These projects are led by Professor Blaženka Divjak, PhD, at the Faculty of Organization and Informatics (FOI), University of Zagreb, and both have a strong international dimension. In addition to FOI and the School of Medicine (MEF) of the University of Zagreb, the iLed project includes several renowned international partners: the University of Oulu (Finland), Goethe University Frankfurt (Germany), and the Open University (UK). Experts from these and other global universities are also involved in the TRUELA project.
The events offered an opportunity to exchange experiences, ideas, and research findings in an international setting, promoting innovation in learning and teaching through the use of contemporary tools and scientific insights. They brought together around 100 participants from Croatia, Germany, Finland, and the UK. While most attendees were higher education teachers and researchers, the events also included primary and secondary school teachers and representatives from national agencies related to education and research.
A key highlight was the conference “Learning Design in the AI Era”, held on July 1, 2025, at MEF. This final conference of the iLed project was organized in synergy with the TRUELA project, as both projects focus on learning design, learning analytics, and AI as key contemporary tools for enhancing teaching and learning.
Following opening remarks by Professor Davor Ježek, PhD, Vice Dean of MEF, Professor Blaženka Divjak presented the main project outcomes. These included development achievements—most notably, the Balanced Design Planning (BDP) tool for learning design—as well as scientific contributions in the fields of learning design, learning analytics, and AI.
The first part of the conference featured an expert debate titled “AI in Education: To Use or Not to Use?” which sparked high interest and audience engagement. Participants in the debate included Professor Blaženka Divjak (FOI), Professor Mirza Žižak (MEF), Professor Alexander Tillmann (Goethe University), Professor Hanni Muukkonen (University of Oulu), Paul Astles (Open University), and Assistant Professor Ivan Banovac (MEF). The experts discussed key issues regarding the application of AI in education, including its usefulness for educational decision-makers, potential for improving the quality of learning design, effects on student motivation and learning, usefulness of content for students and teachers, fairness in assessment, and the accessibility of learning analytics.
Later in the conference, four workshops were held—three in collaboration with TRUELA. Participants engaged in discussions and hands-on activities related to learning design using the innovative BDP tool (available at learning-design.eu) and AI, best practices in e-learning at renowned European universities, and new approaches to learning and teaching in biomedicine.
On July 2, 2025, a research workshop was held as part of the TRUELA project. Researchers from participating higher education institutions, along with other interested educators and researchers, discussed current research and practices related to learning paths and patterns, curriculum analytics, and the use of learning analytics-based insights for educational interventions and improvements.
In addition to the conference and workshops, two project meetings were held on June 30, 2025, where international project teams discussed current and upcoming project activities.
Although the iLed project concludes in October 2025, the continuation of work on shared goals of the (extended) international project team is already secured. FOI has been awarded the coordination of a new Erasmus+ project—Streamlining AI in Learning Reimagination (SAILeR) - with the highest score among applicants. The project, funded with €400,000, begins at the end of the year and will again be led by Professor Blaženka Divjak.
