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Digital higher education topic in the Parliamentary Advisory Board
[20.07.2023]Creating the basis for more educational equity through AI-based technology: This goal was presented by Prof. Dr. Dr. Friedrich W. Hesse together with Rector Prof. Dr. Ada Pellert to members of the Bundestag in Berlin. The CATALPA research center and its special role as a living lab for university research were the central topics in the Parliamentary Advisory Board of the FernUniversität.
Photo: CATALPA
Prof. Dr. Dr. Friedrich W. Hesse, scientific director of the research center CATALPA, informed with FernUni Rector Prof. Dr. Ada Pellert about current research activities. .
At its meeting on June 21, 2023, the Parliamentary Advisory Board of the FernUniversität in Hagen focused on digital higher education. "The FernUni is, after all, a pioneer here to a certain extent," said Chairman Kai Gehring (Bündnis 90/Die Grünen). In this context, the rector of FernUniversität Prof. Dr. Ada Pellert emphasized the national importance of the institution. "Smart networking is needed for the further development of digital higher education in Germany. That's why we cooperate with other universities and contribute our exciting research activities," she said.
Prof. Dr. Dr. Friedrich Hesse, scientific director of the CATALPA research center, explained what these look like in practice. He informed the members of the Bundestag gathered in the advisory board about the current research activities of the Center of Advanced Technology for Assisted Learning and Predictive Analytics. Here, 60 scientists are developing new educational technologies on an interdisciplinary basis, using artificial intelligence to make personalized, adaptive teaching and learning possible and to test them in practice.
Creating the basis for more educational equity
The researchers will find ideal conditions at the FernUniversität in Hagen, says Hesse. CATALPA's research approach also includes using this technology directly in teaching, for example in educational sciences and computer science. "This makes us a live laboratory for university research, which I believe is unique in Germany," he explained. The researchers' goal is to use the technology to lay the groundwork for greater educational equity. Students will be supported by AI - and precisely tailored to their respective needs. In this way, individual deficits can be compensated for despite the large number of students. "And the teaching staff has more freedom for the tasks that an AI cannot take over," said Pellert.
The Parliamentary Advisory Board
The Parliamentary Advisory Board of the FernUniversität in the German Bundestag has existed since 2010 and has the goal of strengthening the national importance of the FernUniversität in dialogue with education policy and to obtain partial funding from the federal government.
Over time, the advisory board has developed into a transfer-oriented discussion format between political actors and the FernUniversität. Thematically, central education policy strategies and trends are taken up and approaches and potentials of the FernUniversität are presented. The advisory board usually meets twice a year, the next meeting will take place in autumn 2023. The current chairman of the advisory board is Kai Gehring (Bündnis 90/Die Grünen), who is chairman of the Bundestag Committee on Education, Research and Technology Assessment.
