The Future of Education

Generally, academic career paths are based on research, teaching, or a combination of both. However, it is quite difficult to involve university students in studying PhD or after their master's studies become lecturers. In Lithuania, one of the reasons might be differences in monetary incentives between the education and information technology sectors [1]. As a result, finding young and motivated lecturers at the Faculty of Informatics of the Kaunas University of Technology (KTU) [2] may become challenging in the future. For this reason, the Faculty of Informatics [2] started an initiative “The Development of New Generation of Teachers (DONGOT)” in 2023. This initiative is based on learning from mentors (lecturers), and academic career development [3], [4]. The aim of this study was to investigate students' and mentors' motivation, attitudes, and experiences throughout the DONGOT initiative. The main results were conducted from interviews and surveys. Participants were asked to identify their experiences throughout different activities. It should be noted, that this initiative consists of 8 lecturers and 23 students. Moreover, case studies of various activities provided by mentors to students are presented. For example, teaching experience in secondary schools, 3D modeling, web development, server maintenance, computer networks, Internet of Things, cyber security, VR (virtual reality) assignments, etc. In conclusion, this investigation facilitates the identification and development of techniques for how to involve students to become future educators. It was found that this initiative had a positive impact on participants.