IEEE DEMOcon Digital Education and MOOCs International Conference 2026 at UPT: June 24-26
Politehnica University of Timișoara, through the Department of ID/IFR and Digital Education, has the honor of hosting the 12th edition of IEEE DEMOcon – Digital Education and MOOCs International Conference, in period June 24 – 26, 2026.
The event is organized through collaboration between IEEE Education Society, EMOOCs and he Politehnica University of Timișoara, Romania (UPT). 12th edition of the international conference IEEE DEMOcon (Digital Education and MOOCs) marks the merger between the conference IEEE Learning with MOOCs (LWMOOCs) and the European summit EMOOCs, bringing together the two communities in one large-scale event
Under the main theme „"Digital Education Ecosystems: Leveraging MOOCs, Artificial Intelligence, and Micro-Credentials"”, the program includes dedicated sections micro-credentials, the use of AI, the role of digital education in development European University Alliances, open educational resources (OER) and the evolution of courses MOOC.
Agenda
Prezentări Keynote
Programul evenimentului include o serie de sesiuni plenare pe subiecte de interes pentru comunitatea academica, susținute de specialiști internaționali:
- 24 iunie | 09:00-10:30:
Plenary Welcome and Opening Session, urmată de o prezentare Keynote susținută de prof.dr. Arnold Pears (președinte al IEEE Education Society): AI Integration in Higher Education: A Roadmap and Discussion
- 25 iunie | 09:00-10:30:
Plenary Keynote session, susținută de Ella Hamonic (IIEP-UNESCO): Navigating AI’s Frictions in Education
- 26 iunie | 11:00-12:00
Sesiunea de încheiere (Closing session), care va găzdui panelul plenar "Digital experiences in European Universities Alliances”.
Participarea la sesiunile Plenare este GRATUITĂ.
Speakers
Diana Andone
Director of the ID/IFR and Digital Education Department
Dr. Diana Andone is Director of the Department of Digital Education and Distance Education at Politehnica University Timișoara, coordinating the strategy and implementation of digital education and through the UPT Virtual Campus. Associate Professor in Multimedia and Web Technologies, she has extensive international research activity, with over 17 books, 150 scientific papers, 12 "Best Paper" awards and editorial roles in IEEE journals. She is an invited speaker at numerous conferences and has led over 30 international research and education projects. She is a member of the IEEE Education Society Board (2021-2023), Vice President of IEEE EdSoc (2024-2027), former Vice President of EDEN (2018-2021) and member of the EUA Digital Transformation Committee. She has received the EDEN Senior Fellow, IEEE Distinguished Chapter Leadership and IEEE Distinguished Lecturer distinctions, as well as various national distinctions for digital transformation. Promotes open education, OER and MOOCs through the UniCampus platform, as well as the responsible use of generative artificial intelligence in education.
Radu Vasiu
University professor, PhD engineer
Ro: Prof.Em.univ.dr.ing. Radu Vasiu is the former President of the Senate of Politehnica University Timișoara and the Director of the Multimedia Research Center. He is also a professor at the Faculty of Electronics, Telecommunications and Information Technologies of Politehnica University Timișoara. His recent research focuses on e-learning, multimedia, web technologies, open data and smart cities. He has published 12 books and presented over 100 papers at various international conferences. He has participated in 28 international research and cooperation projects and is part of 7 international professional associations.
Carmen Holotescu
Rector of the "Ioan Slavici" University of Timișoara
Carmen Holotescu is a professor, rector of the "Ioan Slavici" University in Timisoara, with a PhD in new technologies and open education. She has participated in many European projects and has extensive experience in the design and implementation of learning and collaborative platforms based on open pedagogies. She has written over 100 articles and chapters/books related to eLearning/Blended Learning, Social Media, Open Educational Resources (OER), Massive Open Online Courses (MOOC), Blockchain, mentioned in over 2,500 citations. She is a certified online instructor of the University of Maryland University College, USA, facilitating online courses at this university for 12 years.
Arnold Pears
Professor, Chair of the Department of Engineering Sciences, School of Industrial Technology, KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm, Sweden
Prof. Arnold Pears is the Chair of the Department of Learning in Engineering Sciences at the School of Industrial Technology. His research in engineering education contributes to a deep understanding of how engineering should be taught, considering the needs of global societies and cultures. He emphasizes that engineering education goes beyond the mere accumulation of technical knowledge, encompassing a broad spectrum of professional practices, competencies, and the ability to apply technical knowledge for the benefit of humanity and society. A major current challenge for him is exploring mechanisms to connect more young people with technology and engineering, helping them find the study of STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) more meaningful and relevant
Carlos Delgado Kloos
Universidad Carlos III of Madrid
Dr. Carlos Delgado Kloos a studiat Ingineria Telecomunicațiilor la Universitatea Tehnică din Madrid și Informatica la Universitatea Tehnică din München. Este profesor titular de Inginerie Telematică la Universitatea Carlos III din Madrid, unde ocupă, de asemenea, funcțiile de șef de catedră, director al grupului de cercetare GAST și director al Catedrei UNESCO privind „Educația digitală scalabilă pentru toți”. Anterior, a ocupat funcțiile de delegat al rectorului pentru microcertificări digitale, prorector pentru strategie și educație digitală, prorector pentru infrastructuri și mediu, prorector asociat pentru relații internaționale și cooperare, precum și șef fondator al departamentului său. A efectuat stagii de cercetare la mai multe universități, precum Harvard, MIT, München, Passau și Napoli.
Principalele sale domenii de interes în cercetare se încadrează în domeniul tehnologiei educaționale. A participat la numeroase proiecte de cercetare și este autorul a peste 600 de publicații. Recent, a lucrat la proiecte privind cursurile MOOC, analiza datelor de învățare, formarea cadrelor didactice, micro-certificările și inteligența artificială. În calitate de coordonator al proiectului CertiDigital (certidigital.es), a jucat un rol esențial în promovarea adoptării micro-certificărilor digitale în Spania, în conformitate cu cadrele de referință europene. În plus, a coordonat mai multe cursuri MOOC pe platforme precum edX și MiríadaX, inclusiv unul despre programarea în Java, care a înregistrat aproximativ 700.000 de înscrieri. Cel mai recent, a înregistrat un curs MOOC despre IA pentru predare și învățare, disponibil pe Federica Weblearning și Coursera.
Thomas Staubitz
German University of Digital Science
Thomas Staubitz is Professor of Educational Technology and Social Learning at the German University of Digital Science. He teaches several online courses on software development to students with diverse academic backgrounds and varying levels of prior experience. He holds a bachelor’s and a master’s degree in International Media and Computer Science, as well as a doctorate in Internet Technologies and Systems. His research focus is on the delivery of such courses in a scalable way. Before joining the German University of Digital Science in 2024, he served as a Senior Lecturer at the Hasso Plattner Institute’s openHPI MOOC platform for over a decade. In this role, he was involved in a broad range of projects in collaboration with industry and public-sector partners, including SAP and the World Health Organization, as well as in publicly funded national and European research initiatives. At openHPI, he taught several MOOCs on Java programming and contributed to the design and production of numerous additional courses in collaboration with faculty members and students. Within this context, he also completed his doctoral dissertation on the assessment of team-based, gradable assignments in large-scale learning environments.
DEMOcon Summer School (PhD/Master/educators/researchers)
June 21–24, 2026, Timisoara, Romania
Contact: democon@ieee.org
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