TEACHERCAMP FOR DIGITAL EDUCATION.

Digital teaching and learning concepts are not yet fully integrated in many schools in Germany. As a result, most young adults start their careers with very little or no basic digital knowledge. They lack an understanding of the basics of IT, of algorithms, of the challenges of social media or of the internet as an economic space.

“In order to make Germany fit for the future as a business location, it is essential to digitise in the field of education. As we have seen for years, the public education system alone cannot manage this major task at the necessary pace. If we want to catch up, we have to join forces now and do what is possible,” say Stefan and Jürgen Wirtgen, Directors of the Wirtgen Stiftungen. For this reason, the Wirtgen Stiftungen, in cooperation with the social impact company BG3000, have developed the Teacher-Camps as an innovative training format. Experienced speakers from youth work, experts from the business world and internet and social media professionals from the field introduce teachers to important digital topics in the school context. In addition to inspirations and tips from practice, the educators gain deep and well-founded insights into the realities of pupils’ lives.

The new training format was piloted in March 2023 under the patronage of District Administrator Achim Hallerbach at the Realschule plus and Fachoberschule in Asbach. In the workshops “Digital Teaching and Learning”, “Social Hacking”, “Hatespeech & Cyberbullying” and “Fit through the Classroom”, 42 teachers received valuable impulses for contemporary teaching. The focus of the training event was on media prevention, data protection, IT security and innovative education design. The camp day in presence will be followed by five more live online training sessions. The aim is to visualise the opportunities and risks of the Internet and then to be able to communicate these convincingly to the young people. Here, the thematic spectrum ranges from sensitive handling of personal data to the creative realisation of one’s own ideas and projects to a health-conscious lifestyle in the digital world.

With the competence transfer and training for teachers, the Wirtgen Stiftungen complete their activities in this field.