Left to right: Dr Carina Ginty, Head T&L and DigitalEd Conference Chair, Olga Vaughan DigitalEd Conference Co-ordinator
ATU’s annual DigitalEd25 conference, now in its 5th year, was first established in 2020. Originally funded by the HEA innovation transformation fund under the iNOTE program, it has also been supported by the N-TUTORR Transforming Learning TU Sector collaborative program in 2023 and 2024. This year the conference forms part of the National Forum for the enhancement of Teaching and Learning SATLE funded activities at ATU.
This popular annual hybrid ATU conference brings together educators, researchers and practitioners working in digital education and transformation across Higher Education in Ireland and internationally.
This year the DigitalEd25 conference had a particular focus on assessment and artificial intelligence (AI) and designing learning for the future with 250+ participants from across the sector. An international keynote address was delivered by Professor Phillip (Phill) Dawson, who is well known for his research on feedback, cheating and artificial intelligence in assessment. The second keynote address was led by Associate Professor Sue Beckingham and Professor Peter Hartley who shared a collection of case stories from the book ‘Using Generative AI Effectively in Higher Education,’ published in 2024.
Parallel conference sessions provided a wide range of discipline showcases including educators and students from across ATU and the HE sector in Ireland including DKIT, MTU, SETU, IADT, UCC, UCD and the University of Galway. The conference sessions explored Assessment in the Age of AI, Digital Transformation in Teaching and Learning, Immersive Learning and Digital Pedagogies plus ATU colleagues who recently completed their MA in Teaching and Learning Applied projects. To conclude the day, a Gasta session took place, expertly chaired by Dr Tom Farrelly from MTU. As always, the Gasta was entertaining and memorable! The book of abstracts is available HERE.
Dr Carina Ginty and DigitalEd Conference Chair “Annually DigitalEd at ATU provides a platform to delve into the digital transformation theme, the AI challenges, and opportunities, plus the digital innovation and student success activities happening across the sector. Contributions from the day helps us pave the way for transformative change in learning and teaching.”
You can access all the conference outputs, check out https://www.digitaled.ie/webinars-events/atu-digitaled-conference-2025/ or DigitalEd.ie
Participants of the MA T&L Applied programme showcasing their innovative projects at DigitalEd25: Dr Doru Boblea (Engineering), Dr Gabriela Gliga (Business) and Dr Luca Mirimin (Science) with supervisor and programme developer from the Teaching and Learning Centre, Annette Cosgrove, Lecturer in Digital T&L and Dr Carina Ginty, Head T&L.
N-TUTORR Transforming Learning programme (2022-2025) leadership team members from across the TU sector catching up at DigitalEd 2025: Ken McCarthy (SETU), Frances O’Connell (TUS), Dr Carina Ginty (ATU), Prof. Jacqueline McCormack (ATU), Dr Hazel Farrell (SETU).
