The 14th International Conference on Artificial Intelligence in Education (AIED2009) is being held July 6–10 2009 in Brighton, UK. AIED2009 is part of an ongoing series of biennial international conferences for top quality research in intelligent systems and cognitive science for educational computing applications. The conference provides opportunities for the cross-fertilization of techniques from many fields that make up this interdisciplinary research area, including: artificial intelligence, computer science, cognitive and learning sciences, education, educational technology, psychology, philosophy, sociology, anthropology, linguistics, and the many domain-specific areas for which AIED systems have been designed and evaluated.

AIED2009 focuses on the theme “Building Learning Systems that Care: From Knowledge Representation to Affective Modelling”. This extends an AIED vision proposed 20 years ago by John Self. The field has moved a long way since then. It is now widely accepted that effective learning environments are expected to care about both learners and tutors, and to have a good understanding of the variety of learning contexts. The key research question now is how to tackle the complex issues related to building learning systems that care, ranging from representing knowledge and context to modelling social, cognitive, metacognitive, and affective dimensions. This requires multidisciplinary research that links theory and technology from artificial intelligence, cognitive science, and computer science with theory and practice from education and the social sciences.

AIED research is widely recognized and has been in the focus of recent funding opportunities and initiatives all over the world. One of the goals of the AIED2009 organizers was to encourage broad participation from research communities, users, and educational practitioners whose work is relevant to AIED. The conference attracted submissions from 39 countries all over the world, including 19 European countries, 13 Asian countries, 4 American countries, 2 countries from Australia and Oceania, and 1 African country. Most submissions came from North America (45%) and Europe (37%), and there has been a noticeable increase in participation from Asia and Australia and Oceania (15%). Overall, we received 243 submissions of full papers and posters; 70 of these were accepted as full papers and another 70 as posters. The full papers have been allotted 8 pages in the Proceedings whereas the posters have been allotted 3 pages. The conference includes a Young Researchers Track combined with a Doctoral Consortium (YRT/DC). This is the main forum for PhD students and new researchers to present their work as primary investigators and to receive feedback from the international AIED community. AIED2009 received 25 YRT/DC submissions, 18 of which were accepted for presentation at the conference and were allotted 2 pages in the Proceedings. The YRT/DC session is supported by the US National Science Foundation.

In addition to the main research tracks, the conference includes 12 events that showcase interactive demonstrations of AIED systems. There also are 12 workshops held in conjunction with AIED2009 that provide an opportunity for in-depth discussion of current and emerging topics of interest to the AIED community. In parallel to the workshops, 4 tutorials present advanced topics and current developments that have a level of maturity in AIED research.

The invited speakers present key aspects of AIED09 theme and point to prospective AIED research directions. Susanne Lajoie revisits the traditional AIED debate as to whether computers can teach you to think and care, looking at affect, motivation and meta-cognition. Coming from AI and cognitive science, Kenneth Forbus places his work on the understanding of open-domain sketches in the context of AIED. Another driver for future AIED research, namely the recent developments in the world wide web, is presented by Wolfgang Nejdl, who discusses how user generated content can be used to improve search.

The AIED2009 program committees (PCs) played a crucial role in shaping the conference programme. Senior PC members reviewed YRT/DC submissions and provided constructive feedback and guidance to the next generation AIED researchers. Each paper and poster submission was reviewed by three members of the program committee, with a member of the senior PC overseeing the review process and providing a meta-review based on the reviewers' scores for novelty, originality, soundness, and relevance to the conference. In some cases, the PC members nominated external reviewers which encouraged many establishing AIED researchers to take part in the review process and provide invaluable feedback about the quality of submissions. The review process was rigorous; many submissions about promising research had to be rejected due to the healthy competition.

A conference of this size could have not been organised without the active involvement and invaluable contribution of the organizing committee. We are indebted to the YRT/DC chairs George Magoulas and Tanja Mitrovic, Poster chairs Neil Heffernan and Tsukasa Hirashima, Interactive events chairs Jack Mostow and Katy Howland, Workshop chairs Scotty Craig and Darina Dicheva, Tutorial chairs Beatriz Barros and Stephan Weibelzahl, and Sponsorship chairs Roger Azevedo and Rose Luckin. Without them, this conference could have not happened. Special thanks go to the Publicity chair Genaro Rebolledo Mendez for his enthusiasm and creativity in popularising the conference to the relevant research communities Many thanks are also due to the local team at Brighton, especially Katy Howland, Madeline Balaam, Amanda Harris and Hilary Smith. We are also grateful for all the help received from Julia Gallagher and Darren Johnsonat VisitBrighton. The AIED2009 conference promises to be a stimulating research event, presenting the state-of-the-art projects and shaping the future of AIED research. We encourage you join the international AIED society which brings together a community of researchers through the organization of Conferences, the International Journal of Artificial Intelligence in Education, and other activities of interest.

Vania Dimitrova, University of Leeds, UK

Riichiro Mizoguchi, Osaka University, Japan

Benedict du Boulay, University of Sussex, UK

Art Graesser, University of Memphis, USA

May 2009