Digital Day 2025
This year, the Digital Transformation Office warmly invites you to Digital Day again! With exciting initiatives and interactive formats that focus on the key topics of artificial intelligence (AI) and digital teaching, the program is primarily aimed at staff and faculty of JLU—but students are also welcome! Dive into current developments, exchange ideas, and actively shape the digital future of the university!
🚀Come join us on June 27, 2025!
Digital Day in Giessen on June 28, 2025: For the first time, Smart City Giessen and District Giessen are participating in the nationwide action day and cordially invite you to stop by on Saturday, June 28, 2025, at Kirchplatz in Giessen! You can look forward to exciting insights, hands-on activities, and discourse on digital topics right on site. 👉 Find more information here (German only).
Want more digital transformation? Then take a look at the nationwide program (German only) as well.
💡 JLU's Digital Day Program for 2025 – Online & On Site
You can enjoy digital lectures, interactive formats, and in-person offers—the online program points take place via BigBlueButton (BBB); no registration is required. ❓If you have any questions about the program, feel free to contact the Digital Transformation Office (DTO): BfD
Please note that all events will be in German.
09:45 - 10:45: Artificial Intelligence in the Context of Sustainability (online)
Artificial Intelligence in the Context of Sustainability
https://webconf.hrz.uni-giessen.de/b/ann-62w-ts3-gfk
Short description: Artificial intelligence (AI) is one of the defining technologies of our time and is increasingly permeating societal, economic, and ecological systems. In the context of sustainable development, it opens up new avenues of action, such as optimizing resource use, analyzing environmental data, or providing global access to education. Thus, AI potentially contributes to achieving several goals of Agenda 2030.
At the same time, using AI without self-reflection poses significant risks. The high energy intensity of large models, algorithmic discrimination, social upheavals due to automation, and inhumane working conditions in the global south—such as those experienced by so-called 'clickworkers'—are diametrically opposed to central sustainability goals. In the field of education, there especially is a need for critical engagement with this technology; many learners and educators approach AI systems either with tech-savvy overestimation or with uncertainty and powerlessness.
This lecture will explore the potentials and limitations of AI in light of education for sustainable development (ESD) and will present a concept that promotes reflective skills, judgment, and the will to shape things. The goal is to understand AI not only as a technological issue but as an opportunity for ethical, societal, and educational policy discussions—thereby paving the way for informed participation in a sustainable digital society.
10:30 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.: Merchants of Istanbul: A Serious Game for Conveying the History... (on site)
Merchants of Istanbul: A Serious Game for Conveying the History of the Balkans in the Early Modern Ottoman Era
Guide: Ninja Bumann (Faculty 04)
Location: University Library on the reading stairs
Short description: Merchants of Istanbul is a serious game in the form of a visual novel that teaches students basic knowledge about the Balkans in the early modern Ottoman era. Based on historical text sources in various languages and visual materials, players experience semi-fictional adventures of a merchant caravan that travels from Lemberg/Lviv (in present-day Ukraine) through various cities in present-day Romania and Bulgaria to Istanbul. The game's objective is to safely transport luxury goods to Istanbul and become wealthy through trade. In doing so, students can acquire knowledge about the social, ethnic, religious, and linguistic structures, the administrative organization, and the trading practices in the Ottoman Empire in an engaging way.
10:30 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.: Museum in 3D - Antiquity within Reach (on site)
Museum 3D – Antiquity within Reach: A virtual journey into antiquity—with modern 3D technology and immersive scenarios.
Guides: Michaela Stark & Tobias Jung (Faculty 04)
Location: University Library on the reading stairs
Kurzbeschreibung: Mit Museum 3D stellen wir ein innovatives Lehrprojekt der Klassischen Archäologie und der Antikensammlung vor: Studierende haben im Rahmen des Projekts interaktive Lernsequenzen zu Exponaten der Gießener Antikensammlung entwickelt, die in ein spannendes 3D-Erlebnisszenario eingebettet wurden. Drei virtuelle Räume – ein Heiligtum, ein Wohnhaus und ein Grabbau – laden dazu ein, die antike Welt sowohl in VR als auch in einer Desktop-Version zu erkunden und archäologische Artefakte interaktiv zu erleben.
11:00 - 11:45 a.m.: A Hitchhiker's Guide to the Immune System - Game-Based Learning (online)
A Hitchhiker's Guide to the Immune System – Game-Based Learning that Helps Transmit and Deepen Teaching
Speaker: Christian Zimmermann (FB 09)
https://webconf.hrz.uni-giessen.de/b/ann-62w-ts3-gfk
Short description: The content of introductory lectures can sometimes seem dry and unmotivating to students, especially when they lack illustrations. To counteract this, we have developed a computer game for students in the life sciences. The game teaches basic knowledge in the field of immunology and can be integrated into the lecture as part of a 'let's play' format. In this talk, we will present the game and its implementation and will discuss possible ways to implement your own ideas for educational games.
11:00 a.m. - 12.00 p.m.: Digital Teaching in Dialog—Exchanging Best Practices on How to Digitally Support Teaching at JLU (online)
12:00 - 12:20 p.m.: Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Collegiate Foreign Language Learning... (online - same BBB room)
Digital Teaching in Dialog—Exchanging Best Practices on How to Digitally Support Teaching at JLU
Time: 11:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.
Speakers & Topics:
- Tina Jung (Faculty 03): Interactive learning methods in teacher training: surveys, live voting, and peer feedback with ILIAS
- Kathrin Büttner (Faculty 10): Statistics in veterinary medicine—from animal data to digital puzzles
- Elmar Schlüter and Fabian Röseler (Faculty 03): Hörbar lernen: Mit Podcasts studentische Praxiserfahrungen weitergeben
- Dominik Kainz (Faculty 05): Erstellung eines Online-Zertifikatskurses für Deutsch als Zweitsprache in ILIAS – Erfahrungen aus Perspektive einer studentischen Hilfskraft
- Birte Pfeiffer-Morhenn and Antonia Giebel (Faculty 10): PETS goes digital: Von statischen Dateien zu interaktiven Lernangeboten im Clinical Skills Lab des FB 10
Kurzbeschreibung: Die Veranstaltung "Best Practice-Beispiele aus der digital gestützten Lehre an der JLU" bietet Ihnen einen Einblick in die Vielfalt digitaler Lehr-Lernszenarien an der Justus-Liebig-Universität Gießen. Mehrere Lehrende aus verschiedenen Fachbereichen präsentieren Beispiele aus ihrer Lehre und zeigen, wie digitale Tools und Medien den Lernprozess bereichern können. Lassen Sie sich durch die Erfahrungen anderer Lehrender inspirieren und holen Sie sich konkrete Tipps zur Umsetzung in Ihrer eigenen Lehre. Jeder Kurzvortrag wird durch eine offene Frage-/Austauschrunde ergänzt.
Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Collegiate Foreign Language Learning—an Interactive Online Self-Learning Course Promoting a Critically Reflective Approach to AI Applications
Speaker: Johanna Lea Korell (ZfbK)
Time: 12:00 - 12:20 p.m.
Short description: During the lecture, participants will gain a practical insight into this project. We will present an interactive online self-learning course currently being developed. The course consists of four modules covering topics such as the technology and ethics of AI, acquiring AI competencies, applying AI tools in foreign language learning, and future perspectives. This will be implemented on the learning platform ILIAS, which we will expand with an AI plugin to enable practical experiences.