Connect and collaborate with colleagues across the Faculty of Medicine, share expertise and contribute to strategic discussions on the future of digital education.
Our inaugural Digital Education Conference 2025 brought together colleagues from across the Faculty of Medicine for an exciting day of ideas, collaboration and innovation. The programme was packed with opportunities to learn, share and connect, while the atmosphere was one of energy and curiosity, with voices from across the community contributing to a dynamic exploration of digital education.
Highlights
The day was filled with highlights; to name but a few:
- A ‘Dragon’s Den’-style session gave daring innovators the chance to pitch their ideas to a panel of staff and student ‘Dragons’.
- A VR demonstration gave delegates the opportunity to try out immersive learning technologies first-hand.
- A panel discussion exploring digital education and inclusivity welcomed insights from a diverse panel of students, teaching fellows, library staff and inclusivity champions.
- A digital escape room activity encouraged teams to work together to solve problems and identify a series of digital accessibility faux-pas.
- A series of Ignite sessions offered delegates the chance to engage with an array of presentation topics, including:
- Collecting role models to diversify STEM stories
- Rethinking impact: why a short course could be your next big move
- Medical Students Playground - Digitally enhanced case-based learning
- Chatbots in neurology and neuroscience education (read the full paper here)
- The use of GenAI as a virtual patient for case-based learning (CBL) within clinical anatomy
- Schank on Education: What’s wrong with education?
- Ollama in Education: Local AI for saving time
- Learning through co-creation of digital education: staff perspectives
- Five fantastic under-utilised resources for digital education
Keynote
The keynote presentation, “Harnessing AI to advance education for sustainable development in medical education”, was delivered by Dr Maria Toro-Troconis.
Dr Toro-Troconis introduced the CoDesignS ESD Framework (CoDesignS ESD, 2021), an open educational resource endorsed by the UNESCO ESD Network (UNESCO, 2023). The framework simplifies the integration of sustainability into curriculum design, providing a pedagogic method using an inclusive co-design and co-creation approach (Ahmad et al., 2023; Toro-Troconis et al., 2023; Toro-Troconis et al., 2024; Varga-Atkins et al., 2024).
A wealth of international case studies has been developed to bring together diverse voices, disciplines, and perspectives, which can be explored through the links below:
To further enhance this work, and recognising the transformative potential of AI, Dr Toro-Troconis introduced the CoDesignS ESD AI Coach and supporting frameworks. These tools are designed to assist academics in embedding sustainability into their curricula while also exploring how AI can shape the future of medical education.
Click on the links below to find out more:
The keynote invited participants to reflect on the role of sustainability in higher education, its growing impact, and the opportunities presented by AI to transform both teaching and learning.
Wrap up
We’re already looking forward to the Digital Education Conference 2026, where we’ll have another chance to share ideas, learn from one another, and keep pushing forward with learning innovation in the Faculty of Medicine and beyond. See you there!