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#DigitalChangeMaker: Student Working Group on Higher Education in the Digital Age

The student working group "DigitalChangeMaker" contributes to the work of the HFD innovative, creative and committed perspectives from different faculties, university forms and regions. In January 2022, the fourth cohort of the Zukunft-AG started into its working year: 16 students from almost all corners of Germany, who are involved at the local, regional and national level and who want to actively shape the digital transformation at universities are working together for one year in agile teams on various topics.

We bring Digital Change Makers together [https://unsplash.com/photos/XkKCui44iM0 Priscilla Du Preez]

Students as Key Stakeholders in the Discourse on Digitalization in Higher Education

Learners are often not sufficiently involved in the current debates and scientific discourses about the opportunities and challenges of digital change in higher education policy. In this way, they usually only play the role of passive participants. For innovative ideas and new perspectives, there is sometimes neither the openness of the process, nor a fundamental willingness to think and act from the point of view of the actual users. However, some university and non-university structures, projects and initiatives in Germany and Europe show how innovative and active, but also critical and constructive, students want to and can help shape digitalization processes at various levels - if they are given the opportunity to do so. 

For this reason, the HFD has launched the initiative #DigitalChangeMaker and wants to offer students the opportunity to think together about higher education in a new, creative and innovative way and to actively participate in shaping discourses in an exciting community of experts from different backgrounds. This core team of student experts from all over Germany wants to create new opportunities for committed young people to discuss the future of their digitally influenced learning worlds and to find their own ways of actively shaping this future. 

Working Group "DigitalChangeMaker" 2022

In January 2022, the fourth cohort of DigitalChangeMaker started into its working group year - since then the DigitalChangeMaker organize themselves in agile project teams, accompanied by joint workshop weekends, and actively contribute to the discourse in panel discussions, workshops and keynotes. The three project groups of the current cohort are working on different topics: 

  • Diversity & equal opportunity
  • Sustainability
  • Teaching formats of the future

Here we go! The two-day kick-off of the DigitalChangeMaker cohort 2022 was full of energy & and thirst for action - stay tuned!

 

Working Group "DigitalChangeMaker" 2020/21

Starting in October 2020, the third cohort of #DigitalChangeMaker worked together creatively & productively for a year, all members constantly being in close contact with each other through joint workshop meetings, monthly AG calls and project team calls. Over the course of the year, five project teams were formed in which we worked together agilely:

  • Vision Working Group creating a vision video for the future of higher education in 2038 (in german)
  • Social interaction and isolation in everyday university life
  • Think tank Didactics organizing a monthly roundtable (recordings in german)

  • Internationalization through digitalization
  • Hack the exams

Great atmosphere, many ideas and digitally well connected: In October we started our joint AG year.

 

Working Group "DigitalChangeMaker" 2019/20

The second #DigitalChangeMaker cohort started on the weekend before the HFDcon into its working year. In the context of the prelude meeting, the working group members tackled the big questions: What does the university 4.0 look like? What are the needs of the students of the future? What concrete measures can be taken to meet the challenges of the future? In the course of the weekend, the DigitalChangeMakers worked out the following main topics for themselves: Network and Communication, University 4.0 and Sustainability and Digitialization.

++ More information on the kick-off weekend of the DigitalChangeMakers 2019/20: René Rahrt reports on the kick-off meeting in the HFD blog and presents the project ideas and next steps.+++Here we go! The Digital Changemakers 2019/2020 start their year with a lot of energy and exciting project ideas.

 

Working Group "DigitalChangeMaker" 2018/19

At the invitation of one or more ChangeMaker members, the 2018/19 cohort came together for four meetings in Berlin, Munich, Lüneburg and Brussels. A colourful mixture of intensive workshops, discussion rounds and working groups on their main topics, but also exciting visits outside the university walls, were on the agenda. For a short overview of how the meetings took place, it is worth taking a look at the respective blog entries: 

  • The kick-off of the 2018/19 Digital ChangeMakers took place in October 2018 in Berlin. Read here Alexa's summary [German] about the first meeting!
  • The second meeting took the students to Munich. What there was to discover besides intensive group work, a dream trip and a flying visit at the Study Smarter Hackathon, you can read in Berenike's report [German].
  • The third meeting took place in Lüneburg, to which several ChangeMaker members invited. Frederic summarizes the weekend here [German].  
  • The fourth meeting took place in July 2019 in Brussels.

What the DigitalChangeMakers 2018/19 Worked on

The focus of the #DigitalChangeMaker 2018/19 was a large student survey, which examined the needs of students for digital teaching. The goal of the survey was to find out concretely how student-centered digital-supported studies can be made possible. Therefore, it was determined in which areas students already use digital tools, as well as which of the tools are currently provided by universities and – above all – which should be made available. The results of the survey will be made publicly available and should serve as recommendations for universities with regard to the following questions:

  • In which areas of study do students use which digital tools?
  • Which digital tools should universities provide to support their students in their studies?
  • How can participation opportunities be created for students to help shape digitalization?

In order to achieve these goals, the participation of as many students as possible was intended. Everyone who is currently studying at a German university was invited to take 15 minutes for the survey. This way, the perspective of the students can also be included in the discussion on digitalization at universities. 

Where the DigitalChangeMakers 2018/19 Got Involved

In addition to working on their own projects, the ChangeMakers also regularly commented on current digital university policy decisions and tried to anchor a student perspective more firmly in university policy discourses. The HFD connected students with experts from universities, politics, start-ups and civil society, so they can actively and collaboratively shape digital change in education. They were not only points of contact but also wrote their own blog entries. A selection can be viewed here: 

  • While everyone was talking about the "Digitalpakt Schule" (Digital Pact School), Jan-Martin Wiarda went one step further in a blog post and called for a Digital Pact University. You can find out what the HFD community thought of this proposal in this article [German], in which the two changemakers Jan and Fredric also explain their views.
  • The fact that digitalization always has to be thought together with sustainability was a central issue for the changemakers from the beginning. Three of the ChangeMakers - Henrika, Eva, and Julian - went on their way to "Bits and Bäume" and described their experiences in a blog post [German]. 

HFD facilitates the students’ networking with experts from universities, government, startups and civil society so they can help fashion the digital turn in education.  

In addition, students can continue to register with HFD via "Call for Students" if they want to be included in diverse HFD activities.

#DigitalChangemaker 2018/19 – group photo of the first Digital Changemaker cohort

Members

Alina Dieminger
Alina Dieminger
SRH Hochschule Heidelberg // Psychology
Carolin Lewe
Carolin Lewe
Fachhochschule Bielefeld // Business Administration
Andra Krogmann
Andra Krogmann
Leuphana Universität Lüneburg // Studium individuale
Antonia Weidel
Antonia Weidel
TH Nürnberg // Social work
Inga Thao My Bui
Inga Thao My Bui
HNE Eberswalde // Education-Sustainability-Transformation
Jan Gfrerer
Jan Gfrerer
Universität Hohenheim Stuttgart // Business Informatics
Johannes Schleis
Johannes Schleis
OVGU Magdeburg // Business Informatics
Lea Bachus
Lea Bachus
Universität Bielefed // Philosophy & Psychology
Marie Müller
Marie Müller
Universität zu Köln // Gender & Queer Studies
Niklas Washausen
Niklas Washausen
Universität Greifswald // English/Art & Design/German as a foreign language (teaching profession)
Parisa Akbari
Parisa Akbari
Hochschule Osnabrück // Applied materials science
Pascal Kienast
Pascal Kienast
Universität Potsdam // Business Informatics
Paula Paschke
Paula Paschke
Goethe-Universität Frankfurt a.M. // Elementary Education
Richard Ball
Richard Ball
Fachhochschule Erfurt // Business Administration
Selim Kücükkaya
Selim Kücükkaya
FAU Erlangen // Political Science
Tobias Holle
Tobias Holle
TUM München // Bioeconomy
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For further information please contact:

Yasmin Djabarian

Stifterverband
Head of Innovation Hub & Team Development
yasmin.djabarian@stifterverband.de
030 322 982 309
Dr. Yasmin Djabarian is head of innovation hub & team development for Hochschulforum Digitalisierung at Stifterverband. Here, she is responsible for the student DigitalChangeMaker initiative and projects in the Innovation Hub. Before joining Hochschulforum Digitalisierung in 2018, she was a research fellow at the Center for Quality Assurance and Development at Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz. She studied American Studies and Communication in Mainz, Washington, DC, and Atlanta and completed her PhD in Transnational American Studies in Mainz.
The DigitalTurn from the Student Perspective
Call for Students

General Call for Students

You do not want to apply for the Zukunfts-AG, but you are interested in our work and want to get actively involved? It is our special concern to involve students even more in all activities of the HFD and we invite you to register with our Call for Students! 

Partners:

Stifterverband CHE Centre for Higher Education German Rectors' Conference

Project Sponsor:

Federal Ministry of Education and Research
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