[publication] Workshop for Special Interest Group Emerging Technologies for Learning and Teaching: Exploring Educational Podcasts with AI #tugraz #research

We also did workshops at this year’s ED-Media conference. One of them was titled „Workshop for Special Interest Group Emerging Technologies for Learning and Teaching: Exploring Educational Podcasts with AI“ and followed the idea of open discussions.

Abstract:
How can educators unleash the power of AI without losing control over core educational strategies? In this workshop, we introduced aicast, an open-source platform for educational podcasts that combines the best of both worlds: AI-generated elements for personalization and flexibility, and fixed elements, with instructor-defined content to ensure pedagogical accuracy. This hybrid approach reduces the risks associated with AI-generated materials like hallucinations. Attendees experienced how the platform utilizes LLMs like ChatGPT for personalized content authoring and ElevenLabs for high-quality voice synthesis, enabling real-time creation of educational audio content. After a short demo and hands-on session, participants engaged in a guided discussion: What is the core of an educational podcast? Most importantly from the perspective of an instructional designer, how must an educational podcast be? This session was part of the Special Interest Group on Emerging Technologies for Learning and Teaching at the ED-Media 2025 conference.

[draft @ ResearchGate]
[full article @ conference website]

Reference: Ebner, M. & Brünner, B. (2025). Workshop for Special Interest Group Emerging Technologies for Learning and Teaching: Exploring Educational Podcasts with AI. In T. Bastiaens (Ed.), Proceedings of EdMedia + Innovate Learning (pp. 1375-1376). Barcelona, Spain: Association for the Advancement of Computing in Education (AACE). Retrieved June 4, 2025 from https://www.learntechlib.org/primary/p/226347/.

[presentation] Exploring Teachers‘ Use of Educational Technology to Support Self-Regulated Learning in Secondary Education #research

Our last talk at this year’s ED-Media conference was „Exploring Teachers‘ Use of Educational Technology to Support Self-Regulated Learning in Secondary Education“. Find the slides here too:

Geier, G., Ebner, M., & Burgsteiner, H. (2025, Mai 22). Exploring Teachers‘ Use of Educational Technology to Support Self-Regulated Learning in Secondary Education. Graz University of Technology. https://doi.org/10.3217/dgs5q-sgc55

[presentation] Refactoring and Evaluation of an Interactive Web Portal for German Language Acquisition #iderblog #research #tugraz

Another talk at this year’s ED-Media conference was about our IDeR-Blog project titled „Refactoring and Evaluation of an Interactive Web Portal for German Language Acquisition“. Find the slides here:

Buchacher, F., Wachtler, J., & Ebner, M. (2025, Mai 22). Refactoring and Evaluation of an Interactive Web Portal for German Language Acquisition. Graz University of Technology. https://doi.org/10.3217/q4epa-dbh95

[presentation] Empowering Students through Visual Analytics: A Dashboard Redesign for Modern Curricula #LearningAnalytics #tugraz #edmedia

We are proud that one of our research papers won a Best Paper Award at this year’s ED-Media conference. Our presentation titled „Empowering Students through Visual Analytics: A Dashboard Redesign for Modern Curricula“ is also now available online:

Leitner, P., Pranter, P.-P., Brünner, B., & Ebner, M. (2025, Mai 22). Presentation: Empowering Students through Visual Analytics: A Dashboard Redesign for Modern Curricula. Graz University of Technology. https://doi.org/10.3217/35eva-va035

[presentation] Open Educational Resources in Ukraine: Current Status and Future Directions #OER #ukraine #tugraz

Another talk at this year’s ED-Media conference was about „Open Educational Resources in Ukraine: Current Status and Future Directions“. Find the slides right here:

Andriichenko, Y., Ebner, M., & Schön, S. (2025, Mai 22). Open Educational Resources in Ukraine: Current Status and Future Directions. Graz University of Technology. https://doi.org/10.3217/y8prt-8h024

[presentation] Inspired by generative AI, Ignoring Open Knowledge? Findings from a Longitudinal Study on Digital Equipment and Activities of Study Beginners at TU Graz (2011–2024) #edmedia25 #tugraz

Our first talk at this year’s ED-Media conference in Barcelona was about „Inspired by generative AI, Ignoring Open Knowledge? Findings from a Longitudinal Study on Digital Equipment and Activities of Study Beginners at TU Graz (2011–2024)„. As has become something of a tradition, I have once again presented the results of our long-term study of our first-year students about IT equipment and the use of IT applications in general and for learning.

Nagler, W., Mair, B., Ebner, M., & Schön, S. (2025, Mai 20). Inspired by generative AI, Ignoring Open Knowledge? Findings from a Longitudinal Study on Digital Equipment and Activities of Study Beginners at TU Graz (2011–2024). Graz University of Technology. https://doi.org/10.3217/7h2qq-tcr64

[workshop] Exploring Educational Podcasts with AI #edmedia25

We are delighted that we can offer another workshop for our „SIG“ at this year’s EDMedia conference in Barcelona titled „Exploring Educational Podcasts with AI

Abstract:
How can educators unleash the power of AI without losing control over core educational strategies? In this workshop, we will introduce aicast, an open source platform for educational podcasts that combines the best of both worlds: AI-generated elements for personalization and flexibility, and fixed elements, with instructor-defined content to ensure pedagogical accuracy. This hybrid approach reduces the risks associated with AI-generated materials like hallucinations. Attendees will learn how the platform utilizes LLMs like ChatGPT for personalized content authoring and ElevenLabs for high-quality voice synthesis, enabling real-time creation of educational audio content. After a short demo and hands-on session, participants will engage in a guided discussion: What is the core of an educational podcast? How do structure, tone, and repetition affect learning? Most importantly from the perspective of an instructional designer, how must an educational podcast be? This session is part of the Special Interest Group on Emerging Technologies for Learning and Teaching and invites participants to think critically about the role of AI in educational podcasting. Even more we invite instructional designer to collaborate with us to bring educational podcast to a next level
.

We would love to meet you in Barcelona, even more, if you can join our workshop – cu there 🙂

[Link to conference’s website]

[CfP] The PLE Conference

I like to announce the Call for Papers for the first „PLE Conference“ in Barcelona, Spain this year.

Personal Learning Environments (PLE) include the tools, communities, and services that constitute the individual educational platforms learners use to direct their own learning and pursue educational goals. The idea of the PLE represents a shift away from the model in which students consume information through independent channels such as the library, a textbook, or an LMS, moving instead to a model where students draw connections from a growing matrix of resources that they select and organize. Because they emphasize relationships, PLEs can promote authentic learning by incorporating expert feedback into learning activities and resources. A PLE also puts students in charge of their own learning processes, challenging them to reflect on the tools and resources that help them learn best. By design, a PLE is created from self-direction, and therefore the responsibility for organization—and thereby for learning—rests with the learner ….