The Art & Science of Learning

This episode brings you a special overview of the IEEE EDUCON 2025, held in London. EDUCON is one of the leading global conferences focused on engineering education, bringing together educators, researchers, and industry leaders to explore how teach...

Artificial intelligence is advancing at an extraordinary pace, and education is being reshaped whether we are ready for it or not.In this episode, we discuss a new and fascinating book on this topic — Artificial Intelligence in Education: The Intersection of Technology and Pedagogy. The contributors are experts from around the world who are both educators and technically proficient. I’m joined by the editors of the book, who are leading experts in the field of learning technologies. Dr. Peter Ilic is a Senior Associate Professor in the Center for Language Research at the University of Aizu in Japan. Dr. Imogen Casebourne is the research lead at the Innovation Lab at the Digital Education Futures Initiative (DEFI) at Cambridge University.Prof. Rupert Wegerif is Professor of Education in the Faculty of have Education at the University of Cambridge and the founder and academic director of the Digital Education Futures Initiative (DEFI) at Hughes Hall, Cambridge University.The book and this conversation sit at the intersection, and sometimes the tension, between technologists and educators. Historically, educational technologies promised transformation but often end up reinforcing outdated models of learning. AI poses a new challenge that is fundamentally changing education.  Together, we explore why simply adding AI to existing systems doesn’t work, why dialogue between technology and pedagogy is now urgent, and how approaches like design-based research can help us develop educational AI more responsibly.We also discuss what it might mean to move toward a more dialogic understanding of education, one focused less on the transmission of knowledge and more on collaboration, problem-solving, and learning with both people and technology.At its core, this episode is a call for collaboration between educators, technologists, and policymakers and for taking an active role in shaping the future of AI in education, rather than being shaped by it.Links: Book: Artificial Intelligence in Education: The Intersection of Technology and Pedagogyhttps://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-031-71232-6 (https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-031-71232-6)Dr. Peter Ilic: https://u-aizu.ac.jp/research/faculty/detail?lng=en&cd=90119 (https://u-aizu.ac.jp/research/faculty/detail?lng=en&cd=90119)Dr. Imogen Casebourne: https://www.deficambridge.org/people/imogen-casebourne/ (https://www.deficambridge.org/people/imogen-casebourne/) Prof. Rupert Wegerif: https://www.educ.cam.ac.uk/people/staff/wegerif/ (https://www.educ.cam.ac.uk/people/staff/wegerif/)

This special episode comes directly from an inspiring day at the Royal Conservatory of Music (RCM) in Toronto, where the global launch of the Smart Start program was celebrated through a landmark symposium titled Music and the Mind: A Smart Start to Early Childhood Education. The event focused on the transformative role of music in early childhood learning and development.Educators, researchers, policymakers, and arts advocates gathered in Koerner Hall in Toronto to explore how music influences the developing brain, supports emotional and social growth, and enhances early learning well beyond songs and rhythm. The symposium also examined the evolving role of technology and artificial intelligence in education and creativity.Smart Start is the Royal Conservatory of Music’s early childhood music program, designed for young learners at the very beginning of their musical journey. Grounded in research on child development and learning science, the program uses play-based, developmentally appropriate activities to nurture musical skills alongside cognitive, social, and emotional growth. Smart Start is about more than learning music—it supports whole-child development through music.For more background on how the program was developed, listen here to the previous episode featuring Alexander Brose, President & CEO of The Royal Conservatory of Music: https://www.theartandscienceoflearning.com/blogsidebysidee/124-music-amp-neuroscience-the-royal-conservatory-of-musics-innovative-approach-to-early-childhood-education-alexander-broseThe day opened with a powerful keynote from Renée Fleming, celebrated soprano and author of Music and Mind, who spoke about the impact of music and music therapy on health and wellbeing. She invited the audience to sing together in harmony, setting the tone for a day centered on connection, research, and shared experience.Alexander Brose, President & CEO of The Royal Conservatory of Music, welcomed attendees and shared the story behind Smart Start’s creation and development. Throughout the day, internationally recognized voices from across disciplines contributed to panels and discussions on music, neuroscience, education, creativity, and innovation.Speakers and panelists included Evan Solomon, Canada’s Minister of Artificial Intelligence, Raffi, the beloved children’s singer-songwriter, Steve Paikin, the award-winning journalist, Eric Radford, Olympic figure skater and composer, and many more. The symposium also featured hands-on learning experiences led by Catherine West, pedagogy leader and early childhood education specialist, allowing participants to experience Smart Start exactly as children would in a learning environment.This episode brings the symposium to life through three in-depth interviews with key speakers:* Dr. Indre Viskontas (6:00min) – Associate Professor of Psychology at the University of San Francisco, musician, and host of the Inquiring Minds podcast, discussing the neuroscience of music and learning* Kevin Chan (24:30min) – Senior Director at Meta, exploring the connections between creativity, technology, AI, and education* Dr. Sean Hutchins (35:50min) – Director of Research at The Royal Conservatory of Music and co-developer of the Smart Start curriculum, unpacking the research and educational thinking behind the programTogether, these conversations offer a rich picture of why Smart Start matters and how early,

For the past decade, The Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto, Canada, has partnered with leading neuroscientists to develop an early childhood education program that uses music to strengthen the cognitive foundations of lifelong learning. Designed for children from six months to four years old, this innovative approach nurtures essential learning skills through the power of music and integrates technology to prepare future-ready minds.On October 31, 2025, The Royal Conservatory of Music will host the global launch of Smart Starts, a groundbreaking program that brings together experts in music, cognitive development, and technology to redefine early childhood education. I am looking forward to attending this symposium, called Music and the Mind, which will be packed with incredible speakers, and in the next episode will feature highlights from that day. In this episode, my guest — the CEO and President of the RCM — joins me to discuss lifelong learning, the importance of creativity, the intersection of artistic and artificial intelligence, and the vision behind Smart Starts.Alexander Brose is the President & CEO of The Royal Conservatory of Music (RCM) in Toronto, Canada. Before joining RCM, he was the inaugural Executive Director and CEO of the Tianjin Juilliard School in China, The Juilliard School in New York City’s first and only branch campus. There, he worked closely with colleagues both in Tianjin and New York to create an inclusive and supportive institutional culture that upheld the educational and artistic excellence of Juilliard and respected the surrounding influences of China.Prior to that, he was the Vice President for Development at the Aspen Music Festival and School in Colorado, where he was responsible for all fund-raising and strategic relationship-building activities, raising US$75M as part of a capital campaign, and working with AMFS leadership to create a new strategic vision for the organization. Mr. Brose began his career spanning a decade in senior management roles at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music in California, including Director of Admissions and Associate Vice President for Advancement. Raised in South Korea, Hong Kong, and the United States, Mr. Brose received his Bachelor of Arts degree in Asian Studies, with a concentration in China, from Cornell University in Ithaca, New York. An award-winning vocalist, Mr. Brose has performed in prestigious concert venues across the globe, including on the U.S. nationally-syndicated radio show “A Prairie Home Companion,” at the Seoul National Arts Center in South Korea, with the Glimmerglass Festival in Cooperstown, N.Y., and with the Grammy Award-winning San Francisco Symphony Chorus, among others. He has served as a member of the Board of Governors of the Recording Academy (Grammys) in the United States and the American Chamber of Commerce in China. He currently sits on the advisory councils of the Cornell University Glee Club, the school’s oldest student organization, as well as the Tianjin Juilliard School. A sought-after public speaker, Mr. Brose has presented at major arts conferences and universities in both the U.S. and China.Links: Alexander Brose: https://www.rcmusic.com/about-us/michael-and-sonja-koerner-president-and-ceo (https://www.rcmusic.com/about-us/michael-and-sonja-koerner-president-and-ceo)RCM Neuroscience: https://www.rcmusic.com/about-us/rcm-neuroscience (https://www.rcmusic.com/about-us/rcm-neuroscience)Music and the Mind Symposium (October 31st 2025): https://www.rcmusic.com/about-us/news/global-launch-of-rcm-early-childhood-music (https://www.rcmusic.com/about-us/news/global-launch-of-rcm-early-childhood-music)

There are significant challenges in education that have been ignored for too long, and AI is forcing us to confront them urgently; otherwise, AI will think for us, rather than with us. The need to learn how to learn has been increasingly important, but it has rarely been fully integrated into the education system. My guest in this episode is a doctoral student researching how to teach critical thinking with the aid of AI. She is sounding the alarm on the importance of teaching this skill with AI, otherwise, she thinks that AI will not only think for us, but it will not allow us to think at all. Trini Balart is a Ph.D. candidate in the Multidisciplinary Engineering Department at Texas A&M University, originally from Chile. She holds a background in Industrial Engineering, Computer Science, and a major in Engineering, Design, and Innovation from the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile. Her research focuses on engineering education and the impact of generative artificial intelligence on how we teach, learn, and think. She is especially interested in how these tools are shaping the development of critical thinking in engineering students and prompting us to rethink the true purpose of education and what we understand by learning itself. Passionate about human-centred development, innovation, and progress, Trini is committed to building a future where AI empowers, rather than replaces, our uniquely human capabilities. She envisions a future where these tools may even help us reach deeper levels of knowledge and societal development. LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/trinidad-balart-386213223/ (https://www.linkedin.com/in/trinidad-balart-386213223/)