30th edition of LEARNTEC breaks all records
For three days, the Karlsruhe trade fair was all about digital learning. In the end, over 13,500 guests gave LEARNTEC a record result. The 30th edition of the trade fair for innovative education systems also set new standards in other respects . With 437 exhibitors from 21 nations, the industry show once again lived up to its reputation as the leading trade fair for companies and educational institutions. In addition, current developments such as the integration of ChatGPT in research and teaching were highlighted by 110 speakers at the specialist congress. karlsruhe.digital was also present together with the technika | Karlsruhe technology initiativewhich supports schools in setting up technology and robotics clubs.
“We at are absolutely satisfied,” says project manager René Naumann from Messe Karlsruhe, drawing a positive conclusion. And exhibitors have also given exclusively positive feedback so far. Professor Dr. Peter A. Henning, head of the education working group at the karlsruhe.digital initiative, , is a member of the congress committee and responsible for the content of the congress and trade fair program. He explains why LEARNTEC continues to set new thematic standards at : “Although this was by no means the case when planning the 30. LEARNTEC, we discussed and informed about ‘Artificial Intelligence in Education’ in many places this time. This shows that even after thirty years, LEARNTEC is still highly innovative and at the forefront of the current education debate.”
AI – one of the top topics at LEARNTEC
“Artificial intelligence now extends into all sectors,” adds Naumann . At the latest since the hype surrounding ChatGPT, it has been known that the implementation of learning systems is also the “next logical step” in the education and training sector.
“AI is now accessible to everyone. And that is also the reason why we are now all talking about the topic,” emphasized Christian Steiner, expert for AI tools in practical use from Düsseldorf, during a talk in the Future Lab at LEARNTEC. It is also important to demystify a program like ChatGPT. “At first, such programs seem like a magic trick,” said Steiner. But once you know how the trick works, you can easily mislead such a program. However, AI is not completely new in the education sector, Steiner continues, “but for decades, AI was only accessible to the big companies.” The real groundbreaking innovation with ChatGPT is therefore that AI has suddenly arrived in people’s everyday lives and therefore also in schools and universities.
Teaching skills and shaping learning: technology clubs at Karlsruhe schools
It is precisely for this reason that it is essential to teach the relevant skills and competencies as early as possible so that pupils can understand and shape the technologies that surround them as early as possible. Karlsruhe as a digital location plays a special pioneering role here. This is because the close cooperation between the various players in the field of digitalization, the “Karlsruhe principle of short distances”, is also reflected in the educational offerings. “Initiatives such as technika not only help to teach children the digital skills they absolutely need They also help older people to come into greater contact with the opportunities of technical innovation and not just be shown the risks,” explains Professor Henning, who actively supports the technika | Karlsruhe technology initiative with the education working group.
At the technika stand in the dm-Arena , more than 130 pupils from 17 different schools and children’s and youth centers will be presenting their latest projects over three days of the fair, which they are working on in their technology and robotics clubs. From self-made cookie cutters and a mandala machine to gripper robots – variety as far as the eye can see!
Self-made cookie cutters, gripper robots and mandala machines – Students from the technology clubs presented their projects
Fanny and Fani, aged 11 and 12, both students at the Otto-Hahn-Gymnasium Nagold, developed and produced their own cookie cutters from the 3D printer as well as a robot that can be used to pick up the cookies in their technology club(Girls’ Digital Camps). And the two have already made further plans : “We definitely want to stay in the AG next year. The next thing we’d like to do would be to program our own website or maybe even our own game!”
The students, Sarah (11 years), Leyla (12 years) and Sophia (12 years), from Hebel-Gymnasium Pforzheim have only been involved since February, but have already worked hard on their own drawing robot with . All you have to do is insert a pen and a piece of paper and it draws perfect mandalas. The group only needed one and a half months to design and construct .
Trying things out arouses enthusiasm
What the girls particularly like about tinkering with the robots is the many possibilities: “It’s mega fun in the club because you can build so many different things all by yourself. Sometimes we can’t make up our minds because we’d like to build all the robots.” The three are still unsure about their future careers. For Sarah and Leyla, however, a future in a technical profession is definitely interesting: “We don’t yet know what we want to work as later on. But a job where you can program and build things yourself like in the working group would definitely be very cool!”
New world of work and corporate culture: New Work Evolution
Originally launched by AppSphere , “New Work Evolution”, southern Germany’s leading trade fair for modern working environments and new corporate culture and technologies, was fully merged with LEARNTEC for the first time this year. The unanimous tenor of exhibitors and speakers: interest in the topic is immense, but the understanding of what constitutes New Work varies widely. For three days, New Work Evolution offered the opportunity to educate and learn from each other.
“Freedom, happiness, family, empathy, morals – these are the goals that move the young generation,” said opening speaker and Generation Z expert Felix Behm, who opened the three-day lecture program with 40 speakers. If young people do not find these in a company, they quickly decide to change jobs. As a result, there is an acute shortage of employees in many sectors. The exhibitors gave an insight into their innovative strength when it comes to modern work culture and made it clear that companies can make numerous adjustments to implement New Work in their company.
We would like to thank our partner technika | Karlsruher Technik-Initiative and CyberForum, where this article first appeared!
Picture credits cover photo: CyberForum