Tracing the digital turn in higher education

Watch all interviews in full length on our Youtube-Playlist "Educational Experts Seminar 2019"

EdExpert Tour- Part 1- Boston to New York 30.9.19- 06.10.19

"In 2019 the Educational Experts Seminar was a very special one", says Oliver Schmidt, Executive Director of the German-American Fulbright Commission. He refers to the first delegation trip ever, that brought together German and American participants during one journey. Fulbright Germany organized the exchange jointly with Stifterverband, Hochschulforum Digitalisierung, DWIH New York and Impact Hub Berlin. Subject of the Seminar is “The Impact of Digitalization on the Future of Higher Education”. Therefore in beginning of October the German participants –  presidents, vice presidents and provosts of HEI – were travelling to the US and visited severeal innovative learning spaces, EdTech startups and disruptors of the higher education system. In December 2019 there will be a reunion, when the American participants are jointly travelling to Berlin. On this site you will find impressions of the learning journey to the American east coast.

The 'EdExperts' in New York City. Photo: Till Rückwart

Innovations comes with the people

The "Edexperts" were guests at various locations in Boston, Cambridge and New York City. Starting at the Harvard Univeristy and MIT, the journey went on to get to know the American EdTech ecosystem. On each day they met leading figures in the american higher education sector, speaking about their approaches to foster new learning experiences and disrupt traditional learning environments. Watch our Youtube-Playlist "Educational Experts Seminar 2019", as we had the chance to Interview many people with exciting thoughts.

Community matters

Eventhough the programm was intense with short breaks and many transfers, it was always a benefit to involve the community in our learning process. So, we tried a hands-on Twitter livestream for the first time and had some good reactions and participation from Berlin. Review our journey with the #EdExperts. Also Susanne Staude, president of the University of Applied Sciences Ruhr-West, wrote a detailed article for our Blog, summarizing the trip in a diary format. And, published on his own Blog, Andreas Breiter, vice president for research at the University of Bremen, gives impulses on "Digital Transformation of Higher Ed", inspired by the Learning Journey.

Peer-Group work during the bus ride to NYC. Photo: Till Rückwart

Key Takeaways and Foresights

│Space Matters: Create settings that allow for transformation.

│Culture of Error & Get out of the Comfort Zone: Allow teachers to make mistakes and  experiment. 

│Transformational Literacy:  ”Transformational literacy means the capacity to apply systems thinking [...] and to be the core shaper of emerging possibilities.” – Otto Scharmer, MIT Sloan School

│Teach the Teacher: Teachers need to be taught how to apply new tools.

│Students Matter: Bring in students’ perspectives.