The Manipal College of Nursing (MCON), Manipal Academy of Higher Education (MAHE), under the initiative of Pillar I – Excellence in Education, organized a comprehensive workshop titled “Next Gen Learning – AI Toolbox for Education and Research” on 06 December 2025 at the Medical Education Hall, Second Floor, Library Building, MAHE, Manipal. The program aimed to enhance the understanding of faculty, researchers, and students regarding the effective integration of Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools and their application into teaching, learning, and research.

The workshop commenced at 9:00 am with a welcome address and introduction of the chief guest by Dr. Judith Angelitta Noronha, Dean, MCON. She emphasized the timely significance of AI tools in reshaping modern education and healthcare research. Mrs. Geena Louis Dsouza, Convenor and Lecturer, Department of Fundamentals of Nursing, provided a brief overview of the workshop and its objectives. The Chief Guest of the day, Dr. Keerthana Prasad, Director, Manipal School of Information Sciences, in her address, congratulated the nursing college for organizing the need of the hour workshop and highlighted the rapid advancements in AI technologies in higher education institutions, to adopt AI-driven tools, particularly for academic and research purposes. She emphasized the need to cross-check the data or facts from AI tools for their appropriateness and usability. Dr Keerthana highlighted the significance of human oversight and therapeutic touch, focusing on our strengths, defining the tasks, working on them, and utilizing AI tools as an enabler for professional growth.       

The resource person of the workshop, Fr. Anil Ivan Fernandes, Director, Canara Communication Centre, Mangalore, spoke on the evolving role of AI in modern education and research, highlighting the robotic nature of its work. AI tools can curate, synthesize, and innovate academic teaching and learning, thereby preparing a better ecosystem to build a smarter world.

The first session of the workshop focused on Google Gemini, the next-generation AI system developed by Google, which can work with various types of data, including text, images, audio, video, and code. The resource person highlighted prompt techniques, such as the RACE method (Roll, Audience, Context, Expectation) and PARTS method (Persona, Aim, Recipient, Theme, Structure). The session also shed light on various AI tools, including Perplexicity Pro, a counterpart to Google Gemini, Nano Banana for creating images, ChatGPT Go version, and Notebook LM, an AI-powered research and writing companion.   

The post lunch session began with a demonstration of Consensus Gemini, an advanced AI-assisted evidence synthesis tool that quickly and accurately summarizes the scientific research findings. Next, the resource person deliberated on AI Assistant, a software system powered by AI, that utilizes a large language model (LLM) and natural language processing (NLP) to retrieve relevant information and perform tasks. He also demonstrated Paperpal, an AI-powered writing and editing assistant for academic and research writing; R Discovery, a research-based AI tool designed to explore relevant scholarly literature; and Grok, an AI-powered conversational assistant integrated into the social media platform X, which provides real-time information, content generation, and interactive AI responses.   

All the sessions were interactive, with live demonstrations of the AI tools. A total of 65 participants enthusiastically engaged with hands-on activities and explored practical applications.

The program concluded with closing remarks delivered by Dr. Linu Sara George, Professor and Head, Department of Fundamentals of Nursing, and Head of Pillar 1. Certificates were awarded to the resource person and all delegates in recognition of their participation. Mrs. Janet Alva, Co-Convenor and Assistant Professor, Department of Medical-Surgical Nursing, proposed the vote of thanks, acknowledging the contributions of all dignitaries and participants. Mrs. Jessica Clara Banz, Lecturer, Department of Child Health Nursing, served as the emcee for the workshop.

The workshop was highly informative and successful in enhancing participants’ understanding of AI applications in education and research. It encouraged faculty, researchers, and students to embrace innovative digital tools, thereby strengthening the institution’s commitment to excellence in education, and contributing to Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) 4 – quality education and 17 – partnership for the goals.