Charting a research-based future for AI in education in the Netherlands
With guest Inge Molenaar
At the National Education Lab AI (NOLAI) in the Netherlands, director Dr. Inge Molenaar sits at the epicenter of learning, research and AI. And the Netherlands has been a leader in Europe and throughout the world in the effective use of emerging technologies, Dr. Molenaar has an exceptional vantage for observing–and influencing–the emergent use of AI in learning. This week, she joins Jeremy Roschelle and Betsy Corcoran to talk about teacher and student agency, the fragile balance between learning and performance, and when AI works with teachers and students versus when it threatens to erode “self regulation.” And Jeremy poses a mind-bending question: When should a student be more like a trout?
Inge Molenaar
Dr. Inge Molenaar is the director of the National Education Lab AI (NOLAI) and professor of Education and Artificial Intelligence at the Behavioural Science Institute at Radboud University in the Netherlands. She has over 20 years of experience in technology-enhanced learning, taking multiple roles from entrepreneur to academic.
Her research focuses on technology-empowered innovations to optimize human learning and teaching. The application of data, Learning Analytics and Artificial Intelligence in understanding how learning unfolds over time is central to her work. Artificial Intelligence offers a powerful way to measure, understand and design innovative learning scenarios. Dr Molenaar envisions Hybrid Human-AI Learning Technologies that augment human intelligence with artificial intelligence to empower learners and teachers in their quest to make education more efficient, effective and responsive.
In the National Education Lab AI (NOLAI), a collaboration between the Dutch government, schools, research and industry, we believe that a multistakeholder, interdisciplinary approach is essential to develop the next generation educational technologies and a shared understanding of responsible use of AI in education.
Dr Molenaar has received multiple grants among which an ERC Starting Grant to develop the first Hybrid Human-AI Regulation system to train young learners’ Self-regulated learning skills with AI and she is a Jacobs Foundation Fellow. She holds Master’s degrees in Cognitive Psychology and International Business studies and a PhD in Educational Sciences (University of Amsterdam).
LEARN MORE!
A classic text for user design in the field is: Human-Centered AI, by Ben Shneiderman, Oxford University Press, June 2025. Shneiderman is a long-time leader in user design. Here Shneiderman gives an overview talk at the PSW Society (beginning at 16 minutes).
The website for the National Education Lab AI for elementary, secondary and special needs education in the Netherlands, funded by the National Growth Fund, including its research and its ongoing school-based projects.
The annual magazine overview of the National Education Lab in download PDF form and in English.
Fresh for 2026! The OECD’s Digital Education Outlook. (And the webinar overview).
Human-AI collaboration in education: The hybrid future, by Inga Molenarr, Inaugural address from Radboud University, September 2024.
