In our blog, we regularly publish articles, opinion pieces, good practices and much more on the future of academic education. Would you also like to publish something with us? Then contact us at kommunikation@hochschulforum.org.
At the HFD's AI networking event on August 22, 2024, around 170 participants from universities across Germany, Austria and Switzerland exchanged views on generative AI in higher education. A look back and a look ahead.
In this blog post, we explore the key challenges surrounding mental stress in higher education and discuss how universities can address these with visibility strategies. A step-by-step guide in the appendix of the article is intended to serve as a suggestion on what to consider when planning and implementing a visibility campaign in the university context and how to involve students in its design.
How are the mental health of students and digitalization processes at universities connected? What about the support structures for students at universities? And how can online teaching or digitally supported teaching be designed to promote health? Tanja Brock and Jan Schuhr addressed these and similar questions in the enhance research and development project. They present important results in the form of a toolbox in four blog posts.
With subtitling glasses, hearing-impaired students should be able to follow lectures without barriers. Practical tests at Mainz University of Applied Sciences have revealed advantages, but also new challenges. In this guest article, Alessandra Reß and Daniel Bayer explain the extent to which the use of subtitling glasses can actually contribute to barrier-free teaching.
The release of ChatGPT in November 2022 has led to the wider use of artificial intelligence (AI) reaching into the mainstream. AI tools have long since found their way into colleges and universities. But how do students and teachers actually view this change? What are the opportunities and challenges of using AI tools in university teaching? Lukas Erle, Thomas Hoss and Prof. Dr. Sabrina Eimler (Department of Human Factors & Gender Studies at the Institute of Computer Science at the Ruhr West University of Applied Sciences in Bottrop) put these and other questions to students and teachers at various German colleges and universities.
The University:Future Festival (U:FF) provides such an opportunity for critical reflection, sharing of best practice and key insights into what's working at the cutting edge by bringing together educators, staff and students, as well as policy makers from across Germany and Europe. To broaden your perspective, here are my 5 must-see keynotes in English from the festival's stellar line-up:
(Generative) AI has turned the examination system on its head. The fear of students trying to cheat still dominates the discussion. But at the University of Adelaide in Australia, the focus has shifted towards academic integrity and student support. In this interview, Edward Palmer, Professor and Director of the Unit of Digital Education and Training in the School of Education, explains the impact of AI on assessment and how attitudes to assessment need to change.
German universities are facing the challenge of making tools based on generative artificial intelligence (AI) accessible for research, teaching and administration. The focus is currently on the accessibility of commercially available tools such as ChatGPT. However, the issue of non-commercial, open source-based solutions is also increasingly coming to the fore in the discussions. What options are there, what are the advantages and disadvantages and what role does cross-university cooperation play here?
Are you eager to access comprehensive student performance data across multiple platforms? Keen on collaborating seamlessly with fellow educators across various institutions? Do you envision a single platform to log in as a student? As an administrator, are you looking for more efficient academic recognition processes? Good news: The European Digital Education Hub is making strides with a key initiative that responds to these wishes – by developing a European higher education interoperability framework. We spoke to Channa van der Brug, who has been closely monitoring the progress of this initiative since its launch in September 2023, informed by insights from the HFD study “Making Interoperability Work”. She will unveil the progress made and its relevance to you!
University teaching that promotes or perhaps even celebrates diverse styles of thinking and learning not only creates an inclusive environment, but also offers added value for all teachers and students. In this article, we explore why neurodiversity is crucial in the digital world of higher education and how to practically address the different needs of neurodivergent people in higher education. Individual self-efficacy and a sense of community can be promoted through freedom of choice in dealing with technology and mutual empathy.
