Education and Digital Transformation

In our research unit "Education and Digital Transformation" we observe how the societal, political and cultural conditions in education are steadily changing.

In particular, we focus on the increase of digitalization and the digital competences children and young people are going to need in the future. We further examine the consequences of digitalization for curricula development, learning environments, learning processes and teacher education.

In order to prepare educators to pay attention to these new developments and to meet the challenges posed by digitalization, it is crucial to explore new avenues in teaching and research. In our research group, we respond to these pedagogical and societal realities, often by working in interdisciplinary teams and by applying experimental and participative research methods.

Through this approach the development of theory (i.e. the evolution of concepts and their descriptions) and practice becomes richer and more diverse. Our research combines different approaches with regard to both methodology and theory. In this way, we treat questions related to education at the interface of education and society, which occasionally lead us to identify new topics of examination or new objects of research. At the same time, we aim to discuss problems and questions concerning educational research in a broader context, as we do not only see these as private or individual issues but always regard them as joint and public matters.

Our research group primarily works in cooperation with stakeholders of different disciplines and from diverse areas of the educational sector. By doing so, we intend to make a concrete contribution when it comes to meeting recent societal and pedagogical challenges. We share our insights through a variety of contributions as well as teaching and learning resources.

The topics that we have recently worked on in both our research and teaching revolve around the following questions:

• ... how do digitalized applications (internet, digital learning environments or games) leave their marks on our (virtual) reality and what does this mean for our individual and collective lives?
• .... how can we support pedagogical professionalization and the acquisition of new competencies for experienced as well as future teachers by developing specific, research-based pedagogical models and materials?

We are currently active in the following interdisciplinary networks:

• Human factor in digital transformation (HFDT) – an interdisciplinary network dealing with the transformation of society as a consequence of digital technologies
• Colibri – a connection between biological sciences, social sciences and computational complexity sciences, in which we discuss the complexity of life

Teaching materials, which we are developing in addition to our publications, include:

• Resources for the conceptualization and development of digital stories related to climate protection (digital storytelling & climate change).
• A learning app (serious gaming) for young adults in order to foster the development of competencies regarding cyber security. 
• A video archive including stories collected in schools, which links theory to practice in teaching as well as in research.
• Teaching materials dealing with the topic of social inequality in education.

To find out more about our current research projects, click here.

With regard to teaching, our research group is primarily responsible for teacher education programmes (BWG – Bildungswissenschaftliche Grundlagen/ Foundations of Educational Sciences) of the Entwicklungsverbund Süd-Ost and is in charge of the planning, organization, as well as the development of modules A and C. Our research unit’s current courses and lectures can be found here.