The "BeLEARN" competence centre, co-founded by the University of Bern, is dedicated to the task of advancing digitalisation in education. Practical and cross-university research projects are implemented in the newly inaugurated hub in the centre of Bern.
Celine Anliker
Read the original uniAKTUELL article here.
There is a festive atmosphere in the hub on Laupenstrasse in Bern. A group of people from the Bernese education scene, researchers and the management of "BeLEARN" - an initiative of the Canton of Bern that was launched in 2021 - have gathered.
The aim of the initiative is to promote digitalisation in education. Research groups from various universities, education experts from industry and the BeLEARN office are all pulling in the same direction - and complementing each other with their different areas of expertise.
Exchange is very important for the success of the initiative.
Fritz Sager
"Exchange is very important for the success of the initiative," emphasises Fritz Sager, Vice-Rector of Teaching at the University of Bern and President of the BeLEARN Board. The inaugurated hub is intended to promote this: "For the first time, we have a common meeting place where new projects can be realised," says Sager with satisfaction.
Promoting digital skills - and well-being
BeLEARN is a Switzerland-wide association that aims to drive forward research in the areas of digital skills, digital tools and data science for education. Around 40 research projects are now underway at various universities, all of which are supported by BeLEARN. But what exactly are these projects?
As part of one of the projects - called "Forest" The aim of the project is to develop an interactive learning platform to promote the well-being of prospective teachers. "Our aim is to strengthen social-emotional skills and support teachers," explains the researcher involved, Isabelle Krummenacher, from the Institute of Educational Science at the University of Bern. The first prototype has already been tested by students and will be further developed in collaboration with the Bern University of Teacher Education and other schools in the canton.
From robots in the classroom to national stocktaking
With the "Digiprim" project"As Jessica Herzing from the Interfaculty Centre for Educational Research (ICER) at the University of Bern explains, the researchers are taking a more holistic approach: they want to gain an overview of the state of digitalisation in Swiss primary schools, which has hardly been researched to date. "To do this, we are conducting surveys of pupils, parents and teachers to help us determine which digital devices are available and what challenges there are in terms of their use," she explains. The aim of the project is to recognise the conditions for the successful integration of information and communication technologies and to implement them in practice.
Another BeLEARN project takes place directly in the classrooms: The learning computer developed for the project "Thymio" is designed to encourage pupils' curiosity and critical thinking and to sensitise learners to digital technologies. Thymio responds to simple commands - such as instructions on the direction of travel or reactions to obstacles - which children can learn themselves and then give directly to the learning computer. "In this way, the children playfully develop an understanding of what robots are and how they work," explains Jessica Dehler from the Centre for Learning Science (LEARN) at EPFL, who is involved in the project. The project is being developed in collaboration with the Bern University of Teacher Education and EPFL.
The practical relevance makes the difference
The research projects all have something in common: they are very practice-orientated. The insights gained are tested directly with the respective target group and improved on this basis.
Katrin Müller
With our BeLEARN projects, we endeavour to contribute step by step to the education of tomorrow.
"Digitalisation means that teaching is constantly changing. With our BeLEARN projects, we are endeavouring to contribute step by step to the education of tomorrow," says Katrin Müller, CEO of BeLEARN. Together with BeLEARN, the expertise of the University of Bern and the other founding universities is therefore making a targeted contribution to the digital transformation of education.
ABOUT BeLEARN
BeLEARN is an initiative of the Canton of Bern and is run as an association. BeLEARN comprises the following five founding universities: the University of Bern, the Bern University of Teacher Education, the Bern University of Applied Sciences, the Swiss Federal Institute for Vocational Education and Training and the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne. The association consists of the universities' research groups, various start-ups and the administrative office. BeLEARN is financed by the canton and supported by the activities of the universities.
TO THE PEOPLE
Prof Dr Fritz Sager
is Vice-Rector for Teaching and Professor of Political Science at the Competence Centre for Public Management at the University of Bern. Sager is a member of the BeLEARN board as president.
Contact: Prof Dr Fritz Sager, [email protected]
Isabelle Krummenacher
is a doctoral student at the Institute of Educational Science at the University of Bern and is the main contact person for the Forest: Fostering Resilience in Teacher Education project.
Contact: Isabelle Krummenacher, [email protected]
Dr Jessica Herzing
from the Interfaculty Centre for Educational Research (ICER) at the University of Bern is the main contact person for the Digiprim research project: Digitalisation in Swiss schools and its impact on educational trajectories.
Contact: Dr Jessica Herzing, [email protected]