PhD Candidate: Petra Francesca Weixelbraun, MEd (University of Vienna)
Supervisors:
- Univ.-Prof. Dr. Fares Kayali (University of Vienna, dig!doc Consortium)
- Ole Sejer Iversen (Aarhus University)
- HS-Prof. Dr. Gerhard Brandhofer (PH NÖ, dig!doc Consortium)
Project Description:
The dissertation project “Ctrl + Shift + Learn: Teacher Insights on Computational Empowerment in Basic Digital Education” aims to foster the sustainable development of the Austrian school subject Basic Digital Education. To this end, actionable recommendations and design principles are being developed based on the experiences of teachers and the concept of computational empowerment. Computational empowerment, as both a theory and methodology, promotes democratic participation and co-creation of a digitalized society through critical engagement with and creative use of technologies.
The central focus of the project is to explore how teachers in Basic Digital Education can be empowered to help their students become active, critically thinking co-creators of their own learning experiences. By applying the developed recommendations, teachers will be better equipped to address the challenges of digital education and enhance the potential of their students.
The concepts and findings developed in collaboration with teachers will be integrated into current research literature, contributing to the development of an innovative and future-oriented digital education landscape.
The key research questions of this dissertation are:
- How do teachers currently experience the subject of Basic Digital
Education, particularly with respect to Computational Empowerment? - How can teachers adapt their pedagogical role in digital education to
empower students as protagonists through digital technologies? - Which kind of teaching strategies and materials can address and
overcome challenges in teaching Basic Digital Education
(based on RQ1) through aspects of Computational Empowerment? - What specific actionable recommendations and design principles can
be derived from these findings to enhance pre- and in-service teacher
education for Basic Digital Education?
Relevant publications:
- Gartner, S., & Weixelbraun, P. F. (2024). Breaking barriers: Empowerment and belonging in Austrian basic digital education from teachers’ perspective. In EdMedia Proceedings (pp. 995–1005). Brussels, Belgium. https://www.learntechlib.org/primary/p/224620/
- Weixelbraun, P. F., Göbl, B., Steinböck, M., Duvivié, M., & Kayali, F. (2024). Discussing the protagonist role of students in game-based learning. Proceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction, 8(CHI PLAY), Article 300, 1–24. https://doi.org/10.1145/3677065
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