News archive

2017-12-06 | Open Culture in times of Artificial Intelligence" – Prof. Dr. Ulrike Cress on the podium of the OPEN! 2017, the conference for digital innovation

It is all about the topic of an "open culture in times of artificial intelligence" at the conference OPEN! in Stuttgart today. One question will be whether artificial intelligence (AI) can replace creative people in the future. The basic assumption is that AI will definitely change work, creative industries, art and culture. Prof. Dr. Ulrike Cress, director of the Leibniz-Institut für Wissensmedien (IWM) and head of the Knowledge construction Lab participates in the panel discussion "AI – catalyst or enemy of an open society?" She will, amongst others things, report on "Cognitive Interfaces" as they are researched in the Leibniz-WissenschaftsCampus “Cognitive Interfaces” (WCT) of the IWM. The research network focusses on interfaces that expand, not narrow, the human horizon. Cress adds: "Artificial intelligence should show us patterns. We, the people, should draw the conclusions, not the machines." Further members of the discussion include Peter H. Ganten (Chairman OSB Alliance), Prof. Dipl.-Des. Jo Wickert (user generated design GmbH) and Dominika Szope (ZKM-Zentrum für Kunst und Medien Karlsruhe).

The self-description of the conference - https://www.openkonferenz.de/ueber-uns/: "OPEN! is the event for digitization. It identifies challenges and provides solutions for how to increase productivity and innovation in a data-driven world based on the principles of an "open culture". The OPEN! provides a 360° perspective and looks at both the economy and public administration, science and research, cultural and creative industries and civil society“. The conference is organized by the MFG Baden-Württemberg and the OSB Alliance eV., supported by the Ministry of Science, Research and Arts - Ministerium für Wissenschaft, Forschung und Kunst Baden-Württemberg.

2017-11-30 | "Digital know-how - the key to the MINT world" - Ulrike Cress at the ZEIT CONFERENCE "School & Education"

Two major topics for the future will be discussed at this year's ZEIT CONFERENCE Digitization and "MINT" - mathematics, computer science, natural sciences and technology. These subjects are important for the economy, the innovative power of enterprises and the future of skilled workers. Without digitization, their future is inconceivable. "At school, the groundwork is laid for this: Students learn skills and abilities here; but they also need to learn to understand digitization, embrace its benefits, and criticize its downsides. Good teachers encourage their students to dare something and to try something out – for example MINT subjects which can be immensely fun", says Manuel J. Hartung, editor and publisher for DIE ZEIT.
"The public discussion about media in school is greatly shortened. Media are not good or bad per se. They only have an effect by changing the learning behavior. Scientifically speaking, there are not effects of media, but effects with media", says Ulrike Cress, who researches social and cognitive processes that are relevant for the joint construction and usage of knowledge in her lab „Knowledge Construction“ at the Leibniz-Institut für Wissensmedien (IWM). Experts and practitioners will meet at the conference to find common answers to questions of the future education policy. The latest state of research and international comparison are leading the discussions. Ulrike Cress is director of the IWM, full professor at the University of Tübingen, department of psychology and a member of the expert group "Digital Learning in Primary School" of the Deutsche Telekom Foundation. In the discussion group "Digital know-how – the key to the MINT world" she discusses together with Ulrich Commercon, (Saarland Minister of Education and Culture), Prof. Dr. med. Ilka Parchmann (Vice President for Teaching, Science Communication and Continuing Education, Christian-Albrechts-University Kiel) and Enrico Rühle (Festo Didactic), moderated by Martin Spiewak (ZEIT editor), the challenges of the school of tomorrow. Cress says: "Teachers mostly lack digital know-how to use media effectively in their lessons. There is a lack of a good and extensive teacher education and training in terms of a didactically meaningful use of digital media. Only digitally competent teachers can prepare students for the digital world of tomorrow."

2017-10-20 | Leibniz-WissenschaftsCampus book "Informational Environments" published by Springer Verlag

The book about "Informational Environments", a jointly work of all projects of the former Leibniz-WissenschaftsCampus, has now been published by Springer Verlag.

This book provides a multidisciplinary view into how individuals and groups interact with the information environments that surround them. The book discusses how informational environments shape our daily lives, and how digital technologies can improve the ways in which people make use of informational environments. It presents the research and outcomes of a seven-year multidisciplinary research initiative, the Leibniz-WissenschaftsCampus Tübingen Informational Environments, jointly conducted by the Leibniz-Institut für Wissensmedien (IWM) and the Eberhard Karls Universität Tübingen. Book chapters from leading international experts in psychology, education, computer science, sociology, and medicine provide a multi-layered and multidisciplinary view on how the interplay between individuals and their informational environments unfolds.

2017-10-12 | Meeting of all members of the Leibniz-WissenschaftsCampus

Around 40 scientists came together to present their projects in the Leibniz-WissenschaftsCampus Tübingen "Cognitive Interfaces". With poster presentations they had the opportunity to get to know each other better and to identify intersections between individual projects. In addition, this was the first meeting with all the PhD students who were able to network on this occasion.

2017-07-13 | Opening Event Of The Leibniz-WissenschaftsCampus Tübingen

On July 1, the continuation initiative of the Leibniz-WissenschaftsCampus "Cognitive Interfaces" began its work. In 14 projects, questions about the influence and design of digital media on knowledge and education processes are examined.

On 13 July, around 35 scientists from the Leibniz-WissenschaftsCampus met for a joint kick-off event at the IWM. The aim of the day was to get to know the project participants and the projects, as well as to identify the common scientific intersection.

The Leibniz-Institut für Wissensmedien has initiated this interdisciplinary research network together with the University of Tübingen. The aim is to create a strategically oriented network to further develop the research of digital media in Tübingen and to strengthen the scientific environment for this topic. The Leibniz-Wissenschaftscampus Tübingen bundles the expertise of psychology, computer science, didactics, dentistry, medicine and educational science.