Conference Agenda (All times are shown in Mountain Daylight Time (MDT) unless otherwise noted)

Lifelong learning involves and engages learners at all stages of education and life. In particular, learning transitions, which represent phases when students advance to the next stage of an educational setting, are significant as they may trigger learning and development for lifelong learning. Research suggests that the learning transition process provides an opportunity to develop learning abilities that have long-term consequences, including lifelong learning. The notion of information practices is thus applicable to examine the development of these abilities, as information practices refer to the routine ways in which students seek and interact with information to manage the changes in the information environment during the transition. Despite the significant role of information practices during transitions, limited work has been done to identify information practices that facilitate lifelong learning for students in learning transition. To fill this gap, this study conducted focus group discussions with forty-two university students to investigate their transitions to university via the lens of information practices. A preliminary thematic analysis was conducted. Information use and evaluation were uncovered to shed light on the influences of information practices on lifelong learning during learning transitions.

In the context of global aging, digital technologies are increasingly recognized as a means to address the challenges associated with aging. Although many studies have explored the relationship between older adults and digital literacy, there is a gap identifying their necessary skills, challenges, and learning motivations. This review identified 30 articles from 2014 to 2024 and delineated five areas of digital literacy skills that older adults acquire, the hurdles they face in this process, and what drives their learning efforts. The difficulties faced by older adults in learning digital literacy include unfamiliarity with technology, cognitive decline, emotional barriers, limited access to digital resources, and physical and health issues. These challenges may lead to frustration in their use of devices and apps, which may affect their willingness to learn. This study, despite a small sampling size, paves the way for future research, including evaluating online fake information and addressing safety risks.

This paper explores an approach for applying Artificial Intelligence (AI) to co-design smart hand tools to personalize learning for future skilled trade workers in workforce training programs. The purpose of this research is to better understand the perspectives of workers in the skilled trades and to respond with co-designed socio-technical interventions that empower workers. The research benefits from a collaboration between The University of Texas at Austin, the City of Austin, and Austin Community College (ACC) and incorporates insights from welding instructors and students, as well as skilled trade workers and supervisors. Social science findings derived from semi-structured interviews inform tool design implemented by an interdisciplinary research team. The participatory design approach has resulted in two prototypes: a welding simulator that uses Augmented Reality (AR) and an AI-enabled (smart) rotary tool. This paper has implications for workforce development to address skilled worker shortages. Additionally, it contributes to ongoing research into AI and skilled trade work which is understudied compared to AI and knowledge work.

Digital inclusion interventions are designed to address challenges related to digital technology access and use. The complex relationships between digital technologies and people’s general well-being is important when considering the development of digital services, practices, policies, and interventions. This research explores the impact of digital inclusion on individual agency and provides evidence of how agency emerges from the use of digital technologies to contribute to well-being. We present a framework of Digital Inclusion for Well-being drawing on evidence from interviews with participants of three digital inclusion interventions in Aotearoa New Zealand. While recognizing that digital inclusion is a continuum and that some of our research participants were more digitally engaged that others, we propose a preliminary framework of digital inclusion connecting our participants’ digital engagement with outcomes impacting their agency, and thus their well-being