Book of speakers
Current Trends in Digitalization in Higher Education: A Czech and PROFFORMANCE Perspective
Mgr. Tomáš Barták, Policy officer at the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports
My professional interests focus on developing the quality of teaching and learning in higher education in the context of teaching innovation and student engagement. At the same time, I try to bring these elements into the field of internationalization of universities or curricula. In the field of innovation in teaching, I need to focus on the connection to practice and application in the context of key competences for the future.
Enabling Life Long Learning through Massive Open Online Courses
Claudia Moessenlechner is a professor and the head of the Learning Solutions Center at MCI | The Entrepreneurial School® (Austria) |, as well as the deputy head of the MCI Academic Council. She has been engaged in the field of teaching and higher education for over a quarter of a century.
Dr. Moessenlechner teaches courses on leadership, self-leadership, and communication at the master's and bachelor's levels. Her primary research interests are in the design, exploration, and analysis of teaching and learning scenarios, both on campus and online. Her research is centered on the examination of educational technology as a novel ecosystem for learning and the associated discourse patterns in the context of teaching.
In her capacity as the head of MCI Learning Solutions, Prof. Moessenlechner bears responsibility for the development and supervision of eLearning solutions, including curriculum development. She has conceptualized eLearning frameworks and concepts for tertiary and higher education and has designed and overseen the implementation of the main didactical eLearning framework utilized by MCI.
Moreover, she has considerable experience as an examiner and accreditor for higher education programs and universities, having collaborated with numerous European Accreditation Agencies. She has been an active member of the Teaching Committee of the Austrian University of Applied Sciences Conference for an extended period. In 2023, Claudia Moessenlechner served as a panel member in the Educause Horizon Expert Panel.
Middle Ages in 21st Century Teaching
Kosana Jovanović graduated at the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences in Rijeka with the dual graduate study of history and philosophy. After graduating, she enrolled in MA program of medieval studies at the Central European University (CEU) in Budapest. In 2017, at the postgraduate doctoral study of medieval studies at the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences in Zagreb, she defended her doctoral dissertation with summa cum laude.
Since 2009 she is employed at the Department of History at the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences in Rijeka, first as an TA, then as an Assistant professor and from 2023 as an Associate professor. She is the author of two books and co-editor of several collections of papers and booklet of abstracts. She has published several scientific papers and reviews, as well as presented at domestic and international scientific conferences and participated in the organizing committee of several scientific conferences with international participation.
From 2018 to 2020, she was the project manager of the Ceremonies and Ceremonial Communication project financed by the Initial Grants of the University of Rijeka, and she is a collaborator on one domestic and two international project. From 2020 to 2023 she was the project manager of the EU ESF project UP.03.1.1.04.0053 History, History of Art, Italian Studies, German Studies - development, improvement and implementation of professional practice (PerPeTuUm aGile).
Areas of her research interests include general history of the Middle Ages, ceremonies and rituals related to power, everyday life in the Middle Ages and chivalric culture and digital humanities.
Virtual Visiting Professors
doc. Ing. Jan Vlachý, Ph.D. associate professor at University of Chemistry and Technology in Prague, Faculty of business
The Virtual Visiting Professors project coordinator spent 25 years of his professional career in the domestic and international finance industry, gradually assuming responsibility for Treasury, Risk Management, Financial Markets and General Management. He was personally involved in numerous IPO and Structured Finance transactions, as well as in corporate reorganizations and the implementation of the EU Capital Requirements Directive. More recently, he pursued an academic career with research and teaching interests in Finance, Risk Management and Economic History. He also took responsibility for the development and management of international projects and study programs at the University of Chemistry and Technology Prague School of Business. He is the author of numerous books and papers and, given his background, takes a particular interest in connecting academic teaching to practice, both in terms of its content and learning methods.
Embracing AI to Benefit Everyone in the Long Run
Joanna Szoke, Lecturer in ELT methodology at Karoli Gaspar University of the Reformed Church in Hungary and a freelance trainer/writer for Cambridge University Press and Assessment.
Joanna is a freelance teacher trainer, AI specialist, and learning designer. She has been teaching English and training teachers for more than 15 years all over the world. She is also a lecturer in ELT methodology at Karoli Gaspar University of the Reformed Church in Hungary and a freelance trainer/writer for Cambridge University Press and Assessment. Her main interests include artificial intelligence in education, all forms of online teaching and learning, and assessment and feedback. She has co-authored a set of practical activities for English language teachers on how to utilize AI in their teaching, published by Cambridge University Press and Assessment. Jo has also co-written an insightful article for the ELT Journal examining whether and how AI can promote learner autonomy and inclusivity. Her expertise is further demonstrated through active participation in several high-profile AI-related debates and panel discussions. In addition, she has contributed to the development of Karoli Gaspar University's AI policy, shaping guidelines that reflect ethical and educational considerations for AI's role in academia. She actively promotes the critical, ethical, and responsible use of AI in her courses as she sees that this is the future we need to embrace. At the moment, she’s working on her book for DELTA Publishing, titled “AI Literacy in the Language Classroom”, to be published in March, 2025.
https://www.shortandsimpleenglish.com
https://linkedin.com/in/joanna-szoke