The TALOS Lab is pleased to report on the two-day visit of Professor Eleni Katsarou (University of Crete; Member of the TALOS Steering Committee) and Dr Konstantinos Sipitanos (Postdoctoral Researcher, University of Crete; External Collaborator of the TALOS Lab) to the Department of Teacher Education at California State University, East Bay, on 8–9 December 2025. The visit took place at the invitation of Associate Professor Earl Aguilera, an award-winning teacher educator and internationally recognized scholar working at the intersection of literacy, educational technology, and critical pedagogy.

During the meetings, Prof. Katsarou and Dr. Sipitanos presented two current research initiatives of the TALOS Lab:
(A) The AI Literacy for Future Teachers Project, which aims to investigate the skills, frameworks, and pedagogical approaches necessary to prepare educators for an AI-rich educational environment.
(B) The use of NLP tools for analyzing 21st-century Language Curricula, a project that explores how computational methods can reveal structural patterns, learning expectations, and design principles embedded in modern curriculum documents. These topics reflect ongoing work within TALOS on AI literacy, educational innovation, and the application of natural language processing to support research-based curriculum development.
In turn, Dr Aguilera shared his recent research on game-based learning and its connections to AI in education, offering complementary perspectives on technology-mediated learning and critical digital pedagogy.

The visit concluded with discussions about future joint research activities and a shared commitment to formalising collaboration through a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) linking the two institutions. This step aims to support sustained exchange, co-authored research, and emerging projects in AI education, literacy studies, and digital pedagogies.
📅 Dates: 8–9 December 2025
📍 Venue: Department of Teacher Education, California State University, East Bay
🤝 Host: Associate Professor Earl Aguilera, PhD