The Leuphana project: “Digital Transformation Lab for Teaching and Learning” (DigiTaL) ran from August 2021 to December 2025 and was funded by the Foundation for Innovation in Higher Education Teaching (StIL). Under the leadership of Vice President Prof. Dr. Erich Hörl and Dr. Julia Webersik (Teaching Services), DigiTaL pursued the goal of systematically shaping and strengthening the digital transformation in teaching and learning at Leuphana. In 11 subprojects, 15 professors and numerous members from teaching, studies, and all three schools and central institutions contributed to developing, evaluating, and implementing digital teaching and learning innovations.
DigiTaL consisted of eleven subprojects organized into three thematic clusters: Digital Teaching/Learning Innovation, Data & Digital Literacy Education, and Digital Internationalization. This multi-level model made it possible to align individual project goals with strategic university-wide developments while also creating synergies between different subject areas. Regular project and cluster events created spaces for exchange and reflection, where results were presented, challenges discussed, and ideas for transfer developed.
During the project period, new digital teaching concepts, reflection formats, international exchange seminars, wikis, podcasts, and game-based learning environments were developed and anchored in the curriculum. Many formats proved to be conducive to learning and were permanently incorporated into study programs. On a technical level, sustainable infrastructures such as mobile e-exam environments, student-oriented media rooms, and digital tools for research and teaching were created. These resources will continue to be used and developed beyond the end of the project.
DigiTaL also achieved high visibility both internally and externally: more than 40 national and international conference contributions, 19 scientific publications, and numerous university-wide event series and multimedia formats made the project results accessible and stimulated discourse on digital university teaching.
You can read a detailed documentation of the project results and the evaluation of the entire project period in the project documentation and in the evaluation report:
The subprojects created new spaces for interaction for digital innovations, strengthened peer learning, and promoted cooperation within and outside the university. As a result of their work, they not only deliver concrete products and formats, but also valuable insights that can benefit future projects for the digitization of university teaching.
The clusters on teaching and learning innovations, data literacy, and digital internationalization brought together the joint work of the subprojects. In cooperation with experts, strategic committees, and cluster teams, their results were transferred into sustainable university structures.
The Lab was shaped by the active participation of internal and external experts, teachers, and students. Regular meetings, which took place several times a month, promoted open exchange among the employees of all subprojects regarding their current work status. In addition, the annual overall project meetings enabled all participants to present their results and discuss challenges together. These meetings also provided an opportunity to incorporate and consider perspectives from the professorial level.
This podcast was created as part of the DigiTaL project and focused on the digitization of university teaching. In the first season, the student hosts shared their personal experiences from everyday student life in order to critically reflect on new digital teaching and learning methods and to highlight how these developments shaped everyday student life and what opportunities they offered for the future.
The DigiTaL blog allows interested parties to delve deeper into the content of the subprojects and clusters during the project period. The articles report on practical application examples, workshops that have been held, and innovative approaches to research and teaching.
The DigiTaL project documentation shows how digital teaching has been strategically developed at Leuphana and how new spaces for innovation, exchange, and reflection have been created. It brings together the results of the eleven subprojects, the clusters, and the lab level, highlighting the digital formats, infrastructures, and impulses that have emerged for studying and teaching. The documentation thus offers a comprehensive insight into the experiences and developments that the project has accompanied and promoted in recent years.
The evaluation report for the DigiTaL project shows how the quality of digital teaching and learning offerings was systematically examined and further developed. It summarizes key findings from qualitative and quantitative methods and provides insight into the conditions that can promote effective digital teaching at universities.
The DigiTaL project period runs from 1 August 2021 to 31 July 2024 with a subsequent extension until 31 December 2025. The funding amount for the project is 4,567,319 euros.
The DigiTaL project is funded by the Foundation for Innovation in Higher Education (StIL). The aim of the foundation is to permanently promote quality and innovation in studies and teaching in order to optimise learning. Universities throughout Germany are given the opportunity to adapt more quickly and effectively to new social challenges. By supporting suitable projects at the various universities, the exchange of knowledge about successes, challenges and results is promoted.
