AI: The Future of Edtech is already here
by
Pearson was delighted to welcome delegates from 19 universities across Egypt to this event held in Cairo on 23 February 2025.
It was clear from the level of interest in this event that the country’s educators are passionate about effective digital transformation and are ready to harness AI to meet the learning needs of today’s students.
In the first session, delegates saw the Pearson AI Study Tool in action. Now built into our MyLab, Mastering and eTexts platforms, delegates asked great questions to fully understand how it can support their students.
“It was great to see the tool and to learn how it will be developing in the future. People were so helpful – they answered all our questions.”
Shaymaa Elsawaby, Associate Professor, Sadat Academy for Management Sciences
Next up, Dr. Aya Afify, Lecturer of Applied Statistics and Econometrics at the British University in Egypt and a Pearson Faculty Advisor, shared how she uses the digital learning tool MyLab Math to engage students. By using the platform’s online learning and assessment activities as an intrinsic part of her course, Dr Afify does a brilliant job of supporting her undergraduate students to build the mathematical and statistical skills for their academic and future career success.
Mr Ahmed Samir, Pearson’s Regional Manager Solutions and Services in MENAT, followed this by showcasing the range of interactive e-learning platforms available to enhance digital transformation across business, economics and STEM subjects. Mr Samir highlighted the exciting innovation which means educators can simply upload their course syllabus to MyLab or Mastering and AI will then build the whole module, with relevant weekly learning activities and formative and summative assessments.
“This AI tool makes it so easy. Students will be able to practice many questions and know their level of study and how they are doing. I’m going to share this with our professors and instructors, especially for introductory maths.”
Nermine Rifaat, Library Director, GAF University of Hertfordshire, Cairo
Ipek Aydin, the Director of PTE, has connected to explain the extent to which The Pearson Test of English (PTE) is accepted by universities and colleges worldwide. It’s the only English language test that uses computer-based testing, with AI scoring and human expertise to reduce the risk of bias. In the PTE session delegates heard how the test is becoming widely recognised for entry to Egypt universities and there are now two official test centres in the country.
Concluding the event, Mr. Christopher Hess, Director of AI Product Management for Higher Education at Pearson, connected from New York, USA, and delivered an impactful keynote on AI and the future of learning. As indicated by the name of this event, AI is already here and it’s already changing education (and much more!). The pace of that change is rapid. The good news is that Pearson is harnessing the best of what AI can do, while maintaining academic integrity. Educators and students alike are excited to use the AI tools which are already becoming widespread, but it can be tricky to know where to start and what you can or can’t trust. We’re here to support our partner higher education institutions – together we will take positive steps into the future, with AI as a key tool for transforming teaching and learning.
We thank our speakers for their contributions, but most importantly we thank delegates for joining us and contributing to make this such an inspiring day. We were delighted to hear people describe the event as ‘fascinating’, ‘marvellous’ and ‘fantastic’ – we look forward to returning to Egypt soon.
