Based on the ETHLAE project research, the consensus among practitioners is clear: technological innovation must go together with inclusion and combine digital tools with traditional teaching methods. Technology should be used according to the context and needs of learners.
Best practices come from across several European countries and inform the adult education sector on how to effectively embed emerging technologies into learning. But training is desperately needed. Educators are not always ready to include digital technologies in teaching. An OECD study shows that in 2018 less than 40% of educators across the Member States felt ready to use digital technologies in teaching contexts.
Let’s explore some useful tools and courses to support educators gathered by the ETHLAE project.
Guides for educators
Faktabaari launched an AI guide for teachers. This guide aims to provide teachers and other education practitioners with information about AI. Besides introducing the main tools and how generative AI works, it showcases the main challenges and whether AI can contribute to creativity. The guide is available in English, Finnish and Swedish.
The European Commission also published the Ethical guidelines on the use of artificial intelligence (AI) and data in teaching and learning for educators in 2022. The document should support educators and education providers to understand the application of AI and to critically think about its implications.
MOOCs and online courses
The All Digital Academy platform currently offers self-paced MOOCs about the Internet of Things (IoT), Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Generative AI in Education. The courses are self-administered and available in English. After completing the modules, participants should feel more confident in setting up and delivering courses and learning experiences on AI and IoT for adult learners. A new self-paced course was realised by the UNESCO Institute for Lifelong Learning: Digital Empowerment for Adult Educators in the Age of AI and Emerging Technologies, available on the UIL Learning Hub.
Articles
The Adult Education magazine in Austria issued in June 2025 compiles interesting articles regarding AI and adult education. This edition gathers successful applications of AI tools, explains technical functions, presents course concepts for building AI literacy, and reflects on social impacts.
In Switzerland, the University of Geneva published an article on basic skills and digitalisation in education. Research developed in the framework of the DORA project included focus groups with adult learners. It showed the different barriers adults face: access, negative associations with technology use, outreach and motivation challenges.
Digital technologies are a part of our daily life and the way we learn, absorb information and communicate it. To successfully include them in learning contexts, and with these rapid changes, educators need support and training. Educators need resources to be lifelong learners and continue gathering updated information on emerging technologies, and time to reflect, learn from each other and adapt best practices to their contexts and sectors.
Follow the ETHLAE project for more! We will soon publish an easy-to-use wiki full of resources for educators and education providers on emerging technologies.
ETHLAE – Emerging Technologies for Holistic Literacy in Adult Education (Project: 101184061 — ERASMUS-EDU-2024-PCOOP-ENGO). Funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the European Education and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA). Neither the European Union nor EACEA can be held responsible for them.
Text: Maria Gonçalves Ribeiro, Silvia Castro