Tom Hagiladi, Amnon Glassner
In this article, we present the identification and the designing of a multilayered optimal model which provide a suitable response to the key challenge of learning in the AI era. The model links heutagogy (self-determined learning) with the use of generative AI (GenAI) and is analyzed from different aspects. Heutagogy invites individual learners or learning groups to choose their learning content, methods and sources, evaluation approaches, and ways of sharing knowledge. The instructor becomes a facilitator who stands alongside the learner to facilitate joint reflective, creative, and critical thinking. GenAI enriches this space through its unique ability to provide immediate, organized, and accessible responses to various aspects of the learning process. Unlike traditional digital information sources, it adapts to the learner, enables open and non-judgmental dialogue, and offers diverse ways of representing and processing knowledge. These characteristics enable an iterative creating of knowledge and examine information from different angles, deepening learning through iterative and curiosity-driven learning cycles. The triangular dialogue between learner, human facilitator, and GenAI creates new opportunities for developing intrinsic motivation for learning, critical thinking and reflective tendencies and skills. The aim of this article is to identify and conceptualize the potential properties of this triangular interaction, exploring how it could contribute to meaningful, authentic, and deep learning in the digital age.