Professor Linda Ziberi is the next guest on the PodGo show on Telegrafi Macedonia, with whom we discussed education in general, artificial intelligence, as well as the difference between students at Albanian universities and those in foreign countries.
We started the discussion about the new draft law on higher education in North Macedonia, which is currently in the process of being approved, about which Professor Ziberi said there is a lot of room for doubt.
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She emphasized that the very proponents of this law, the Government and the Ministry of Education, have contributed to public doubts about this law by not publishing the names of the drafters of the law.
“I have read the draft law and from what I have seen, in one aspect it is good that reforms are being made. I am for reforms. Universities in Macedonia need substantial transformation, but the way this law is designed has left a lot to debate, which is not good for the government itself and the ministry that proposes this law. One thing that is problematic is how democratically this law was adopted. The statement of the minister herself that she gave cast a lot of doubt, which did not indicate the names of the professors who participated in the drafting of the law. This is problematic, it is not known whether students participated. And the other issue that is debatable is the publication of papers by young researchers. This leads the work of professors towards quantity, not quality. Universities should play a role, and not focus only on numbers,” said Professor Ziberi.
Regarding her teaching style, which focuses more on interactivity and teamwork, she said that nowadays it is important to have more practical teaching for students.
“Teamwork, working on projects, collaborating with organizations, institutions, doing real projects, I think they are important now. I was lucky because the education I received in the US was at very applied universities. Then in my doctorate I focused on criticism, we read great philosophers. These experiences have given me a different perspective. Then also the experience in Finland – and I have tried to apply the same to students and teaching. I usually apologize to students when I lecture for more than 20-25 minutes. I do not consider myself a provider of information. I do not believe that I would have worked as a professor if I were only a provider of information. I see the role of a teacher as a guide,” said Ziberi.
As for artificial intelligence and education, she said that AI can be very useful, but there must be control and students must be aware of its weaknesses.
“There are many challenges for AI in terms of plagiarism, writing, I had to make many changes in my classes, as my students are in the writing section. I am enthusiastic about AI. In terms of the opportunities it provides, especially in Balkan countries, where we lack libraries, it has a lot of potential. But it needs to be controlled, the problems that AI presents need to be clearly known, especially the ethical ones,” said Ziberi.