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AI Resources from the Digital Education Council

Free DEC AI Courses for the HKUST Community

HKUST faculty, staff, and students can now access exclusive Digital Education Council (DEC) AI learning opportunities, designed to build practical and responsible AI skills for higher education.

  • Certificate in AI for Higher Education (Faculty/Staff)
    • 20-hour professional programme covering AI fundamentals, responsible practice, and strategic integration in university settings.
    • Receive a DEC x HKUST Digital Certificate on completion.

  • AI Literacy for All (Students)
    • Four-hour course introducing core AI concepts, prompting best practices, and ethical considerations for study and work.
    • Receive a DEC x HKUST Digital Certificate on completion.
      Note: The course is for personal development (non-credit-bearing).

Both courses are free, fully online, and available to all HKUST community members.

To enroll, sign in here with your ITSO credentials on the DEC portal.
For Faculty and staff   For Students

For enquiries and support, contact DEC’s Hubert Quek at hubert@digitaleducationcouncil.com.

Stay ahead in the AI era—learn, experiment, and grow with DEC x HKUST.

 

Explore below for more AI resources and reports from the Digital Education Council to stay up-to-date with education innovation.

This report highlights key insights from the Digital Education Council’s Global Summit 2025, which brought together 200 leaders from 82 institutions across 25 countries at the HKUST Clear Water Bay campus. The summit explored how higher education can adapt to and lead through change, particularly in the era of AI. The report is structured around four strategic themes: defining, implementing, teaching, and measuring change related to AI. These insights are especially valuable for university administrators, faculty, and teaching staff seeking to enhance their strategies and practices in this rapidly evolving landscape.

Click here to access the report document (requires ITSO login).

This report provides the first comprehensive global review of how institutions are experimenting with AI to enhance student engagement. Drawing on 106 case studies, the report offers higher education institutions a practical guide to improving student engagement across six engagement aspects. It features:

  • 24 emerging methodologies
  • Step-by-step guidance to support thoughtful implementation
  • Analysis of shifting relational dynamics between students, faculty, peers, and content

This report aims to assist institutions in designing evidence-based and pedagogically sound strategies to enhance student engagement.

Click here to access the report document (requires ITSO login).

This report captures the perspectives of over 100 employers, collectively representing over 4 million workers across 18 industries and 29 countries and territories, presenting insights on:

  • AI’s dual effect on employment: 72% of employers anticipate reductions in headcount
  • The top two barriers to AI adoption in the workplace — lack of governance and training — and the opportunities this presents for higher education
  • A sharp disconnect between industry and higher education: only 3% of employers believe higher education is adequately preparing graduates for an AI-driven future

This report will inform institutions about strategy for preparing students for a rapidly evolving workforce.

Click here to access the report document (requires ITSO login).

This global report was developed by the Digital Education Council in partnership with Pearson. It offers institutions a clear and actionable framework to rethink and redesign assessment in the age of AI, featuring:

  • 14 practical methodologies of AI-integrated assessment design
  • A step-by-step guide to support assessment redesign at scale
  • A dual-priority approach that ensures students develop both foundational human skills and AI fluency
  • AI-resistant as a baseline design principle to uphold assessment validity and integrity

Click here to access the report document (requires ITSO login).

The Ten Dimension AI Readiness Framework, developed by the Digital Education Council 2025 AI Working Group, offers a comprehensive approach to integrating AI in higher education. Co-created by 27 member institutions from 17 countries and led by our Director of CEI, Sean McMinn, this framework provides a shared structure for assessing AI readiness across ten dimensions.

The tool enables higher education institutions to thoroughly evaluate their current state of AI readiness, identify gaps, and align AI initiatives with long-term goals in teaching, research, governance, and operations. Additionally, the framework includes real case studies contributed by member institutions, highlighting common challenges and scalable solutions.

Click here to access the framework document (requires ITSO login).

Designed to support higher education institutions, the framework provides structured guidance to develop AI literacy approaches that equip individuals with both foundational AI competencies and industry-specific applications.

The framework defines five key dimensions of AI literacy:

  • Understanding AI and Data
  • Critical Thinking and Judgement
  • Ethical and Responsible Use
  • Human-centricity, Emotional Intelligence, and Creativity
  • Domain Expertise

Click here to access the framework document (requires ITSO login).

This survey aims to provide insights into faculty use and perceptions around artificial intelligence (AI) in higher education to inform decision-making for higher education leadership. When read together with the DEC Global AI Student Survey, higher education institution leaders can begin to paint a comprehensive picture of attitudes towards AI in their institutions and the level of work that needs to be undertaken.

The report covers faculty’s overall use and perceptions of AI, awareness of AI’s impact on teaching and learning, perceived future-readiness for AI integration in teaching, and judgement of institutional AI guidelines and communication.

This survey has gathered 1,681 responses, from faculty members of 52 participating institutions across 28 countries, offering a diverse range of faculty viewpoints on AI in education. With institutions looking to integrate AI into their curricula and teaching, this survey aims to inform institution leadership of faculty needs and perceptions regarding AI use.

Click here to access the survey document (requires ITSO login).

This survey aims to provide insights into student perceptions around artificial intelligence (AI) in higher education to inform decision-making for university leadership. The report covers the status of AI usage and readiness, student perception of AI use cases, expectations and preferences on university actions on AI, satisfaction with institutions’ AI adoption, concerns and key attributes for AI use.

This survey has gathered 3839 responses across 16 countries, from bachelor, masters, and doctorate students in multiple fields of study, offering a diverse range of student viewpoints on AI in education. With universities both keen to integrate AI into their institutions and wary of possible liabilities and concerns that this integration may bring, this survey aims to be a guide to take action.

Click here to access the survey document (requires ITSO login).