Chennai, Sep 01: Indian Institute of Technology Madras is partnering with UNESCO Mahatma Gandhi Institute of Education for Peace and Sustainable Development to develop next-generation Artificial Intelligence and immersive learning technologies aimed at transforming education globally.
The collaboration will combine UNESCO MGIEP’s global leadership in Social and Emotional Learning with IIT Madras’ expertise in AI, Extended Reality, game design and immersive technologies to create digital learning solutions that make education more engaging, interactive and learner-centric
The cooperation agreement was signed recently in the presence of Prof. Obijiofor Aginam, Director, UNESCO MGIEP, Prof. Manu Santhanam, Dean, IIT Madras and Prof. M. Manivannan, Head, Experiential Technology Innovation Centre, IIT Madras.
Speaking about this initiative, Prof. Obijiofor Aginam, Director of UNESCO MGIEP, said,
“UNESCO MGIEP will provide expertise on Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) and alignment with UNESCO's recommendations on AI ethics and learner-centred education. The resulting open-source AI is expected to accelerate at scale the integration of SEL from policy aspiration to everyday classroom practice.”
Prof. Obijiofor Aginam added,
“This tool is also expected to reduce teacher burden by providing a scaffold that helps teachers practically embed SEL into lesson plans, teaching activities, and assessments. The teachers can further adapt it, to make it more context relevant. Such Open AI models are also expected to be low-cost and efficient in low-bandwidth scenarios, thereby helping bridge the digital divide instead of exacerbating it through the need for continuous internet connectivity.”
The partnership is also expected to generate scalable digital learning technologies that can be adapted across diverse educational systems worldwide, supporting the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 4.7, which promotes education for peaceful, inclusive and sustainable societies.
Elaborating on the outcomes from this project, Prof. M. Manivannan, also a faculty in the Department of Applied Mechanics and Biomedical Engineering, IIT Madras, said,
“A major outcome of the partnership will be the development of AI-powered tools capable of transforming conventional curricula by integrating Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) concepts and embedding gamified, immersive learning experiences”
Prof. M. Manivannan added,
“The technology is designed to integrate SEL seamlessly into existing academic content rather than introducing it as a separate subject, making learning more enjoyable for students, easier for teachers to deliver and simpler for institutions to implement.”
The envisioned AI tool will analyse existing curricula and generate personalised, gamified learning pathways enriched with SEL components. The immersive technologies will shift classrooms from passive instruction to experiential learning, encouraging greater student participation while providing real-time emotional feedback and fostering critical life skills such as self-awareness, self-management, responsible decision-making, relationship building and social awareness.
The collaboration seeks to address one of the major challenges in education—the practical integration of Social and Emotional Learning into mainstream curricula. By embedding these concepts into everyday classroom experiences through AI and immersive technologies, the partners aim to make SEL an integral and enjoyable part of education rather than an additional academic requirement.
Beyond technology development, the collaboration will undertake joint research in educational technology, pedagogy, AI and learning sciences. It will also facilitate faculty and researcher exchanges, organise workshops, conferences and seminars, and promote interdisciplinary research at the intersection of immersive technologies, pedagogy and learning science.
UNESCO MGIEP is a specialised UNESCO institute dedicated to advancing education for peace and sustainable development through Social and Emotional Learning, while the XTIC at IIT Madras is a leading research centre developing cutting-edge technologies in Extended Reality, immersive systems and technology-enabled learning.