From 1 to 3 September 2026, our Department of Educational Sciences at Masaryk University hosted the international EARLI SIG 26 Conference, organised under the auspices of the European Association for Research on Learning and Instruction (EARLI). This year’s conference, titled Argumentation, Dialogue and Reasoning in the Age of AI: Tradition as Roots, Technology as Wings?, focused on argumentation, dialogue, and reasoning in education and explored how these areas are being shaped by the rapid development of digital technologies and artificial intelligence.

The conference brought together more than 160 researchers from around the world and featured a total of 151 research contributions over three days. Members of BOLD Lab actively contributed to the programme, presenting their current research and engaging in discussions with the international research community. The conference thus provided an important opportunity not only to share findings from our ongoing research but also to exchange ideas and perspectives with colleagues working on dialogue, argumentation, and reasoning across different educational contexts.

The programme also featured two keynote lectures. Sara Hennessy from the University of Cambridge delivered a keynote entitled Dialogic Pedagogy, Mutual Learning through Reflective Inquiry in Research-Practice Partnerships, and Technology Applications. Her presentation explored dialogic pedagogy, collaboration between researchers and practitioners, and the potential of technology to support dialogue and professional learning.

The second keynote, Enhancing Classroom Dialogue: From Video-Based Teacher Reflection to AI-Powered Classroom Feedback, was delivered by Gaowei Chen from the University of Hong Kong. His talk focused on the use of classroom video, visualisation of classroom interaction data, and AI-powered tools to support teacher reflection and the development of dialogic teaching.

The EARLI SIG 26 Conference 2026 provided an important international forum for discussing how research on argumentation, dialogue, and reasoning can respond to the opportunities and challenges emerging in the age of AI. For BOLD Lab, it was also a valuable opportunity to present our research, receive feedback from international colleagues, and strengthen connections within the wider research community.