Projects

As part of the project "Optimization of the OER production workflow through AI-supported tools", various AI-supported tools are being tested for their potential to make the production processes in the production of teaching and learning materials more efficient, time-saving and, if necessary, of higher quality. All expected project results will be developed against the background of the question of whether the selected products enable the production of open educational resources (OER). The findings and results of the project will also be published as OER.

• Further information can be found on the project website.
• Duration: January 2024 - December 2024
• Project partner: University of Innsbruck (Lead)
• Funding project of the association Forum Neue Medien in der Lehre Austria

As part of the project "Learning from AI, teaching with AI: the future of higher education", the Forum Neue Medien in der Lehre Austria (fnma) is investigating the central question of the current status of the use of AI at Austrian higher education institutions and what options for action are available in connection with the opportunities and risks associated with the use of AI in higher education teaching. The project includes the research and summary of relevant literature and strategy papers, the discussion within the framework of an Austria-wide working group, a quantitative survey among students and teachers regarding the use and experiences with AI in university teaching, qualitative interviews with relevant stakeholders regarding strategic orientation and organizational changes as well as the publication of a special issue of the Zeitschrift für Hochschulentwicklung (ZFHE).

• Further information can be found on the project website.
• Duration: September 2023 - September 2024

The University of Graz is involved in the coordination of the project and the publication of the ZFHE special issue.

The project created the basis for high-quality Open Educational Resources (OER) that are freely available to all teachers, students and interested parties. The participating universities implemented an overall concept for the sustainable anchoring of OER and open educational practices at Austrian universities. The package included services for teachers to develop OER, including a further education concept, a national OER certification body and the expansion of the technical infrastructure. The latter offers a comprehensive subject portal with a search function via the decentralized OER repositories that were provided at the participating universities (partly in the course of the project) for archiving OER. In addition, modular system architectures and open source software developments facilitate the (technical) participation of universities beyond the project.

Further information can be found at https://www.openeducation.at/.

The University of Graz was responsible in particular for

• the development of a university-wide OER repository
• the development of Open Educational Resources (especially in the form of videos)
• the development and implementation of OER training courses

• Duration: March 2020 - February 2024
• Project partner at the University of Graz: uniIT
• Project partners: University of Vienna (lead), Graz University of Technology, University of Innsbruck, Forum Neue Medien in der Lehre Austria and ÖIBF
• Funded by the Ministry of Science as part of the call for proposals for digital and social transformation in higher education

As part of the (inter)national project "Optimization of the Network of Higher Education Institutions and Improvement of the Quality of Studies by Connecting Šiauliai University to Vilnius University", digitalization is to be promoted at Vilnius University. In the context of digital teaching, this is to be achieved through further training on the topic of "blended learning", for which Vilnius University is drawing on the expertise of the ZDLL.

The aim of this project is to train teachers from a wide range of academic backgrounds in pedagogical and technological skills. These courses have trained "blended learning consultants", for example, who act as multipliers at the Lithuanian university and are to advise colleagues on the pedagogically motivated use of teaching and learning technologies. This staff training from the Department of Instructional Design was mainly carried out in synchronous and asynchronous online training sessions. In addition to the online phases, a physical exchange meeting was held in Graz to exchange ideas with experts on site in workshops and discussions on educational technology.

Based on the successful project "Remote and blended learning expansion", the cooperation was continued with two further work packages: "Reconstruction of pedagogical study courses, implementing blended learning" and "Lecturer training".

• Duration: October 2021 - July 2023
• Project partner: Vilnius University
• Video "Vilnius University visits Graz" (licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0), which was created during the exchange meeting in June 2022

The COVID-19 pandemic has shown how heavily regional players are dependent on global digital platforms and infrastructures. With the lockdown in March 2020, many areas of everyday life (e.g. communication, work organization, trade) shifted to digital platforms that were operated by global companies and often did not meet regional needs and European standards (e.g. data protection regulations). However, regional companies, organizations and public institutions were usually dependent on the use of these global platforms and infrastructures.

The aim of the project "Shaping regional digital platforms: Opportunities from and for Styria" is to identify the needs of stakeholders in Styria, analyze possible solutions, develop scenarios, and derive recommendations for action for the democratic design of open digital platforms and infrastructures. In the first phase, expert interviews were conducted with stakeholders from Styria (e.g. entrepreneurs, industry representatives) on their experiences with digitalization processes during the Corona pandemic and, in the second phase, scenarios and development options for future regionally determined developments were explored in group processes.

• Duration: January 2021 - December 2021
• Project partners at the University of Graz: Vice Rectorate for Digitalization
  Scientific project management: Prof. Dr. Petra Schaper-Rinkel
  Scientific collaboration: Thomas Meneweger and Marcel Reiner, BA
• Funded by the Province of Styria as part of the "Aus der Corona-Krise lernen" call for proposals

Students generate a wide range of different data that is available to higher education institutions. As part of the project, this data is processed and directly reported back to students so that they can optimize their learning behavior and thus better manage their studies. In this way, studyability is increased and the university is perceived more strongly as a supportive place of learning.

The focus is on evidence-based learning support and intervention, which allows learning content and paths to be adapted to students' needs. In addition to the development of online dashboards, the project also provides for tutoring and mentoring measures, the development of freely available pedagogical models and guidelines for the support of students by learning guides as well as the development of an openly licensed catalog of criteria for compliance with legal and ethical principles. All these measures are based on the approach of placing students at the center of all activities and integrating learning analytics measures.

The University of Graz is responsible in particular for

• developing a list of criteria for the ethical dimension of data analysis and data protection for student data as well as recommendations for universities and
• the development of pedagogical models and guidelines for the exchange of students with their learning guides

• Duration: January 2020 - February 2023
• Project partners at the University of Graz: Institute for Legal Studies, Institute for Educational Science and uniIT
• Project partners: TU Graz (lead) and University of Vienna
• Funded by the Ministry of Science as part of the call for proposals for digital and social transformation in higher education

When using digital educational offerings, learners generate a large amount of data. Collecting, analyzing and interpreting this data is referred to as 'learning analytics' and can make a significant contribution to increasing learning success. The research project is dedicated to the question of which technical, didactic, legal and ethical framework conditions exist for learning analytics and how these framework conditions affect the successful use of learning analytics. Various forms of data analysis are used and analyzed in different digital teaching/learning settings. The research results will be made generally and openly accessible so that as many educational institutions and companies as possible that want to use learning analytics in their educational programs can benefit from them. The project is funded by the Province of Styria.

• Duration: January 2020 - September 2022
• Project partners: Institute for Business Education and uniIT at the University of Graz and Graz University of Technology

The project picked up on the current general trend towards the use of social bots, digital assistants, and various artificial intelligence applications and focused on their implementation and possible applications at higher education institutions in particular. As part of an Austria-wide working group set up by the project management, findings and resources on the topic were collected, documented on a publicly accessible web platform and finally published in the form of a publication (guide). On the one hand, the exploratory project built up and passed on cross-university expertise and know-how for the implementation of artificial interaction partners at universities and, on the other hand, reflected on the possible applications and perspectives of this new technological development.

More information on the project at kiph.fnma.at.

• Duration: November 2019 - July 2020
• Project partners: Ferdinand Porsche FernFH; FH JOANNEUM; Johannes Kepler University Linz; Medical University of Graz; University of Leoben; Graz University of Technology; Vienna University of Economics and Business
• Funding project of the association Forum Neue Medien in der Lehre Austria
• Publication: Guide "Künstliche Interaktionspartner*innen an Hochschulen": https://www.fnma.at/medien/fnma-publikationen

From February 2019 to April 2021, the University of Graz, CAMPUS 02 University of Applied Sciences and Graz University of Technology worked on an eService for all teaching staff at Styrian higher education institutions. The eCampus online service offers over 50 detailed use cases to support the use of technologies in teaching in higher education. The use cases show how different technologies can be used effectively to achieve pedagogical goals in teaching and learning scenarios.

Six comprehensive categories contain the most important topics for teaching:

1. Managing the course
2. Creating teaching and learning materials
3. Conducting face-to-face teaching
4. Conducting online teaching
5. Assessment and feedback
6. Technology-supported course concepts

However, the eCampus is not only a source of information, but also a place where teachers can network and exchange ideas with each other: Teachers can use forums and discussion threads to exchange ideas with others, support each other, and share application examples or best practices.

• The platform is freely accessible to teachers at all Styrian universities.
• All content is created as Open Educational Resources.
• Link to the platform: eCampus.st
• Project partners: CAMPUS 02 University of Applied Sciences (lead), University of Graz, Graz University of Technology

As part of the project "Analysis and promotion of the acquisition of digital skills by students", the digital skills of first-year students and their requirements for digital teaching and learning settings at all nine Styrian higher education institutions (HEIs) were surveyed.

In the course of the project, a database was created that maps the digital skills of first-year students as comprehensively as possible. This makes it possible to determine what prerequisites first-semester students have to use the digital teaching and learning settings already offered at the HEIs. In addition, possible skills deficits can be identified and, based on this, recommendations for action can be derived to shape the future pedagogically motivated use of technologies at HEIs.

The results of the survey will therefore not only be used to support students in their studies, but also to prepare them for the digital challenges of their future careers. The data collected in the project will also be made available - in the sense of 'open data' - in anonymized form for further research projects after the project is completed.

The project was initiated by the Steirische Hochschulkonferenz and funded by the Province of Styria.

Further information and all project results can be found at www.dikos.at.