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The OTTs meet online. What are they focused on?

Caroline Berger-Konen: The primary focus is on AI and didactics. We have two OTTs on this, because many people are particularly interested. There are also OTTs on AI and ethics, AI and exams, and one on AI, curriculum, and micro-degrees.

Hm, I cannot imagine that much about the last topic...

Bettina Ötvös: The main point here is to offer AI skills for everyone - for example, in online courses that can be enrolled in across faculties. But we also want to open AI skills for continuing education, for example for working professionals, who can then prove their skills with micro-credentials.

Jessica Felgentreu: In the AI Campus, for example, there are already numerous of such freely available learning opportunities on AI. I am currently looking at the possibilities of integrating that in a structured way into the degree programs and continuing education offerings at FernUni in Hagen.

Seems as interlinking of AI Campus and the FernUni is already remarkably close. But what are the goals of the individual OTTs?

Claudia de Witt: Our goal is, for example, to develop didactic patterns, i.e., to show concretely how AI can be used in teaching. We want to generate them from best-practice examples that we link with insights from educational theory.

In other words, far more takes place in the OTTs than just exchange of ideas...

Bettina Ötvös: Yes, exactly, these are real working meetings. Exchange is an essential element, but it is also about concrete results.

And who gets involved?

Caroline Berger-Konen: It varies greatly. The participants range from students from different subjects to people with decades of experience in teaching or professors. Accordingly, the age range is also extremely broad. But everyone works together as equals.

Jessica Felgentreu: Many colleagues from the FernUni itself are also involved. We are particularly pleased that our work is also perceived so positively within the university.

Claudia de Witt: But discourses on AI also take place at many other universities. The collaboration with the AI Campus gives us the opportunity to think in a much broader context and to participate in a large community. Ultimately, this also benefits FernUni.

To what extent does the current project fit in with your research within CATALPA, Prof. de Witt?

Claudia de Witt: There are many overlaps here. We bring our expertise from research into the OTTs and in turn take practical expertise from the OTTs with us for our research. This also benefits CATALPA's junior researchers who are involved here - for example, for the CATALPA projects AI.EDU or IMPACT, which also deal with AI in higher education. They can discuss questions about their research within the OTTs. That helps for the current work. But of course, you also get new impulses for further research questions and future projects. And maybe you even find partners for collaborations with whom you can work on future projects. In any case, it helps enormously for networking.