IT:U Winning Project Among Contenders for Global Award
The winning project of IT:U Interdisciplinary Transformation University Austria from the local DigiEduHack hackathon in November 2024 has been selected as one of twelve global finalists for the Global Awards. With their solution, Electopolis: The Politics of Decision, the team demonstrated exceptional creativity and a strong commitment to shaping the future of digital education.
An interdisciplinary team, including one of the first PhD students of IT:U Interdisciplinary Transformation University Austria, has made it to the finals of the worldwide DigiEduHack initiative. In November 2024, IT:U hosted a hackathon as part of the EU initiative under the theme Transform Futures of Higher Education through Analytics in Action. Five teams participated both on-campus and online to develop innovative solutions—joining numerous other teams around the world in the challenge.
“Our 17 participants from 11 different countries, including the first four PhD students of IT:U’s Digital Transformation in Learning program, not only developed innovative ideas for learning technologies during the hackathon but also received valuable insights through workshops and mentoring. Over the course of two days, the five interdisciplinary groups created approaches ranging from adaptive learning management systems to AI-powered learning assistants, contributing to this global initiative,”
Sebastian Dennerlein, IT:U Founding Professor, Chair of the PhD Program, and Co-organizer of the Hackathon.
Electopolis Wins: A Gamified Approach to Political Education
Among the five projects, Electopolis: The Politics of Decision, developed by Gala Niri, Armin Tezer, and Abi Atamanesh, emerged as the local winner. This social simulation game allows students to interactively and playfully learn about political decision-making processes and community building.
Over the past months, a DigiEduHack committee reviewed all local winning projects and recently announced twelve finalists. A public vote is now open to determine the top four teams, which will be honored at the Global Award Ceremony in Brussels in April 2025.
“We did not take the selection of our local winner lightly. In the end, Electopolis: The Politics of Decision stood out. We are thrilled that the team has now made it to the twelve finalists of the Global Awards,”
Carla Barreiros, Head of Project-Based Learning (PBL) at IT:U, who co-initiated the event.
DigiEduHack voting closes on March 5, 2025! Cast your vote today and help us bring this project to the global stage.