Track Co-Chairs
Ana Hol, Western Sydney University
Jayan Kurian, University of Technology Sydney
Elena Vlahu-Gjorgievska, University of Wollongong
Track Description
Educators and education systems around the world are re-evaluating the knowledge and skills students need to succeed and lead in a rapidly changing and increasingly complex environment. One of the greatest challenges facing humanity is the need to adapt and operate within the limits of a single planet, aligning development with sustainability. At the same time, rapid advancements in digital technologies are reshaping the nature of work and learning. Generative AI technologies such as ChatGPT are transforming how students learn, how educators teach, and how assessment is designed and evaluated.
In this evolving landscape, the role of educators is increasingly centred on delivering transformational learning experiences that equip graduates with the capabilities to adapt, think critically, and lead in dynamic, technology-enabled environments. This aligns with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, particularly SDG 4: Quality Education, which emphasises inclusive, equitable, and lifelong learning opportunities. Achieving this requires ensuring that learners acquire the knowledge, skills, and values needed to contribute to sustainable development.
To instigate meaningful change and innovation, Information Systems (IS) educators must embrace these challenges. This involves preparing graduates not only for emerging opportunities in the digital economy but also for broader roles as knowledgeable, agile, and innovative contributors to society. IS education must continuously re-evaluate its curriculum and pedagogical approaches, as well as the integration of emerging technologies (e.g., generative AI, personalised learning, smart education systems), to enhance student experience, promote social equity, and respond to evolving global contexts.
This track aims to explore new educational models, content, and innovative uses of technology to support the development of essential 21st-century skills, ensuring that IS graduates are highly employable. It also seeks to identify best practices that enable educators to design adaptive, inclusive, and sustainable curricula and pedagogies across a variety of delivery modes, including face-to-face, online, blended, and hybrid learning environments. We welcome high-quality submissions employing diverse research methods, including papers focused on curriculum innovation, pedagogical design and broader economic and societal dimensions of IS education, as well as practice-based and teaching case contributions.
Topics of interest include, but are not limited to:
- Innovative and emerging curriculum principles, pedagogy, design, planning, implementation, practices, and evaluation, including augmented and virtual reality and blockchain
- Novel digital learning applications (e.g., learning analytics, artificial intelligence technologies, intelligent tutoring systems, conversational agents, gamification, visualisation, interactive technologies) for smart education
- Micro-credentialing and lifelong learning aligned with evolving industry and societal needs
- Work Integrated Learning, Industry – Academia collaborations
- Generative AI and opportunities for teaching, grading and the future curriculum
- Mobile and digital educational practices (online, hybrid, flexible delivery)
- Multi- and interdisciplinary approaches to IS education in digitally connected environments
- Sustainability, social and cultural considerations (including Indigenous perspectives), gender equality, and global opportunities and challenges in IS education
- Innovation and entrepreneurship in IS education
- Low-code and no-code approaches in IS education
- Emergent approaches for sustainable and adaptive IS education
- Creative, experiential, and transformational learning approaches
- IS education responding to rapidly changing environments
- Case studies, business simulations (including digital twins), and tools for design