TU Wien Informatics

20 Years

TU Austria & BMBWF’s Section Head Visit eduLAB

  • By Theresa Aichinger-Fankhauser
  • 2022-09-16
  • Social Responsibility

Doris Wagner and representatives of TU Austria joined us for a tour through eduLAB, one of Austria’s most successful educational outreach initiatives in IT.

Preparing for action – Lukas Lehner and Gerald Futschek explain the Sphero Bolt coding robots to guests Anna Franzkowiak and Doris Wagner.
Preparing for action – Lukas Lehner and Gerald Futschek explain the Sphero Bolt coding robots to guests Anna Franzkowiak and Doris Wagner.
Picture: Theresa Aichinger-Fankhauser / TU Wien Informatics

On September 16, 2022, the eduLAB team showed what playful education in IT is all about. Doris Wagner, Head of the Section for General Education and Vocational Training at the Austrian Federal Ministry for Education, Science and Research, TU Wien Rector Sabine Seidler, Rector of Montanuniversität Leoben (MUL) Wilfried Eichlseder, General Secretary of TU Austria Elke Standeker and Organizational Director of the Center for Technology & Society at TU Wien Anna Franzkowiak visited TU Wien Informatics to learn more about its forefront outreach activities in IT Education.

The visitors were able to experience eduLAB’s playful way of educating firsthand. Gerald Futschek, founder and current head of the initiative, guided through the interactive exhibit “Abenteuer Informatik” accompanied by Tobias Kohn, who will succeed his endeavors as eduLAB’s new head. Martina Landman, eduLAB project manager, and workshop leader Lukas Lehner explained eduLAB’s didactics and tools including robots, 3D printed number puzzles and building structures. The tour was followed by a live workshop together with students.

Dean of TU Wien Informatics Gerti Kappel emphasized the importance of motivating young people to study computer science. “Informatics means having the future in the palm of your hands. It is no exaggeration to say that tomorrow’s students can change the world – from cybersecurity to AI or social media, we can shape it,” Kappel is convinced. Doris Wagner congratulated the eduLAB team and TU Wien Informatics for their outstanding effort in making informatics accessible. “Visiting eduLAB shows that IT is for everybody. And especially for young girls, this initiative can provide the decisive impetus for a career in informatics.”

Informatics for all

eduLAB is about playful discovery. Students develop and implement their IT projects through age-appropriate games and tasks and explore basic computer science concepts and methods. eduLAB offers various workshops, online courses (MOOC) and guided tours of the exhibit “Abenteuer Informatik” at TU Wien Informatics. To get girls interested in computer science particularly, eduLAB further organizes Girls Code TUgether, an IT summer camp for girls – read more about fun & games at this year’s camp.

eduLAB is also part of international research projects and initiatives in continuous IT education for teachers (TeaEdu4CT), development of Massive Open Online Courses (MOOC) for basic education (eInformatics), and for advancing personalizable computer science courses (DigiFit4All). They host conferences and gatherings of researchers and teachers like the upcoming Informatiktag 2022.

Although the palette of activities is vast, eduLAB aims to expand its endeavors. Stay tuned for new workshops in robotics and AI, as well as school and outreach events. For up-to-date info visit eduLAB’s website.

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