Leading trade fair LEARNTEC goes digital on the trade fair stage
The organizers of the leading international trade fair LEARNTEC have experience with virtual conference systems and digital learning. There was therefore no question of canceling the traditional industry show in the second year of coronavirus. After the two-day digital conference on the traditional trade fair date at the beginning of the year, a second LEARNTEC xChange will now take place virtually from June 22 to 24, 2021. “Of course, a virtual event cannot replace an in-person trade fair with thousands of visitors,” says project manager René Naumann from Messe Karlsruhe. It was not possible to plan a face-to-face event in spring due to the uncertain forecasts. This is why the company wants to provide its long-standing partners with a platform for exchanging information on current trends and developments, even in times of crisis. Over the three days of the event, 180 specialist presentations and discussion forums on the digitalization of the learning and working world will be held in six parallel livestreams. More than 120 experts will share their experience and insights from science and business. The digital LEARNTEC 2021 will focus on future learning, working from home as the new normal and innovative learning strategies. Registration is possible at www.learntec.de.
Keynotes at the beginning of each conference day
LEARNTEC opened on June 22 at 10 a.m. with a keynote speech by Edip Saliba. The Head of Skilling for Business Customers at the Microsoft software group spoke on the topic of “Learning Culture – Why is a learning culture important for people and companies? What can we learn from comedians, musicians and history?” Further keynotes will be given on June 23 at 10 a.m. by Prof. Dr. Christoph Meinel from the Hasso Plattner Institute for Digital Engineering on the topic of “Digital Education and the Future of the Internet” and on June 24 at 10 a.m. by Prof. Dr. Dirk Ifenthaler from the University of Mannheim on “Educational Data Competence for the E-Learning Industry”.
Focus belongs to the schools
Numerous lectures and discussion panels will also deal with digitalization in schools in the specially designated subject area of schools – school@learntec. “Teaching after the pandemic – theses and demands” is therefore the title of a lecture session on June 24. Author and teacher Philippe Wampfler, the principal of Karlsruhe’s Ernst Reuter School Micha Pallesche and the head of Karlsruhe’s City Media Center Jörg Schumacher will provide impetus. In recent weeks, the latter had called on politicians to intensify digital strategies in the education sector and, among other things, advocated the continued operation of the Microsoft Teams platform.
Pandemic has fueled digitalization
It is not only in schools that digitalization has experienced a quantum leap during the coronavirus crisis. Digital solutions for managing everyday working life have been more in demand than ever in almost all areas since the start of the pandemic. “Working from home, video conferencing and digital lectures have become an integral part of work and education,” emphasizes Naumann. According to Naumann, future technologies such as augmented and virtual reality as well as artificial intelligence could become increasingly important in the coming years. Incidentally, planning for the next LEARNTEC is already in full swing in the background. It is scheduled to take place from February 1 to 3, 2022 – with thousands of visitors at Messe Karlsruhe.