Developing the Education Technology (EdTech) ecosystem in Austria, supporting the well-known start-up scene and helping to lead the industry to a relevant size and awareness. These are the tasks of the 2020 launched, national EdTech hubs. Since August 2022, Julia Pichler, an expert with a Harvard degree in “Education Policies”, has been in charge Platform EdTech Austria (see info box).

Austria’s EdTech network is growing

Over a hundred participating companies from the Austrian EdTech sector are already members of the network organized from Salzburg. “We are still in the midst of an EdTech boom,” emphasizes Julia Pichler. The boost from pandemic-related remote learning in schools is subsiding somewhat, but the school subject “digital basic education”, which was introduced this year and is part of an eight-point plan for digital teaching launched in 2020, will ensure further development of applications in schools.

Long-awaited and often cited, the now more mature technologies such as augmented reality (AR), virtual reality (VR) and mixed reality are arriving in practice. Artificial intelligence WILL also have a strong impact on the development of ED technologies. AI promotes individualization when content and learning pace are better tailored to the needs of the learner. “That will be one of the big plus points at EdTech,” explains Julia Pichler.

Video-based learning is still going strong. For a long time, EdTech has not only been about new digital forms of learning in schools, but also about vocational training and further education. This is where another EdTech trend comes into play: the Learning Experience Platform, or LXP for short. It bundles all learning content – video, image or text – and serves as an interface for digital learning materials. The new educational platform of the WKO, wîse up, is moving in this direction.

Test new applications in practice

However, it is also the task of EdTech to test applications of new learning technologies in a very practical way. This is where EdTech’s function as a network engine comes into play, with key players in Salzburg sharing their knowledge.

For example, in the “Understanding Salzburg” project, which makes a new form of geography teaching possible. Together with the University of Salzburg, the Salzburg University of Education and the founders of “Salzburg Understanding”, Markus Tatzgern is investigating the use of virtual and augmented reality in school lessons in the “EdTech Salzburg Augmented Learning Lab” at the Salzburg University of Applied Sciences. To do this, the research team is adding digital content to a four-by-four-meter physical map of Salzburg, which is used in Salzburg schools for general science lessons. An app is being developed with which additional information can be imported.

In 2022, EdTech Austria started another pilot project with the Austria Wirtschaftsservice and the State of Salzburg and the Education Directorate. In 2022, 20 primary and secondary schools in Salzburg were equipped with 160 robot kits from Robo Wunderkind. 40 teachers were trained and provided with teaching materials so that they can use them in the classroom right away.

“The teachers were enthusiastic. The robot kits have significantly enriched the lessons. Early access to coding and robotics also turns children into digital designers,” says Julia Pichler, describing the result. The pilot project will be evaluated in February – with the possibility of a broader application.

The INTER-DI-KO project, a cooperation project between the University, PH Salzburg and EdTech Austria, is about the basics. INTER-DI-KO stands for interdisciplinarity, digitization and cooperation. In interdisciplinary innovation laboratories, skills are taught and new teaching formats are developed, with not only scientists and educators, but also students trying out the latest developments in the EdTech world. The project runs until 2025.

At the EdTech Summit from EdTech Austria in June 2023 in Salzburg you can learn more about the fascinating world of EdTech.