Research in the field of educational technology (media didactics and organization)
Core research areas, programs and topics
a) Core research areas "Online Communities in Vocational Education and Training"
b) Graduate program "Education & Technology"
c) Thematic area "Design of educational technologies in international vocational education and training"
d) Thematic area "Cooperation between learning venues
e) Thematic area "Integral design of hybrid learning venues"
a) Core research areas "Online communities in vocational education and training
Six projects funded by various programs of the European Commission, the Federal Ministry of Education, Research and Technology, the German Social Accident Insurance, the Federal Ministry of Social Affairs and Health and the Department of Psychology at TU Dresden are now assigned to this thematic field. This involves online communities of safety experts, trainees in dual vocational training, teachers and other professionals in careers guidance, young female scientists in education and media sciences and young people with mental health problems.
b) Structured graduate program "Education & Technology"
The structured doctoral program Education & Technology SPET brings together doctoral students and lecturers from 3 European universities (Dresden, Strasbourg, Bergen), 2 private European universities of applied sciences and a number of other universities worldwide in the field of ICT & educational sciences. SPET is the result of previous efforts to internationalize and structure the doctorate, with the aim of massively improving the scientific quality, international scientific competitiveness, but also the individual feasibility of the doctorate in a sub-area of educational science in a generalizable way. SPET and the preceding activities (CD and IP with funding from the EU, DAAD, OEAD, DFU, the participating universities themselves as well as various scholarships, but also target agreements at TU Dresden to establish institutional structures for doctoral supervision, etc., cf. http://www. edu-tech.eu and www.tu-dresden.de/ew/idoc) are essential steps in the context of long-term, sustainable development to improve the quality of research by young female academics.
c) Subject area "Design of educational technologies in international vocational education and training"
Students benefit in a special way from these focal points, as concrete references arise with regard to their subject-related vocational education and training reflection skills, which can also be taught using practical scenarios. Where appropriate, we use the research projects for courses. Furthermore, research takes place in the form of qualification projects and graduate theses - for example, as part of the Education and Technology doctoral program funded by the European Union. An annual summer school has been held since 2008 - further information can be found at www.edu-tech.eu. The EU-funded project Contemporary Teaching Skills for South Asia (CONTESSA) is representative of the subject area. Further information can be found at: CONTESSA.
d) Thematic area "Cooperation between learning venues"
Cooperation between learning venues is important at various target levels. With regard to VET policy objectives, cooperation between learning venues is a means of effectively implementing the new training regulations and curricula and, in the context of didactic objectives, a means of effectively designing action- and transfer-oriented teaching and learning processes in schools and companies. However, the degree of digitalization of the learning location coopertation allows conclusions to be drawn regarding the status of digitalization at the participating institutions. The topic area focuses accordingly on the conditions for the success of the digitalization of initial and continuing vocational education and training based on processes of cooperation between vocational schools and training companies. The DiBBLok and ZuKo4Saxony projects are representative of this topic area.
e) Thematic area "Integral design of hybrid learning venues"
Places of education, such as schools and universities, can be transformed into diverse and networked learning environments if media-supported offerings and face-to-face formats are integrated along with formal and informal learning locations. The INNOVATION CENTER DIGITAL SCHOOL addresses corresponding planning tasks on the basis of an integrated and transdisciplinary approach that includes physical spaces and digital environments in equal measure. DH.S bundles state-of-the-art expertise from the fields of media education, digital media and learning space architecture as a service package that covers the didactic conception of new "hybrid" learning spaces, their architectural planning, media technology equipment and evaluation in terms of pedagogical effectiveness.