Digitale Lehre an und rund um der Technischen Universität Graz
We are very happy to invite submissions to the special issue “Applications of Digital Technology and AI in Educational Settings” in Applied Sciences (ISSN 2076-3417), part of the “Computing and Artificial Intelligence” section. This special issue explores the innovative uses of digital tools and artificial intelligence in enhancing education.
Submission Deadline: 20 March 2025
For more information and to submit your manuscript, visit the MDPI Special Issue Page.
We did a workshop at this year’s ED-Media Conference about „Experiences with Artificial Intelligence in the Classroom„
Abstract:
This year’s SIG meeting will focus intensively on the topic of „Experiences with Artificial Intelligence in the classroom“. AI changes education maybe radically and had hopefully a positive impact on education. Therefore, we ask for short presentations and inputs to discuss our practical experiences with AI use in education amongst all participants. Everyone is cordially invited to come and share their challenges, their impact, their worries or success stories or to get to know the latest findings and tools.
[article @ publisher’s homepage]
[article @ ResearchGate]
Reference: Ebner, M. & Brünner, B. (2024). Experiences with Artificial Intelligence in the Classroom. In T. Bastiaens (Ed.), Proceedings of EdMedia + Innovate Learning (pp. 1180-1181). Brussels, Belgium: Association for the Advancement of Computing in Education (AACE). Retrieved July 22, 2024 from https://www.learntechlib.org/primary/p/224665/.
We did a workshop at this year’s ED-Media conference in Brussels about „Creating Educational Videos with an AI Avatar Video Generator„
Abstract:
The integration of Artificial Intelligence (AI) into the creation of learning materials represents a cutting-edge frontier. This workshop is designed for educators, content creators, and instructional designers, and will introduce participants to the potential of AI avatar software in the production of educational videos. Through interactive demonstrations and guided practice, participants gain practical skills in utilizing AI avatar software to create educational videos that meet different learning styles and needs. We will explore case studies of successful implementations and discuss strategies for integrating AI avatars into various educational contexts, from K-12 to higher education and corporate training. Additionally, the workshop will address ethical considerations and best practices in the use of AI in education, ensuring that participants are equipped to responsibly navigate the challenges of digital content creation. Participants will leave the workshop with an initial understanding of the capabilities of AI avatar software and their first experience in creating educational videos with this new technology.
[article @ publisher’s homepage]
[article @ ResearchGate]
Reference: Brünner, B. & Ebner, M. (2024). Creating Educational Videos with an AI Avatar Video Generator. In T. Bastiaens (Ed.), Proceedings of EdMedia + Innovate Learning (pp. 1165-1166). Brussels, Belgium: Association for the Advancement of Computing in Education (AACE). Retrieved July 22, 2024 from https://www.learntechlib.org/primary/p/224664/.
Our publication „Exploring the Use of Generative AI in Education: Broadening the Scope“ was published in the Lecture Notes in Computer Science.
Abstract:
Artificial Intelligence (AI) already plays a significant role in education and society altogether. With the rapid and largely impactful development in the field of generative AI, we must consider the potential changes and shifts of the new normal. Generative models like ChatGPT, Google Bard, Bing Chat, DALL-E, and many others, are proving to be powerful allies and assistants in practically every branch and aspect of life. Given their proficiency in language and their technical capabilities, we must acknowledge their significance and ensure they are not overlooked. In this work, we focus on their impact on education and what is the feedback from the educational community. We want to determine exactly how generative AI is used and how it can be used in education. Our goal is to review more, and new papers, to classify the papers based on the subject the paper has covered, the type of the study, the educational level it concerns, and how is generative AI generally perceived. After the analysis, we conclude that it is perceived as generally positive, with most papers focusing on higher education, and STEM subjects while mostly using qualitative research methods.
[article @ publisher’s homepage]
[draft @ ResearchGate]
Reference: Jahić, I., Ebner, M., Schön, S., Edelsbrunner, S. (2024). Exploring the Use of Generative AI in Education: Broadening the Scope. In: Zaphiris, P., Ioannou, A. (eds) Learning and Collaboration Technologies. HCII 2024. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol 14724. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-61691-4_19
Our presentation about „Exploring the Use of Generative AI in Education: Broadening the Scope“ done at this year’s HCII conference is now online available:
Our chapter on „Digital Transformation of Teaching and Perception at TU Graz from the Students’ Perspective: Developments from the Last 17 Years“ we presented last year at ICL-conference is now online available:
The use of digital technologies in teaching to make it more varied, better, more diverse, or even more accessible is being pursued systematically at many universities. This article shows the developments in the digital transformation of teaching at Graz University of Technology (TU Graz) over the last 17 years. In the process, the various activities of Graz University of Technology and of the central department of teaching and learning technologies about the digital transformation of teaching and its focus and change during this period are described in the form of a workshop report. The consequences and developments of the Covid-19 pandemic on digital transformation efforts are also addressed. This is contrasted with results of two students’ surveys from 2014 (N = 1,502 complete questionnaires) and 2021 (N = 1,386 complete questionnaires). Within this contribution, the authors use the survey’s data to assess how students’ attitudes towards technology-enhanced teaching were changing at TU Graz. Mean indices were created to be able to compare the two surveys. This shows that despite the less good experience with teaching at TU Graz during the pandemic the attitude towards digital teaching is relatively satisfying. Nevertheless, the authors point out that the students clearly indicate that digital (distance) learning has a negative impact on communication between students and teachers as well as between students themselves, and that measures would be desirable here.
[full chapter @ book homepage]
[draft @ ResearchGate]
Reference: Martin Ebner; Bettina Mair; Christoph De Marinis; Hannes Müller; Walther Nagler; Sandra Schön; Stefan Thurner (2023). Digital Transformation of Teaching and Perception at TU Graz from the Students’ Perspective: Developments from the Last 17 Years. In: Auer, M.E., Pachatz, W., Rüütmann, T. (eds) Learning in the Age of Digital and Green Transition. ICL 2022. Lecture Notes in Networks and Systems, vol 633. Springer, Cham, pp 366–377. doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-26876-2_34
One of our contributions to the HCII 2023 was titled „Perceived Effects of Mixed Reality in Distance Learning for the Mining Education Sector“ and it got published right now:
Abstract:
Mixed reality as a tool for teaching has made only limited use of its possibilities so far. However, it brings a plethora of new opportunities, with benefits ranging from interactivity to more vividness. These factors could improve numerous areas of teaching. The mining sector would benefit from new methods combined with mixed reality especially. Therefore, the MiReBooks project was launched: Various applications have been developed that can vividly present content using 3D models, virtual field trips and other methods. To verify and further improve these tools, an evaluation phase was conducted. During two test lectures in distance learning, a total of 23 participants answered a posttest questionnaire. The results showed that the teaching quality could be maintained well by the mixed reality application even in distance learning. Students were satisfied with the methods used, attributed good usability to the tool, and felt integrated into the classroom. At the same time, the team realized that the quality of the lesson depends heavily on the quality of the materials and the expertise of the lecturer. It also became clear that other factors, such as the technical infrastructure and support, are particularly important in this format.
[full article @ publisher’s homepage]
[draft @ ResearchGate]
Reference: Thurner, S., Schön, S., Ebner, M., Leitner, P., Daling, L. (2023). Perceived Effects of Mixed Reality in Distance Learning for the Mining Education Sector. In: Zaphiris, P., Ioannou, A. (eds) Learning and Collaboration Technologies. HCII 2023. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol 14041. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-34550-0_15
Our conference paper, titled „Practitioner Integrated Education for Vital Computational Thinking Skills„, at EDMedia and Innovative Learning 2023 conference in Vienna is published.
Abstract:
The leap from formal education to a modern work environment is often surprisingly difficult. Having young people struggle in these transitional periods while entrepreneurs and businesses strive to merge new team members is a worthy cause to investigate. The process of teacher education can not adequately cope with the intensity of technological and methodological progress. Based on expert-driven, participatory workshops in Austria, the effects and benefits of practitioner integration are evaluated. In multiple stages based on an action research methodology, the problem-solving approach of Computational Thinking (CT) was introduced to learners aged 16 to 18 (K-12) with the help of outside practitioners. This research project reveals the immense potential of expert integration in a secondary school classroom setting. The primary research question of “What consequences has practitioner integration on Computational Thinking education?” is answered. With the development of sustainable, interdisciplinary interfaces between teaching staff and industry experts a multitude of systemic problems in the educational system can be mitigated and the missing link to Computational Thinking education established. With all involved stakeholders and driven by the needs of young learners a robust and inclusive path to practitioner integrated Computational Thinking education is established.
[draft @ ResearchGate]
[article @ conference’s homepage]
Reference: Pollak, M., Ebner, M. & Sagbauer, N.N. (2023). Practitioner Integrated Education for Vital Computational Thinking Skills. In T. Bastiaens (Ed.), Proceedings of EdMedia + Innovate Learning (pp. 593-602). Vienna, Austria: Association for the Advancement of Computing in Education (AACE). Retrieved August 31, 2023 from https://www.learntechlib.org/primary/p/222704/.
Es freut uns, dass die PH Steiermark einen weiteren MOOC auf iMooX.at zu „Digitalization and Inclusive Education“ anbietet und damit einen wichtigen Beitrag für unsere zukünftige Bildung leistet.
Dieser MOOC wurde im Rahmen des Erasmus+ Projektes „DigIn“ initiiert, von inhaltlichen Expert*innen aus dem Feld “Digitalisierung“ und „Inklusion“ koordiniert und richtet sich an Lehrkräfte im Pflichtschulbereich, aber auch an Schulassistenzen, Erziehungsberechtige und alle anderen Personen, die an der inklusiven Bildung im digitalen Zeitalter interessiert sind.
Digitalisierung und Inklusion beinhalten sowohl Chancen als auch Herausforderungen für verschiedene Bildungssysteme und somit auch für die Personal-, Unterrichts-, und Schulentwicklung. Mit diesem MOOC wollen wir im schulischen Alltag Veränderungsprozesse anstoßen.
In fünf Modulen vermittelt der MOOC unter anderem Grundlagen bezüglich Universal Design, Barrierefreiheit, Nutzungsfreundlichkeit, assistive Technologien und erfolgreicher Onlinekommunikation im multiprofessionellen Setting der Inklusion. Des Weiteren bietet er Unterrichtsbeispiele für den Einsatz digitaler Tools im Klassenzimmer, die Organisation von kooperativen Lernmöglichkeiten und Ideen für digital-inklusive Unterrichtsentwicklung.
Durch diesen MOOC wollen wir die Kompetenzen von Lehrpersonen und allen anderen Interessierten im Bereich der digital-inklusiven Bildung stärken. Wir wollen sie darauf vorbereiten, Schüler*innen mit Behinderungen im digitalen Zeitalter zu unterrichten.
Warum verwenden wir den Begriff „Schüler*innen mit Behinderungen”? Wir orientieren uns an der UN-Behindertenrechtskonvention, die dazu Menschen zählt, die langfristige körperliche, seelische, geistige oder Sinnesbeeinträchtigungen haben, welche sie in Wechselwirkung mit verschiedenen Barrieren an der vollen, wirksamen und gleichberechtigten Teilhabe an der Gesellschaft hindern können.
Der Kurs ist natürlich kostenlos und startet morgen am 31.3.23: [Link zur kostenlosen Anmeldung]
I manged the section „Future of Learning“ for the book Learning with Technologies and Technologies in Learning:
This section deals with the “future of learning” and asked for contributions dealing with meta-studies ore forecasts. This is not a simple task because we all know from the pandemic that changes are unpredictable sometimes. Anyway, we are very happy that seven groups of researchers out of more than 23 proposals tried to give us insights to their research. Those 7 publications deal with different topics—meta studies, Social Interaction and communication, Open Educational Resources, Augmented and Virtual Reality.
[chapter @ book’s homepage]
[draft @ ResearchGate]
Rerference: Ebner, M. (2022). Introduction to ‘The Future of Learning’. In: Auer, M.E., Pester, A., May, D. (eds) Learning with Technologies and Technologies in Learning. Lecture Notes in Networks and Systems, vol 456. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-04286-7_1