Artificial Intelligence Transforming Higher Education Volume 1

Geesje van den Berg is a full Professor at the University of South Africa (UNISA) in the Department of Curriculum and Instructional Studies. She is also a Commonwealth of Learning Chair in open distance learning (ODL) for Teacher Education. Her research primarily focuses on student interaction in online learning, academic capacity building, openness in education, and teachers' and students’ use of technology in ODL. She has published extensively as a sole author and co-author with colleagues and students in ODL and curriculum studies. She leads a collaborative project for academic capacity-building for UNISA academics in ODL, which is jointly undertaken by Carl von Ossietzky University of Oldenburg in Germany and UNISA. She is currently the programme manager of the structured Master's in Education (ODL) programme and has supervised numerous masters and doctoral students.

Erna Oliver is professor in Church History in the Department of Christian Spirituality, Church History and Missiology at the University of South Africa (UNISA). In addition to her theological education from South African universities, she has a Master’s degree in open distance e-learning from the University of Maryland University College in the United States and UNISA. She has co-published in more than 20 non-academic books and published more than 50 academic articles and several book chapters. She has acted as book editor in both the disciplines of theology and higher education.

Joseph Evans Agolla (Nyagonya) received his PhD in Business Management, University of North-West (UNIBO), Mahikeng, South Africa. His research and teaching interests include business research methodology, organisation systems and theory, public sector innovation, smart manufacturing, human-machine interaction, banking, innovation, Industry 4.0 Revolution, technological innovation, and entrepreneurship. Dr Agolla currently serves as a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Management, School of Business and Management Studies, Botswana Open University, Botswana. He has published over 30 papers in peer reviewed journals and international conferences. He is a visiting Research Fellow at INTI International University, Malaysia.

Garth Aziz (Ph.D.) is a professor of Practical Theology in the Department of Philosophy, Systematic, and Practical Theology at UNISA. He serves as the Editor-in-Chief of the South African Baptist Journal of Theology (SABJT). Current roles that he occupies include serving as the chairperson of the Departmental Research Ethics Committee at UNISA, a board member of the Cape Town Baptist Seminary, and a steering committee member of the International Association for the Study of Youth Ministry (Africa). He has also served as an executive member of the Society of Practical Theology in South Africa and as a board member of the Baptist Theological College (Randburg). He is currently completing a Master’s in Education in ODeL. He resides in Pretoria with his wife and two daughters.

Lilia Cheniti-Belcadhi is an Associate Professor and Researcher of Computer Sciences at the Higher Institute of Computer Sciences and Communication Technologies, University of Sousse, Tunisia, and a graduate of the University of Braunschweig in Germany where she read for an engineer and master’s degree in Computer Sciences. She is a member of the PRINCE Research Lab at the University of Sousse and was associate researcher at the Computer Science department at Telecom Bretagne, Brest, in France. Her PhD was realised in collaboration with the Semantic Web group at the Institute of Information Systems of the University of Hannover in Germany. She has also a diploma of Habilitation à Diriger des Recherches (HDR) in Computer Sciences. She received two awards: First National Prize for Academic Excellence (Foreign Degrees) of the President of the Tunisian Republic (July 1998) and a Graduate Merit Award of the Technical University of Braunschweig, Germany, for the best results in Computer Science and Mathematics degrees at the university (October 1997). Her research interests include Technology Enhanced Learning, Semantic Web, E-assessment and e-Learning. She is associated as Technology Enhanced Learning Expert with many national and international organisations (VUT: Virtual University of Tunis, AUF: Agence Universitaire de la Francophonie, ILO: International Labor Organization, GIZ, ICCESCO, ALECSO). She is involved, as part of her ongoing research, in several e-learning projects and has co-authored various online courses. She is co-author of the first Computer Sciences MOOC in Computer Sciences in Tunisia, hosted on FUN (France Université Numérique) for two sessions in 2015 and 2016. She led the online learning department at her University (2012-2018) and is since 2019 coordinator of the Pedagogical Innovation and Digital Learning Unit at her University. Her recent Technology Enhanced Learning Projects are LET’SEGA (2017-2019): A framework for assessment of competencies based on (2019-2020); Serious Games for Lebanon, Egypt, and Tunisia; Learning Lab LETS MENA Network (2019-2021) (Lebanon, Egypt, Tunisia, and Switzerland); Erasmus+ InSIDE project (2019-2022) (Including student with impairments in distance education), Open2Sustain: Open Education for Sustainable Development (France, Portugal, Morocco, Algeria, Egypt, Tunisia) (2021-2022), CLOC MENA Swiss Project (2021-2023), and EduGame Erasmus Project (2023-2026). She is a recently selected member of the International scientific advisory board of the Francophone Universities Agency and elected President of Regional AUF Committee of Scientific and socio economic experts in North Africa Region. She is member of ICDE Advocacy Committee of OER (International Council of Distance and Open Education ) and OER Ambassador. She is also member of several reviewers’ committees of national and international conferences, and journals related to Technology enhanced Learning and chair of Open Education Global Session in Arabic Language and member of the group of founding researchers of the EOL-OE multilingual scientific journal on Open Education and Open Sciences.

Johannes Cronje was born in Davenport, Iowa, USA on 5 September 1959 when his parents were doing more than just studying. At the age of eight months he persuaded them to return to South Africa where at age five he started at an Afrikaans primary school and decided that he wanted to be a teacher. At age 12 he went to Pretoria Boys’ High School and decided he wanted to be a teacher there. At the age of 24 he fulfilled his career ambitions and was a school teacher at Pretoria Boys’ High. After four years he took his first retirement job as a lecturer in communication at Technikon Pretoria. After obtaining a doctorate in Afrikaans Literature that was not worth the paper it was printed on he returned (again) to the University of Pretoria and attained an M.Ed (Cum Laude) in Computer-Based Education. Following that he became a professor of computer-based education in 1994 and remained with the University of Pretoria until he took up his third retirement job at CPUT as dean of Informatics and Design in 2007. He stepped down as dean in April 2021 and is now a professor in the IT department. He has supervised or co-supervised 82 Masters and 66 Doctoral students. He has published 89 peer-reviewed papers, 73 in accredited journals, and 8 book chapters. He is married to Franci and they have 3 children, 2 dogs, and a cat.

Karen Ferreira-Meyers, from the University of Eswatini, is a focused, goal-driven professional who loves teaching and learning. She has extensive experience in various academic fields, from literature (autofiction/biography, crime fiction, African literature) to pedagogy and didactics (language and literature/culture). She loves communicating and do this, among other ways, through interpreting and translating, in addition to publishing and using social media.

Asma Hadyaoui is a dedicated PhD student in Computer Science and a technologist in computer science with a focus on intelligent assessment in collaborative e-Learning environments. Her work aims to enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of online learning by developing frameworks and systems that support and evaluate collaborative efforts in educational settings. With a string of publications to her credit, Asma has notably contributed to the field with papers such as Intelligent collaborative assessment for cyberspace e-learning environments, presented at the 2023 International Conference on Cyberworlds, and her September 2023 article in Smart Learning Environments titled Ontology-based group assessment analytics framework for performances prediction in project-based collaborative learning. Her other significant works include exploring the impact of gender on skill acquisition in collaborative learning, published in the Journal of Computer Assisted Learning in July 2023, and developing an ontology-based collaborative assessment analytics framework to predict group disengagement, a chapter released in May 2023. Asma’s innovative approaches to collaborative learning were also showcased in her papers on ontology-driven intelligent group pairing presented at the 19^th International Conference on Web Information Systems and Technologies in January 2023, and her research on context-aware personalised formative assessment discussed at the 2022 IEEE/ACS 19^th International Conference on Computer Systems and Applications. Asma’s scholarly endeavours underscore her commitment to advancing educational technologies that foster collaborative and adaptive learning experiences.

Lorette Jacobs is the Chair of the Department of Information Science at Unisa. Her interests range from records management to the use of ICTs in information practices, information literacy development, curriculum development and the improvement of teaching and learning practices in higher education. Her current research relates to transcending research paradigms to encompass an Afro-centric paradigmatic construct and exploring supervision models that are unique to the open distance e-learning environment. She has completed a D Litt et Phil in Information Science at the University of Johannesburg and a MPhil in Higher Education at the University of Stellenbosch. She is currently involved in the artificial intelligence project of InterPARES part of the International Council on Archives related to the access and use of digital records by ESARBICA citizens.

Elmarie Kritzinger joined the University of South Africa, College of Science, Engineering and Technology in 2000 and currently holds the position of Professor in the School of Computing (Department of Information System). Prof Kritzinger completed her PhD in Information Systems and obtain an additional MEd ICT in Education and PGCE. She has established herself as a mature researcher and has published in accredited national and international journals, contributed to chapters in books, and presented at peer-reviewed conferences. Although her research focuses primarily on Information Security (Cyber) Awareness, she is cross-disciplinary skilled in the fields of information systems and education. She is currently NRF C3 rated within South Africa.

Karin McGuirk is currently a senior lecturer in the Department of Information Science at the University of South Africa (UNISA). She holds a PhD in Information Science (UNISA) and a Postgraduate Diploma in Museology (UP). Her research interests include information philosophy, informatisation, knowledge and literacy approaches, and readership. She serves on the executive committee of the Association of Southern African Indexers and Bibliographers (ASAIB), and is a member of the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA) and the Literacy Association of South Africa (LITASA).

Mohamed Mitwally is a seasoned instructional designer with seventeen years of experience in education and technology. Currently, as a Postdoctoral Fellow at the UNESCO Chair on Open Distance Learning at the University of South Africa, he actively contributes to postgraduate seminars and research projects. As the e/merge Africa Regional Coordinator for Arab countries, Mohamed has coordinated over 80 online webinars, impacting more than 5,000 trainees. His extensive academic background includes a PhD in education technology, focusing on virtual reality in distance training. Having shaped e-learning landscapes at institutions like Mansoura and Ain Shams Universities, he led instructional design teams, developing over 200 advanced courses. He provided e-learning training, integrated technology into curricula, and contributed to policy development. His commitment extends to committee roles, including the National Committee for e-Learning & Distance Education Standards and the Arab Digital Accessibility – Mada Expert Groups. He has advanced technical skills in various e-learning tools. His dedication to education is evident in numerous publications, showcasing his expertise and contributions to conferences like e-Learning Africa and ICICTE.

Hiro Saito is a Project Associate Professor of Global Faculty Development (GFD) at the University of Tokyo. Trained as a sociologist, he is generally interested in the intersection of power and knowledge. He specifically studies how interactions between government, experts, and citizens shape policymaking in highly technical issues. As a mindfulness and design thinking practitioner, he has also been pursuing educational innovations to promote holistic growth and collective well-being. Currently, he focuses his time and energy on innovating the GFD program and creating a new university in Hida, Japan, to champion higher education institutions as facilitators of transformative learning and positive social change.

Phineas Sebopelo is currently the Director of the Office of Quality at Botswana Open University (BOU) and holds a PhD from the Open University Malaysia (OUM). He also acquired a Bachelor’s degree in social sciences from the University of Botswana, an MSc in Medical Sociology from the University of London, and a Master’s in Business Administration from the Management College of South Africa. He also holds a Certificate in Quality Assurance from The Open Polytechnic of New Zealand and the New Zealand Organisation of Quality and possesses a postgraduate certificate in Quality Assurance for Higher Education from BOU. He is a Quality Practitioner with experience spanning over 20 yrs. He is a qualified Quality Manager from DGQ, and a BOS ISO 9001:2000 Auditor/Lead Auditor. Dr Sebopelo is an aspiring academic.