Weizenbaum Institute for the Networked Society - 1st Establishment Phase

Background:

The Weizenbaum Institute conducts interdisciplinary and basic research on the transformation of society through digitization and develops design options for politics, business, and civil society. The goal is to understand digitization's dynamics, mechanisms, and implications. To this end, the Weizenbaum Institute investigates digital transformation's ethical, legal, economic, and political aspects.

The University of Potsdam is represented at the Weizenbaum Institute by the research group (RG) "Education for the Digital World: Technologies, Competencies, Paradigm Shifts".

Main research question:

The Institute's research is to help policymakers, businesses, and civil society better understand the solutions that digital technologies, networks, and platforms can provide and the new dangers and vulnerabilities they create.

The main research question of the RG "Education for the digital world" investigates:

The "Education for the Digital World" research group's central question is, "How do digital technologies influence the processes of education and skills development, and what new requirements will define these processes in the future?" How should these processes be designed in the digital world? "The planned research program builds on preliminary work from the start-up phase of the Weizenbaum Institute, in which the following research foci were identified as particularly relevant:

1) Rethinking classical learning theories and models regarding their applicability to learning as a process of knowledge transfer in the digital world and developing a holistic digital learning theory.

2) Investigation of the interaction with artificial intelligence in the context of learning processes, especially considering social aspects.

3) Possibilities and limits of individualization and personalization in teaching.

Research objective:

The research group "Education for the Digital World: Technologies, Competencies, Paradigm Shifts" addresses the tension between exclusivity and openness of knowledge based on education and competence development. It is part of the research focus, "Organization of Knowledge." In particular, the focus is on the specific requirements of designing digital teaching and learning processes and the possibilities and limits of increasing individualization of education in the context of digitization. The research is conducted from a theoretical and application-oriented perspective, focusing on using AI and other new technologies.