The Telos Forum 2024 became a fundamental space to analyse the impact of artificial intelligence (AI) on education and the challenges of adapting education systems to meet the challenges of the 21st century. Moderated by Magdalena Brier López-Guerrero, CEO of ProFuturo, the discussion brought together experts such as Charles Fadel, founder of the Center for Curriculum Redesign; Nieves Segovia Bonet, Chairwoman and CEO of SEK International Schools; and Miguel Costa García, Head of Institutional Relations of the Foundation Empieza Por Educar.
Redesigning education for the future
Charles Fadel highlighted the urgency of redesigning educational curricula, questioning the relevance of traditional content versus more relevant skills such as data science or digital ethics. According to Fadel, “education systems are anchored in a nineteenth-century model, designed for an industrial world that no longer exists.” The solution, he said, lies in teaching students to learn independently, enabling them to adapt to the constant changes in society and the labour market: “Change must start from the bottom up: rethinking not only what we teach, but how we teach.”
Nieves Segovia stressed that education must balance the use of technology with human development. AI, she said, can free teachers from repetitive tasks, allowing them to focus on their work as mentors and guides. “The biggest change will be that the student goes from knowing how to answer to knowing how to ask,” he said, stressing the importance of encouraging curiosity and critical thinking, because “transforming education is not just making adjustments here and there. It’s understanding the system as a whole!”
Miguel Costa focused on equity and universal access to technology, stressing that “teachers in the 21st century must lead this change; they must be active protagonists”. He pointed out how the pandemic exacerbated the deep digital gaps, and emphasised the importance of teacher training in digital skills to ensure effective use of technology in the classroom. In addition, Costa advocated a demanding and ambitious education, stressing that the socioeconomic context of students should not be a limit, but a motivation to transform their opportunities.
The power of co-learning
The forum concluded with an optimistic vision about the future of education: AI, used responsibly, can be a transformative tool to make education more inclusive, personalised and ethical. “Technology should not dehumanise teaching, but be a bridge to more personalised and ethical learning,” Segovia said.
Magdalena Brier closed the discussion with a key reflection: the real challenge is not only that students learn, but that, “children and teachers will learn to learn at the same time. That will be the key to facing the educational challenges of the future”. This principle of co-learning, deemed essential for the education of the future, opens the doors to closer collaboration between teachers and students, fostering a mutual teaching-learning process. She concluded by calling for collective action, stressing that only with joint effort can we build more inclusive, innovative and resilient education systems, capable of facing the challenges of tomorrow.
This event reaffirms ProFuturo’s commitment to educational innovation, its mission to reduce the digital gap and its vision of a fairer future, one in which education is the key to transforming realities. Find out more about the ideas shared at the 2024 Telos Forum.
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