Keynote Speaker: Dr. Sean McMinn

Dr. Sean McMinn

Dr Sean McMinn is the Director of the Center for Education Innovation at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) and an Adjunct Associate Professor in the Division of Emerging Interdisciplinary Areas. He leads institutional strategy and initiatives in digital education, including AI for education, AI literacy, and innovative pedagogy, with a focus on integrating emerging technologies into teaching, learning, and assessment. He has served on several international committees, including the AI and Education International Panel, the Digital Education Council, the Cyber-Physical Learning Alliance, and the Higher Education Planning Alliance (HEPA). His work in digital education has been recognised through multiple awards, including the 2024 Global MOOC and Online Education Alliance Award for AI Education, the 2016 SHSS Teaching Excellence Award, and the 2007 Teaching Innovation Award at HKUST. His research interests include educational technology, AI and digital literacies, and networked learning.

Dr. Sean McMinn

Director of Center for Education Innovation
The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology

keynote Speech

Keynote Title: Building the Floor, Not the Ceiling: AI Literacy as a Common Core Competency for Higher Education

Abstract

As artificial intelligence reshapes the landscape of teaching, learning, and professional practice, institutions face a foundational question: what does every educator and student need to know and do with AI? Drawing on the development of an AI Common Core framework, faculty professional development programmes, and AI literacy curriculum at a research-intensive university in Asia, this keynote argues that AI literacy must move from elective enrichment to institutional baseline competency. It presents evidence-based strategies for embedding AI literacy across disciplines, preparing faculty through scalable PD models, and designing institutional governance that ensures equitable, ethical, and future-ready AI integration in higher education.

Post-Conference Workshop: From Awareness to Action: Designing AI Literacy Programmes for Your Institution

Synopsis:
This workshop shifts from what AI literacy is to what institutions can do with it. Participants will work with an AI literacy framework as a practical diagnostic lens, exploring how AI can be integrated meaningfully across the curriculum from content through to pedagogy, auditing their own institutional readiness, and surfacing governance and policy priorities through structured peer dialogue. The session is designed to be generative and context-sensitive: participants leave with concrete insights and a clearer sense of next steps relevant to their own institutional realities.

Objectives:
1) Apply a multidimensional AI literacy framework as a practical lens for institutional self-assessment
2) Explore how AI integration can be thought through across three levels: course content, curriculum design, and pedagogical practice
3) Audit institutional readiness for AI literacy using a structured reflection tool
4) Surface governance and policy priorities through facilitated peer dialogue (World Café: emergent from participants)