Near Christmas time, many people traditionally watch the movie classic “It’s a Wonderful Life” about a man named George, who loses his courage to face life on Christmas night due to a series of difficulties and ends up being saved by an angel who shows him how life would be for the people around him if he had never been born. Poor George has let himself get so caught up in the troubles of everyday life that he has lost sight of all the positive things that he has achieved and the impact he has on those around him.

This movie reminds us that we are like George sometimes: we tend to focus on the negative things in daily life and sometimes lose our view of the bigger picture and the positive impact we have on those around us. Just like George, we need to be reminded occasionally of all the positive things in our lives and how we shape the world around us.

In this tradition, we reflect on this past year, 2024, to reminisce the highlights and remind ourselves what a wonderful year this has been.

New Doctors

One of this year’s biggest highlights was that three group members successfully defended their PhDs. We celebrate their successes and are thankful for their years of hard work and essential advancements in their research fields. We congratulate them warmly for their academic achievements:

New Professors

We also celebrate two group members who have positively impacted our group and have now started a professorship at other universities. We are sad to have said goodbye, but are excited for them in their new academic journeys:

New People

Various visits have also enriched the year, whether it was the people visiting us at DIPF or those of us visiting others abroad:

New Honours

We can also proudly look back at awards and honours within our team:

More Publications

When in the middle of writing a paper, it can be frustrating, and one sometimes feels as if the end is out of reach. Then, after lots of hard work, the paper is finished and later published. Of course, we cherish this moment when the job is completed, but we do tend to forget the small victories along the way: writing that first sentence, finding the missing link, finally sorting the brain fog and having the occasional (somehow almost magical) writing flow.

As a group, we published 6 conference papers, 16 journal articles, 4 workshop papers and 3 doctoral theses during the past year. In retrospect, we can reflect upon 2024 as a year full of scientific successes. But not just these result numbers but as a successful year of continuous hard work. https://edutec.science/publications-content-page/

Wonderful Conferences

Besides publications, we also dedicated our time to preparing for and attending scientific conferences to make an impact by showcasing our research to others:

More Presentations & Events

We also made an impact by presenting our research in other scientific and non-scientific settings.

Resourceful Projects

Last, we reflect on the many projects we have invested great diligence and effort in over the past year. The work is a continuous effort, but we can name a few milestones:

Looking back and reminiscing upon all that has happened, we can be thankful and proud of the role we have all played in advancing the science of educational technology. What a wonderful life we have in the EduTec world!

In this sense, we wish you all a happy, thankful and thoughtful holiday season and a good start in the new year 2025!