Despite the current pandemic situation, the UNESCO Chairs Meeting was still organized this year under the aegis of the 3rd International Conference on Economics and Social Sciences (ICESS 2020). I participated in the UNESCO Chairs Meeting as a representative of our UNESCO Chair on Sustainable Development through Research and Education in Modern Physics. Although the meeting was online on the 16th of October, it was a great opportunity of changing ideas and points of interest with representatives and holders of the other UNESCO chairs invited.
The main subject of the meeting, moderated by Dr. Roxana Clodnitchi, was how we could change the education, research, and industry to prepare for already seen effects of the COVID-19’s pandemic. Of course, some general change suggestions for sustainable development were pointed out, but most of the presentations revolved around the idea mentioned above. Among the most exciting topics addressed are the following:
- Implementing machine learning to predict different aspects of the pandemic, such as the global spread of the disease, the unemployment rate, etc.
- Artificial intelligence is an alternative to standard teaching. It seems that the robots are better to teach at least the foreign languages.
- How we prepare the teachers and the students for online learning? Should we first prepare the teachers (top-down approach) or the students (bottom-up approach)? The questions remained unanswered, but most of the participants were struggling to answer.
- Is online education healthy for children, from the psychological and social point of view? Here some of the participants sustained, without scientific studies, that we should leave traditional education behind and keep just online education. Of course, most of the participants disapproved.
Regarding my presence in the meeting, I presented the structure and the activity of the UNESCO Chair on Sustainable Development through Research and Education in Modern Physics. I pointed out the Horia Hulubei Publishing House, where we are trying to brings back to light the less known work of several great Romanian physicists. I also broadly presented how the pandemic affected the activity of our UNESCO Chair.
Overall the conference was a fruitful atmosphere for discussions and an excellent opportunity for interactions between UNESCO chairs. During the meeting, I can say that I have learned some interesting concepts about changes in education, research, economy, and industry during a pandemic.
Drd. Ovidiu-Vasile Nițescu