Supporting People-Driven Digital Transformation in Education

15

participants

4

Projects

1

Hackathon

The overall aim of the project “Supporting people-driven digital transformation in education” is to encourage students to create innovative solutions in digital education on a research-based approach, inspire them to personally engage with the chosen project and the team involved and give a unique experience of participation in the digital education hackathon DigiEduHack. At the beginning of the project, participants are divided into teams and each team has to create a literature survey around their idea to find out if it is unique enough. Then all the teams have to take part in the DigiEduHack event and pitch their unique idea there and after the hackathon finally sum up, what they have learned about smooth teamwork, hackathon participation and overall creation and development of their digital solution.

There are countless digital learning and teaching solutions introduced to European educational institutions by EdTechs every day, but as the educational system is in the process of constant changes there is room for several new innovative ideas. The overall benefit for a society as a whole from this project is an innovative, modern and learner-based educational system. Students will benefit from the project mainly gaining specific knowledge from different fields of study by applying this new knowledge collaboratively which enables the creation of new solutions that contribute to the development of innovative human-centered digital solutions.

Problem Statement

The significance of supporting people-driven digital transformation in education lies in fostering a more adaptive and inclusive learning environment. Embracing tracing fostering more adaptive and inclusive learning environment. Embracing technology can enhance accessibility, personalized learning, and overall educational efficacy. Methods like collaborative platforms, adaptive learning systems, and data analytics are pivotal for achieving this transformation. This urgency arises from the evolving nature of education and the need to equip individuals with digital skills for the skills for the modern workforce, making the project imperative for societal progress.

Empowering Education: Bridging the Digital Divide through Innovative Solutions and Student-Driven Initiatives

Estonia possesses a significant and advanced industrial sector, accompanied by globally recognized expertise in information technology, particularly in high-tech systems, control technologies, and cybersecurity. With a conducive environment for research and development fostered by a collaborative ecosystem, Estonia is establishing itself in the field of industrial automation. But then again the level of technology that is used in schools to better learning, teaching and overall education system is quite low. Also the digital transformation evolution has significantly altered both society and the economy, exerting a continually intensifying influence on daily life. This shift has underscored the imperative for enhanced levels of digital capabilities within education and training systems as well as institutions. That’s what our project aimed to help resolve by creating attentive solutions in digital education by adopting a research-driven methodology with the help of students. When suggesting new ideas for digital solutions, project participants acquainted themselves with academic literature to understand both the successes and problems of comparable concepts implemented in education, along with the underlying reasons.

The uniqueness of the project lies in the systematic preparation for engaging in a digital education hackathon and the creation of teams facilitated by a university course. This method granted a higher standard for the innovative solution showcased at the hackathon, increased dedication from the team, and greater prospects for the continued development of the successful innovation by the same team. The educational hackathon DigiEduHack is an initiative of the European Union called The Digital Education Action Plan (2021-2027). The European Union (EU) policy initiative outlines a shared vision for achieving high-quality, inclusive, and easily accessible digital education throughout Europe. Its objective is to facilitate the adjustment of Member States’ education and training systems to align with the demands of the digital era.

Stakeholders for the project.

The EdTech Hack was organised to bring together students and experts from different industries and sectors. Apart from the organisers of the project who were members of Tallinn University, two major groups of stakeholders were:

Participants: These were mainly students and technology enthusiasts. The hackathon required participants to fall into one of the following categories:

Visionaries and leaders with previous startup experience
Education enthusiasts (students, teachers and other education workers)
Software developers
UX/UI designers
Marketers and business developers
Everyone else!

There were 51 registered participant groups with ideas for the hackathon. All the submitted ideas can be seen here.

Amongst the participating students for this project, we formed 4 groups and developed ideas and presentations.

Mentors

To provide participants with as much expert support as possible, the hackathon also involved a rich list of industry experts who served as mentors and judges. The experts had experience in various business sectors, from education technology to government and policy-making. The list of mentors can be found here

Sustainability of the Project

Many steps were taken by the project organisers to ensure the sustainability of the project. Some of the most notable steps taken were:

Pre-planning and organisation of teams: Teams were formed randomly by the project organisers to take away the delays and stress that could come with students finding team members from other fields and disciplines.
Pre-determined weekly meetings: Most of the project activities and feedback sessions were integrated into students’ lecture timetables to ensure maximum attendance.
Well-defined milestones: Students were made aware of all of the different milestones and project phases from the beginning of the projects and had to follow the pre-defined deadlines.

Also, during the hackathon, project groups had the liberty to select a project lead to help manage all of the various project activities and deliverables. This added an extra layer of sustainability to the entire project.