We are pleased to invite you to the AIED in Distance Education Workshop, taking place at IIIA-CSIC on Tuesday, December 2, 2025, from 11:00 to 13:00. The session will feature two keynotes: Isabelle Savard (TELUQ, Québec) on Agency in artificial intelligence for distance education at 11:00, and Marcelo Maina (UOC, Barcelona) presenting Gemini at the EdTech Master programme of the Catalan Open University at 11:40. A round table with Carles Sierra, Mireia Vendrell, Isabelle Savard, and Marcelo Maina, moderated by Margarida Romero, will follow at 12:10 to discuss AI in education: challenges and perspectives for supporting individual and collaborative learning in distance education.
Schedule:
11h Keynote. Isabelle Savard, TELUQ, Québec, Canada
Agency in artificial intelligence for distance education.
11h40 Keynote. Marcelo Maina, UOC, Barcelona
Gemini at the EdTech Master programme of the Catalan Open university (UOC).
12h10. Round Table and discussion with the audience. Carles Sierra, Mireia Vendrell, Isabelle Savard, Marcelo Maina, moderated by Margarida Romero
AI in education: challenges and perspectives for supporting individual and collaborative learning in (distance) education settings
13h End of the Session
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Full Professor, Department of Education, Teluq, Québec
Isabelle Savard is a Full Professor and Director of the Educational Technology and Distance Education programs at TÉLUQ University. She has 25 years of experience in instructional design. She received a Ph.D. in Cognitive Informatics from TÉLUQ-UQAM and held a Postdoctoral Position in Educational Technology at the Japan Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (JAIST). Her work deals primarily with instructional design, the study of cultural and contextual variables, techno-pedagogical innovation, health sciences pedagogy, competence development and distance learning/education.
Professor Savard completed her Ph.D. in Cognitive Informatics at TÉLUQ–UQAM in 2014. The title of her dissertation was “Modélisation des connaissances pour un design pédagogique intégrant les variables culturelles” (Knowledge modelling for an instructional design that integrates cultural variables). She earned her Master’s degree in Educational Technology at Laval University in 1996. Since then, she has held various positions, including working as a Teacher and Technology Integration Director in Zambia (Africa), as an Instructional Designer at the University of Ottawa’s Centre for Innovative Pedagogies and Digital Learning (CIPDL), and as an Associate Researcher at TÉLUQ University’s LICEF (Cognitive informatics and learning environment research laboratory) Research Centre, where her work focused on the quality of learning object repositories (LORs) and innovative instructional design models. She did her Ph.D. research internship at the Virtual Centre for Innovative Learning Technologies (VCILT) at the University of Mauritius, where she observed and analyzed instructional design practices. From January 2010 to January 2017, she worked as an Instructional Designer and Senior Pedagogical Advisor at Laval University’s Faculty of Medicine, where she supported the teaching staff and program managers in dealing with major program changes and implementing educational and technological innovations. She was also responsible for distance education and was the Assistant Director of the Short Graduate Program in Health Science Education.
Associate Professor, Psychology and Educational Sciences Department, Education and eLearning, EDUL@B Research Group in Education and ICT, UOC, Barcelona
Doctor by the Universitat Oberta de Catalunya with the thesis Design of pedagogical scenarios adapting the MISA method to the IMS LD specification 2010. Marcelo Fabián Maina research focuses on emerging technologies and innovative teaching methodologies aimed at designing forward-thinking learning environments and experiences. His primary research interests include design models and methods for learning, active pedagogies, personalised learning and personal learning environments, competence-based assessment and certification, open educational resources and practices, educational leadership, and the digital transformation of education. He also specialises in the training of educators, the management of digital learning projects, and conducting prospective studies on educational technologies and evolving learning scenarios. He is a member of the UOC’s Edul@b research group, which explores the intersection of education and ICT.