EXCEL: Empowering Educators through XR and AI Learning for Industry Innovation

Copilot said:

EXCEL – Empowering Educators through XR and AI Learning for Industry Innovation is a three-year Erasmus+ project involving six European partners. The project aims to strengthen higher education teachers’ capacity to use Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Extended Reality (XR) technologies, particularly in engineering education. EXCEL will develop an AI and XR Competence Framework, five immersive learning scenarios, a training environment, and a 20-hour blended training programme for educators. In addition, the project will create a European AI and XR Readiness Roadmap. The results will support the responsible adoption of emerging technologies in education, curriculum development, and better alignment between education and the evolving competence needs of industry.

AI and XR technologies are rapidly transforming the manufacturing industry and creating new competence requirements. However, their integration into higher education remains fragmented, mainly due to gaps in educators’ skills, pedagogical guidance and institutional readiness. EXCEL addresses this gap by supporting the systematic, responsible and practice-oriented integration of AI and XR into engineering education.

The overall goal of EXCEL is to strengthen the capacity of higher education teachers and institutions to integrate AI and XR into engineering education in a pedagogically sound, responsible and sustainable way. The project enhances educators’ digital and pedagogical competences, supports the integration of AI and XR into curricula, improves institutional digital readiness, and develops practical immersive learning approaches aligned with industry needs. At the same time, EXCEL strengthens cooperation between education and industry and contributes to the development of future-oriented skills in engineering education.

EXCEL will strengthen higher education teachers’ AI and XR competences and their ability to use emerging technologies in pedagogically meaningful and responsible ways in engineering education. The competence framework, immersive learning scenarios, training model and readiness roadmap will support the systematic and sustainable integration of AI and XR into teaching and curricula.

The project will also enhance institutions’ digital readiness and capacity for transformation, while strengthening cooperation between education and industry. In the long term, EXCEL will improve the alignment of engineering education with evolving labour-market needs and promote the responsible, scalable and sustainable adoption of AI and XR across European higher education.

Erasmus+ Cooperation Partnerships 2021-2027

Euroopan komissio