AI in Education for Future Professionals

A journey to North Macedonia for "AI in Education of Future Professionals" with a visit/work to/in S.E.E.U.

This was an Erasmus+ funded Blended Intensive Program (BIP).
The document on the right contains all detailed information about this educational program.

My participation took place through the master's course "232311 Intelligent Systems".

Program Information

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North Macedonia is a landlocked country on the Balkan Peninsula, covering 25,713 square kilometers. To put its size in perspective: it is similar in area to the German federal state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, which is slightly smaller. Compared to all of Germany, which spans about 357,600 square kilometers, North Macedonia would fit into Germany roughly 14 times. For an even more visual comparison, North Macedonia's territory would fit approximately 3.67 million football (soccer) fields.

The capital city is Skopje, which is also the largest city in the country. Our educational journey took us to both Skopje and the lakeside city of Ohrid, allowing us to experience the rich cultural heritage.

Our journey began in Ohrid at Hotel Tino, where we immediately connected with our teams to outline our program. It was a dynamic first day: we formed our groups, dove into lively discussions about our core topic, and got to know the other participants. The agenda was packed, with a series of engaging meetings focused on our chosen subject running until Wednesday.

Our self defined roadmap for the week was ambitious. Because it was clear that only the given time in the program were not enough to cover all the topics we wanted to address, we had to make some adjustments, over the week. We decided to take the first two days for the research of AI used in education. The Topic of my group was "AI based Personalized Learning in Higher Education"

Wednesday was dedicated to travel from Ohrid to Skopje, where we visited the South East European University (SEEU). A journey of 200 kilometers, with 43 degree Celsius with a stop at "Sventi Jovan Bigorski". This was the time for seeing the beautiful nature of North Macedonia, with its stunning lakes and mountains. Roads run through the mountain landscapes.

The women had to cover themselves with skirts before entering the monastery. This monastery is still actively used. We were encouraged to whisper throughout the visit.

Shortly before Skopje we visited the SEEU campus and were shown around, shown us classrooms and laboratories.

Thursday was the day of the writing and preparing the presentations. The SEEU University is in the center of Skopje, where we had the opportunity to work and grab some food. Around of the university there are many restaurants and cafes, and sight seeing opportunities.

In the evening we had "activities", where we could exchange ideas and experiences. The colaboration with the students and professors from the partner universities was very fruitful and inspiring. The participating universities:

• Hochschule Heilbronn (HHN) from Germany
• Universitat Politècnica de València (UPV) from Spain
• Universitatea Babeș-Bolyai from Romania
• Universidad de Alicante from Spain
• South East European University (SEEU) from North Macedonia

Friday was the presentation day, where all groups presented their research findings. Our group focused on "AI-based Personalized Learning in Higher Education" and delivered our insights to the international audience. The presentations were followed by a discussion session, creating a rich learning environment for all participants.

Presentation

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AI-based Personalized Learning

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For me, the program was a wonderful experience, with much of it being completely new, except for the occasional German products advertised in some places and the fact that nearly everyone knew some German.
I really wish I had more time, there were so many impressions, and I would have loved to spend more time in Ohrid. I met many new and interesting people, and I hope to see them again next year.

And speaking of the little things,
Skopsko Draft Beer is absolutely top-notch, but not everywhere available.
kebab plates in Macedonia are more akin to Ćevapčići than the kebabs in Germany and they are really good.
The windowsill at the Hotel London in Skopje is just wide enough for a 13-inch XPS laptop, making it perfect for working with a nice view

In Germany, we would sum up such a trip with: "da kann man sich nicht beschweren," which translates to "can't complain about that."