A.I. in Education to be explored at Change-Makers meeting

Next meeting Wednesday 25 March

A.I. in education, critical A.I. literacy, and adapting assessment are the areas that The Change-Makers Club is keen to explore at our next online Teams meeting on Wednesday 25 March (1pm).

We have a great line-up, with Máire Carr, ATU Lecturer in Cyberpsychology, delivering the keynote address followed by a panel discussion that includes Gavin Clinch, Eoghan Furey, Muslim Jameel Syed, Frances O’Donnell, and Emanuel Covasa.

As always, the format will be conversational rather than a formal presentation and we’re aiming to create space for practical insight, reflection, and shared experience across disciplines.

There will be a Q&A after the panel discussion for Change-Makers to ask questions or share their thoughts.

Looking forward to seeing you all there.

💻 To register for The Change-Makers Club, email stephen.glennon@atu.ie or donal.loftus@atu.ie

Keynote Speaker

Máire Carr

A Lecturer in Cyberpsychology, Máire Carr’s work explores how artificial intelligence drives behavioural change in learning environments, fostering innovation through personalised tools and ethical frameworks.

She’s been exploring the power of agentic A.I. systems as supportive learning aids, helping students with tasks like analysis and ideation while mitigating risks like cognitive offloading.

Panellists

Gavin Clinch

A member of Atlantic Technological University’s A.I. Task Force, Gavin Clinch joined ATU in 2001 as a lecturer in architecture. During his time at ATU, Gavin has played a pivotal role in the development and professional accreditation of various degree and masters architecture programmes, while also accumulating extensive experience in online teaching.

Gavin holds the position of Head of Innovation for Online, Flexible, and Professional Development at ATU, where he leads Higher Education 4.0’s Innovation Projects. His work primarily revolves around innovations in online teaching and learning, exploring emerging technologies like A.I., micro-credentials, and other disruptors poised to reshape higher education.

In addition to his roles at ATU, Gavin, who is an alumnus of the Bartlett School of Architecture at University College London, serves as President of the Irish Learning Technology Association (ILTA), where he contributes to advancing the use of learning technologies in education across Ireland.

Emanuel Covasa

Emanuel Covasa is a cybersecurity student and full-stack developer at Atlantic Technological University and a member of ATU's A.I. Task Force. Originally from Romania and now based in Ireland, he founded NeuroBridgeEDU.eu, a platform that uses adaptive A.I. to make education more accessible for neurodivergent and multilingual learners.

His work sits at the intersection of A.I., education, and accessibility, driven by the belief that technology should adapt to people, not the other way around. Emanuel is also the creator of PromptSage.cloud, a framework for effective and ethical A.I. interaction, and EMMI-AI, a personal A.I. infrastructure built on top of Anthropic’s Claude Code that learns continuously across sessions through a system inspired by neuroscience.

Frances O’Donnell

Frances O'Donnell is an Instructional Designer, Educator, and Researcher with over two decades of experience spanning classroom teaching, content development, and learning design. A New Zealand-trained primary school teacher, Frances holds a broad portfolio of qualifications in digital technology, alongside a Professional Diploma in Innovation, Creativity and Leadership, a Higher Diploma in Interaction Design (UX), and a Masters in Applied Practice (Education).

She is currently completing a Doctorate in Education at Dublin City University, researching lecturer perspectives on A.I. in higher education, with a focus on how the rise of A.I. is affecting their roles and the support they need to navigate these changes.

Eoghan Furey

Dr Eoghan Furey is a computing lecturer at Atlantic Technological University (ATU) in Donegal, where he teaches topics including artificial intelligence, machine learning, digital privacy, and technology governance. His work focuses on understanding how modern technologies shape society and how we can design systems that are secure, fair, and respectful of personal privacy. He is the ATU Donegal leader of the MOCHAS PRTP and a PI of the ATU MISHE research group.

A strong advocate for critical thinking, Dr Furey encourages students to question how technology works, who controls data, and what the wider consequences of digital systems can be. He believes that in a world driven by algorithms, social media, and constant connectivity, the ability to think critically about information is one of the most important skills young people can develop.

Muslim Jameel Syed

Dr Muslim Jameel Syed is Associate Director of the JANUS Research Centre and a Lecturer at Atlantic Technological University (ATU). His research lies at the intersection of Responsible Artificial Intelligence, A.I. governance, and technology law, with a focus on enabling small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to adopt ethical, trustworthy, and compliant A.I. solutions.

Dr Syed is actively involved in EU- and Ireland-funded research initiatives exceeding €25 million, serving as Principal Investigator and Co-Investigator on projects that advance digital innovation and responsible A.I. adoption across industry. His work addresses the regulatory, societal, and technical challenges of emerging technologies, particularly in relation to frameworks such as the EU A.I. Act and GDPR.

The Change-Makers Club is sponsored by Higher Education 4.0, which is funded by the Human Capital Initiative (HCI) Pillar 3.