploring how to further enhance the learning, teaching and research experience of academics, researchers and students in light of Education 5.0.

The event aims to offer a creative space vibrant with participants' voices debating over innovation and change, thus building a bridge between past achievements, knowledge and expertise, on the one hand, and further investigation, on the other. It is strongly believed that by drawing attention to key educational and pedagogical issues, this academic event will undoubtedly inspire each one of the participants with a clearer vision of the future developments in their respective professional and scientific fields. We are also convinced that the forum will be successful in communicating its message to wider audiences, thus generating stronger public interest by presenting an attractive image of modern science and education, empowered by the innovative technologies as an indispensable part of the teaching, learning and research process in the shared European educational area.

The thematic scope of the pedagogical forum covers a wide range of topical issues concerning the relationship between traditional and innovative pedagogy, as well as the place of the PhD student in the contemporary educational and research process in the digital age.

Our invitation is extended to all educators from technical and humanities higher education institutions who are willing to share their scholarly work and experience arising out of the applied and theoretical research in the field of higher education pedagogy, as well as to all those who take interest in the multiple issues and challenges that contemporary teaching and learning are facing: students, postgraduates, lecturers, young and established academics and researchers etc. who would like to share their vision of how learning can build on  creativity, entrepreneurship, flexibility and thinking outside the box.

The participation includes making a presentation (up to 15 minutes). Authors are asked to submit a title and an abstract (150 words) of their presentations by 30 November 2024  to the following e-mail address: dflal@tu-sofia.bg