Event Archives - EduTec Science

Jul22026 by Heather WehnerNo Comments

Congratulations, Dr. Karademir! Turning Data into Pedagogical Action

On 1 July 2026, Onur Karademir successfully defended his doctoral dissertation at the Goethe-University Frankfurt — and we could not be prouder. Onur joined the EduTec team in February 2021, but his story started even earlier: as a student frustrated by 90-minute maths lectures, he channelled that experience into founding StudyCore, an EdTech startup delivering digital teaching tools to universities and schools. That hands-on instinct — building things that actually reach learners — defined his entire PhD trajectory. His dissertation, Turning Data into Pedagogical Action: Designing the Learning Analytics Cockpit, a Teacher Dashboard for Feedback, tackles one of the most pressing challenges in educational technology: making learning analytics useful in real classrooms. Over three interconnected studies — a proof of concept, a co-design process with secondary school teachers and a…

Jun252026 by Prof. Dr. Hendrik DrachslerNo Comments

Keynote: From Experiment to Infrastructure: Reflections on AI in Higher Education

Academy, Artificial Intelligence, Conference, Higher Education, Keynote, Keynote

Today, Hendrik Drachsler gave a keynote at the VHB annual Conference in Bamberg, speaking to an audience of over 33 AI project leaders from higher education institutions in Germany. The topic was "From Experiment to Infrastructure: Scaling, Evaluation, and Governance of AI Systems in Higher Education," reflecting his thinking on various grassroots projects and how to scale them across the whole university. The gap between performance and learning Hendrik opened with a provocation: Is AI the new calculator? Both technologies automate cognitive processes, both faced early scepticism, and both promised efficiency gains. But the analogy breaks down quickly. A calculator takes over arithmetic, not problem-solving. AI takes over the formulation, analysis, and argument. That is a qualitative difference, and it demands a different institutional / governance response. Mixed results on…

Jun182026 by Sebastian GombertNo Comments

JTELSS Workshop: Designing Empirical TEL Studies in Higher Education: Practical Research Insights from the CORE Project

Event, Workshop

The 20th EATEL Summer School on Technology Enhanced Learning 2026 took place in Burgas, Bulgaria. The event featured a comprehensive program including inspiring keynote talks, mentoring activities, networking opportunities, and workshop presentations. The EduTec team, represented by Fabíola Gonçalves Coelho Ribeiro, Gianluca Romano, Leon Camus, and Sebastian Gombert had the opportunity to present the workshop Designing Empirical TEL Studies in Higher Education: Practical Research Insights from the CORE Project. The workshop highlighted the design, main characteristics, challenges, lessons learned, and key findings of the Critical Online Reasoning in Higher Education (CORE) project. Through discussions based on real research experiences, participants explored how methodological decisions and research strategies can support the generation of meaningful evidence about learning processes in empirical and longitudinal studies within the field of Technology Enhanced Learning (TEL).…

Jun152026 by Nina MouhammadNo Comments

JTELSS workshop: Academic Note-Taking with Obsidian + Zotero

Summer School

Have you ever started writing the background section of a paper and suddenly thought: "Where did I read that again?" You know the finding, you remember it mattered, but you just can't place it. This is exactly the kind of problem this workshop was designed to help with, by building a note-taking system that lets you actually find what you've read, even years later, and make sense of it in context. The workshop was run by Nina Mouhammad at this year's Joint Technology-Enhanced Learning Summer School (JTELSS) in Bulgaria. After a welcome and a short introduction to the topic, we got into one of the more interesting parts of the session: a structured controversy on the question "Do I still need to read papers and make notes on them, if…

May212026 by Sebastian WollnyNo Comments

🤖 Robots in the Classroom — Sebastian Wollny on the “Sitzenbleiben” Podcast

Digitalisation, Press, Robots in Education, Transfer Activity

What do soccer-playing robots, telepresence droids, and 3D printers have in common? They're all reshaping what education looks like — and our very own Sebastian Wollny sat down with the DIPF parent podcast Sitzenbleiben to break it all down. 🎙️ 📣 Note: This episode is in German. Robotics in education is no longer a distant vision. In Episode 48 of Sitzenbleiben, Sebastian — researcher in our Educational Technologies group and trained electrical engineer with a specialization in automation — explains how robots are already making their way into schools and what that means for students and teachers alike. The conversation covers a surprisingly wide range of real-world applications: 🏫 Telepresence robots that let sick children stay physically "present" in their classroom — a friend can even take the robot-avatar along…

May122026 by Prof. Dr. Hendrik DrachslerNo Comments

How AI Systems Impact Mathematics Achievement in Rural Areas

Artificial Intelligence, PhD defense, School

On Friday, May 8, 2026, Rashmi Khazanchi successfully defended her doctoral dissertation, "Artificial Intelligence in Education: Impact of AI-Based Systems on Mathematics Achievement," at the Open Universiteit in Heerlen. The defense was supervised by Prof. Dr. Hendrik Drachsler, who holds a guest professorship at the Open Universiteit, alongside co-promotor Prof. Dr. Daniele Di Mitri (German University of Digital Sciences). The Research Question Khazanchi's work addresses a pressing challenge in education: whether AI-based learning systems can help close the mathematics achievement gap for students from socioeconomically disadvantaged backgrounds. Her research focused on students in a rural school district in South Georgia, USA — a setting often characterized by limited resources and a shortage of qualified teachers. What Was Studied The school implemented two AI-based systems to support struggling learners: ALEKS, an…

May122026 by Heather WehnerNo Comments

Hendrik Drachsler Receives Outstanding Community Work Award from SoLAR

Award, Conference, Team

In recognition of his outstanding dedication to the Learning Analytics community, Hendrik Drachsler was presented with the Outstanding Community Work Award by the Society for Learning Analytics Research (SoLAR) at the 16th International Learning Analytics & Knowledge Conference (LAK26) on 30 April 2026 in Bergen, Norway. 🏆 The award recognises Hendrik’s long-standing commitment to strengthening the SoLAR community and supporting the development of Learning Analytics as an international research field. In her laudatio, SoLAR President Prof. Blaženka Divjak highlighted Hendrik’s continuous engagement with the Society for Learning Analytics Research since its early years. He has contributed to the community in many roles, including as a SoLAR Executive Committee member and Local Chair of LAK20. He has also helped create spaces for exchange and collaboration by organising and supporting workshops that…

Feb192026 by Atezaz AhmadNo Comments

GREAT Presentation at the World Forum for Science Innovation and Entrepreneurship

Invited talk

On 12 February 2026, Jane Yau gave an online presentation of the GREAT project at the World Forum for Science Innovation and Entrepreneurship (WFSIE) 2026. The title of the presentation was "Game-based civic engagement for climate policy and citizen-policymaker dialogue". Abstract: The GREAT project aims to establish an innovative communication channel between citizens and policy-makers on the climate emergency through a multi-disciplinary consortium. The consortium unites two game companies and seven academic partners to harness the power of interactive digital games for civic engagement and informed policy-making. By leveraging the unique capabilities of game-based platforms, the project seeks to transform how environmental concerns are communicated and addressed. Central to the project is the oversight and coordination of over 10 real-world co-designed case studies. These case studies involve collaboration with policy…

Dec22025 by Heather WehnerNo Comments

Moving Education Towards Didactical Intelligence

Artificial Intelligence, Event, Invited talk, Learning Analytics

ChatGPT and other GenAI tools are said to be good for learning. But does their usage really empower learners, or does it overwhelm them instead? Studies from Highly- Informative Learning Analytics (HILA) programs show how complex the effects of such AI-tools can be. While dashboards can potentially improve students’ learning outcomes, AI feedback can sometimes be helpful and sometimes be demotivating for students, depending on their feedback literacy. In a recent presentation at IWM Lectures Hendrik Drachsler argues that we need more research into Didactical Intelligence – a framework for understanding when, how and for whom AI and Learning Analytics truly improves learning and when not. Technology alone doesn’t guarantee better outcomes; its success depends on thoughtful integration into pedagogy. He therefore presented the Highly-Informative Learning Analytics research platform. This…

Nov282025 by Heather WehnerNo Comments

Exploring the Future of Digital Teaching at #EduNext25

Artificial Intelligence, Conference, Event, Higher Education

On 26.11.2025 our team had the privilege of participating in #EduNext25, a full-day conference dedicated to the future of digitalization and AI in higher education. Hosted by studiumdigitale at Goethe University Frankfurt, the event brought together educators, researchers and innovators from across Hessen and beyond to discuss how technology can transform teaching and learning. The opening remarks by Prof. Dr. Viera Pirker, Minister TimonGremmels and Prof. Dr. Hendrik Drachsler set the tone: digitalization and AI are not just trends, they are essential tools for shaping the academic experience of tomorrow. One highlight was the EduConnect session, where universities from the HessenHub network and the QuiS program showcased their latest projects and approaches to digital learning. Another highlight was the panel discussion on strategic alliances for future teaching. Experts from various…