Innovation Plus funding line

Digitization is changing society, schools, business and universities. In the process, it is constantly producing new, innovative and digital teaching and research methods. One such digital innovation is "virtual reality" (VR). Virtual reality (VR) goggles are used to design a computer-generated, interactive, and controlled environment that feels real to humans (Steuer 1992). VR can be used to practice practical skills: Declarative knowledge does not inevitably go hand-in-hand with practical skills. Students may theoretically know a lot about being a teacher, about assessment centers, or about negotiating, but at the same time have few practical skills in these areas. This project aims to initiate first steps to reduce these knowledge-skills gaps. Students will be immersed in controlled, interactive environments via VR goggles. In particular, in the medium term, students will be trained in (1) their applied competencies and skills as teaching and advising individuals in school contexts (cf. Gao et al., 2021) and (2) their negotiation and presentation skills in professional contexts, for example as applicants in assessment centers or in salary negotiations (cf. Loschelder et al., 2016a, 2016b). VR offers a protected space for the acquisition of these competencies, while at the same time offering the potential for intensive reflection with fellow students, lecturers, and experts.

Einrichtung: Faculty of Management and Technology / Faculty of Education

Ansprechpersonen: Prof.'in Dr. Poldi Kuhl, Prof. Dr. David Loschelder, Dr. Meikel Soliman

Since the winter semester 2013/14, Leuphana University has been offering the English-language bachelor's degree program Major Digital Media (MDM) in cooperation with the Hamburg Media School. The program teaches cultural studies as well as practical and technical skills in the analysis, development and design of digital media. The benefits of such a comprehensive education have recently become particularly apparent in light of the digitalization push triggered by the Covid 19 pandemic. At the same time, however, an aspect that has so far been neglected in the content of the course has moved to the center of social debates and professional requirement profiles: many people with disabilities are confronted with new barriers as a result of the increasing number of digital offerings and solutions. For example, people with visual impairments are less able to recognize texts, form fields, or interactive areas on websites if if they stand out only slightly from the background. Deaf people cannot use videos if they do not contain subtitles. Accordingly, an increased demand for competencies in the area of barrier-sensitive media design can be observed in potential occupational fields for MDM graduates. The application responds to this development by aiming at a further development of the media practical parts of the teaching in the MDM with a focus on digital accessibility. As part of the project, the content of the three-module "Practical Experience in Digital Media" (PE I-III) module strand is to be realigned so that MDM students acquire competencies in barrier-sensitive media design. At the same time, the accessibility of the courses offered in the three modules is to be increased in terms of didactics and teaching materials themselves: In the future, the courses in modules PEI-III will teach competencies in barrier-sensitive media design and will themselves be barrier-free. Digital accessibility is seen as a decidedly intersectional phenomenon, which is why the planned further development of the modules also includes the categories of gender, class and race: Failure to consider gender socialization, educational distance, and/or ethnicity (alone or in conjunction with disability) in the process of design can amplify the exclusionary effects of digital media.

Einrichtung: Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences

Ansprechpersonen: Prof. Dr. Jan Müggenburg, Dr. Lisa Conrad