Organising digital change at the university: new field guide for implementing educational technology

Berlin, Hagen – A new online resource offers research-based recommendations and best practices for implementing Edtech effectively at universities. The “Practitioners’ Field Guide for Implementing Educational Technology (Edtech)” is aimed at higher education managers, administrators, teachers, and technical staff. It was developed in a joint collaboration between the Alexander von Humboldt Institute for Internet and Society (HIIG) and the Center of Advanced Technology for Assisted Learning and Predictive Analytics (CATALPA) at the FernUniversität in Hagen.

Online teaching is the future of universities, and educational technology plays a critical role in transforming lecture halls. The guide aims to provide insights and recommendations for practitioners implementing digital change. It offers helpful suggestions, space to reflect, and guidance for discussion. Readers will gain a deeper understanding of the challenges associated with implementing educational technology and learn how to create an organisational culture that inspires motivation and engagement among university teachers and staff. This includes the role of higher education leadership, the importance of trust and freedom for innovative digital teaching practices, and what it takes to build a solid educational technology infrastructure.

Dr. Melissa Laufer, Senior Researcher at HIIG, says, “The Practitioners’ Field Guide for Implementing Educational Technology includes discussion guides, steps, case study examples, and checklists to equip readers with tools for thought and action. We hope it will be a valuable resource for universities seeking to integrate technology into the classroom and improve learning outcomes.” Her colleague, Dr Len Ole Schäfer from CATALPA, adds: “We show that implementing educational technology into universities requires more than just investing in new tools; it involves building a culture that values innovation, collaboration, and continuous learning. Our new guide offers a roadmap for creating such a culture and fostering a community of educational technology practitioners.”

The new online resources is an output of the Organisational Adaptivity in the German Higher Education Context (OrA) project. It investigates the organisational factors that hinder and foster the adoption of educational technology in higher education institutions. In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic the OrA-team identified commonly occurring as well as specific subject challenges related to online teaching in addition to institutional crisis management responses. The project is a joint collaboration between the Alexander von Humboldt Institute for Internet and Society and the Center of Advanced Technology for Assisted Learning and Predictive Analytics (CATALPA) at the FernUniversität in Hagen. 

The Practitioners’ Field Guide for Implementing Educational Technology is now available online at : https://graphite.page/fieldguide-edtech/ 

Press Contact

Frederik Efferenn | Tel. +49 30 200 760 82 | presse@hiig.de
Stephan Düppe | Tel. +49 2331-987 2413 | stephan.dueppe@fernuni-hagen.de 

The Alexander von Humboldt Institute for Internet and Society

The Alexander von Humboldt Institute for Internet and Society (HIIG) researches the development of the Internet from a societal perspective in order to better understand the accompanying digitalisation of all areas of life. As the first research institute in Germany with a focus on the Internet and society, HIIG has developed an understanding that emphasises the embedding of digital innovations in social processes. Based on this transdisciplinary expertise and as part of the Global Network of Interdisciplinary Internet & Society Research Centers, HIIG aims to develop a European response to digital structural change.

The Center of Advanced Technology for Assisted Learning and Predictive Analytics

The FernUniversität in Hagen is Germany’s only state distance-learning university with almost 72,000 students. In this setting with years of experience in distance education and online learning and teaching, its central scientific institution CATALPA – Center of Advanced Technology for Assisted Learning and Predictive Analytics stands for research on adaptive learning technologies. 60 scientists work together interdisciplinarily to support the transformation of education towards digital personalised learning, adaptive systems, and artificial intelligence with evidence-based findings and to advance them in practice.