Stop complaining, change it!

Three students at Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) have developed a concept for dynamic learning on campus - supported by MaKeIT. The project is now being continued at KIT.

Drei Studenten mit Laptops an einem Tisch

Learning has changed for students since the start of Covid-19: hybrid group work, face-to-face lectures, online courses, short phone calls with the supervisor, concentrated reading. The merry-go-round between digital, hybrid and analog brings new demands. Those who don't live close to their university have to find a spot on campus. But where can you attend your online course without disturbing others? "The learning spaces at KIT have almost exclusively been silent work stations, which doesn't reflect our everyday study life," says Luca Dilger, who, together with his fellow students Lukas Dierolf and Simon Maier, wanted to tackle precisely this problem.

The team investigated solutions that support studying in hybrid everyday life on campus. The result was a flexible usage approach for learning spaces, which they tried out in TRIANGEL Open Space. The people on the phone, the silent learners or the group workers form specific areas in the room. In their first approach, colorful blocks next to laptops signaled the type of use so that others could recognize which group they belonged to as soon as they entered the room. In the second step, the trio programmed a web application where people can log in and enter their type of use. An LED light attached to the laptop lights up appropriately, controlled by the program. The colored traffic light system shows how and where learning is taking place.

They developed their solution with the support of the "DigitalChangeMaker Accelerator" program of Stifterverband. The impetus at KIT was provided by Dr. Niels Feldmann, Head of the Intrapreneurship Program "maKeIT" at KIT Innovation and Relations Management, who supervised the students. "maKeIT starts exactly at this point: If I, as an employee or student, have an idea of how I can improve something within KIT or for society, then I should be able and allowed to bring this problem-solving competence into reality. For this, you need the freedom and support to put time and energy into such side projects," explains Niels Feldmann. maKeIT enables such initiatives: With orientation, matchmaking, coaching, a project-based program and many other offers.

For Simon, Luca and Lukas, the intrapreneur journey has come to an end, but not for their idea: the software solution will be continued at Karlsruhe Service Research Institute (KSRI) as part of a team project. "It was important for us to develop something that wouldn't peter out", the three say. If it goes well, students could end up using an app to ask where on campus a space is currently available for the desired type of use.

Image: Lisa Jungheim/KIT