A digital agent for Jena's schools

Jena has had a digital agent since September 2024: In an interview with DigiDo, Christoph Voigt explains how he accompanies schools in Jena on their path to digitalization as part of the Smart City project. He is supported by Felix Blumenstein, an expert for digitalized educational institutions. Together, they will talk about their tasks, goals and challenges and explain how they integrate digital technologies into lessons in a meaningful way in order to meet the individual needs of pupils. Their goal is to create a sustainable and flexible school that strengthens digital skills, promotes equal opportunities and enables individualized teaching.

The "Digital Agent for Schools" is a measure of the Jena Smart City project and belongs to field of action 3 (education, culture and social affairs). It is based in the media center of the Jena school administration, which was also involved in the joint development of the idea.

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Digitalagent Christoph Voigt (rechts) begleitet Schulen auf dem Weg in die smarte Zukunft. Unterstützung erhält er von Experte Felix Blumenstein.

©Stadt Jena

Christoph, you have been working as a digital agent at Jena schools since September 2024. What are your main tasks and what drives you in your work in particular?

Christoph Voigt: My job as a digital agent is to support Jena schools on their way to becoming "smart schools" and to integrate digital technologies into everyday school life in a sustainable way. In order to implement this sustainably, the first step requires an in-depth analysis of the current status of the schools included in the project. This involves focusing on various levels of school development in order to define development steps together with the schools following the analysis. Measures will be derived from these steps and I will closely support the schools in their implementation. The innovative aspect of the project is that it fills a gap between the provision of technology and its sustainable pedagogical implementation in everyday school life.

I am grateful for the opportunity to make my contribution to the development of schools in a culture of digitality. Digitalization should not be used to do away with tried and tested methods that support learning. Instead, it should be seen as an opportunity to create and try out new possibilities and approaches for teaching. It is therefore not a question of either-or, but of meaningful expansion and enrichment.

Digital technologies and applications make it possible to respond precisely to the individual requirements of pupils and their parents, thus counteracting the digital divide and enabling equal opportunities.

Felix, you also have extensive expertise and years of professional experience in the field of "digitalized educational institutions". You have been supporting Christoph in his work as a digital agent since January. What are your tasks?

Felix Blumenstein: I support Christoph as an external sparring partner with my background knowledge and practical experience from similar projects. My main task is to make sure that we keep an eye on the individual starting situations of the schools and our objectives. In our work, I also point out typical stumbling blocks. This is how I help Christoph to drive forward the digital transformation of schools.

How do you go about supporting schools on their path to digitalization?

Christoph: Our first three starting schools have currently been identified on the basis of various criteria and recruited for the project. I will now use key question interviews to get an overview of the challenges, successes and attitudes towards digitalization. As not only the technology but also the software used has an enormous impact on the process in the schools, I am constantly monitoring current developments.

Together with experts from the "Thuringian Institute for Teacher Training, Curriculum Development and Media" (ThILLM), we will develop special training courses for teachers in the near future. These will show how to use digital whiteboards effectively in the classroom - in a way that promotes student learning according to the latest research.

In order to better support schools, we will continuously work on identifying and integrating resources in the school environment (e.g. local offers, cooperations or experts). Networking plays a central role in this.

Felix: The good thing is that schools that are now embarking on digitalization are not the first - we now know which solutions and concepts have proven successful in supporting teachers digitally in their day-to-day work. It's not about always using the latest technologies or extensively equipping every school with tablets and artificial intelligence (AI). It is much more important to rethink working in a digital environment - in a more collaborative, sustainable and long-term way. This change also requires a change in attitude. The willingness to do this cannot be forced overnight, but must grow individually. Our task is to accompany and support this process in the best possible way.

What do you think are the biggest challenges in the digitalization of schools?

Christoph: One particular challenge was selecting the starting schools, as almost all of the shortlisted schools expressed a strong interest in receiving support from the digital agent. Of course, the teachers also need time to familiarize themselves with the topic. The workload is very high at all schools. Nevertheless, it is only possible to set out and tackle the topic in a structured way by going above and beyond the day-to-day tasks on site.

Felix: I can only agree with that. In my view, the biggest challenge of digitalization is that switching from analogue to digital processes often initially means additional effort without the added value being immediately apparent. Digitalization alone does not automatically improve a process - it only transfers it to digital at first. For teachers, who already have to deal with a large number of tasks on a daily basis, this additional effort can quickly become the knock-out criterion.

It is therefore important to make the pure digitalization process as lean as possible and quickly move into the area of digital transformation. The aim here is to develop working methods that make targeted use of the strengths of digital technologies in order to save time, work more efficiently and actually reduce the workload for teachers. Of course, this will initially require a certain amount of additional work, but we can already draw on existing experience and proven approaches.

What positive experiences have you had so far?

Christoph: From my point of view, the first three months have been very positive! They have shown me that switching to the Smart City project in my role as a digital agent was exactly the right decision. I'm highly motivated to work with the teachers and the school authorities to use digital media to provide a good education.

It's great to see what schools can achieve when everyone pulls together. There are many educators who want to change things for the benefit of the children and are meeting the demands of today's world with good ideas and commitment. In my opinion, the topic of AI will change a lot of things. It has arrived in schools and everyone is aware that they can no longer close their eyes to it.

What is your long-term goal for the digitalization of schools in Jena?

Felix: When we talk about long-term goals, my focus is on ensuring that students are happier and more successful in learning the things that prepare them for life. If we manage to take students' individual starting points into account and create learning opportunities tailored to them, we significantly increase the likelihood of achieving this goal. I am convinced that we can hardly achieve this level of individualization comprehensively with traditional, analogue methods. Digital technologies open up completely different possibilities here. This is precisely why I see digitalization as an indispensable part of modern education - not as an end in itself, but as a tool to enable sustainable and effective learning experiences.

Christoph: To achieve this, however, the role of teachers must also evolve: Teachers need to see themselves as learners in order to best support students on their educational journey. In doing so, they should no longer see digital tools and technologies as an additional task, but as an enrichment for their everyday school and teaching life.

For me, a "smart school" doesn't just mean the comprehensive use of digital possibilities. It is also characterized by the fact that it can react flexibly to challenges and sees itself as a learning community. Teachers, students, parents and all other stakeholders work closely together to put this concept into practice in everyday school life.

How do these goals fit into the overarching Smart City project, which supports and finances the digital agent's activities as a sub-measure?

Christoph: The digital agent specifically implements all the defined goals of the Smart City project: To promote participation and self-determination by developing tailor-made offers that strengthen the digital skills of teachers, children and parents. A well-structured and well thought-out approach is required to ensure that this development can be driven forward professionally. Digitalization will become tangible and meaningful if everyone involved in the school system benefits from it in the long term. Its promotion must be seen as an indispensable necessity - it is not a "nice to have", but a "must have" in order to make teaching fit for the future and optimally prepare pupils for the challenges of the digital world.

- a measure of the Jena Smart City project - The project belongs to Field of action 3 (education, culture and social affairs) and is Media center of the Jena school administration, which was also involved in the joint development of the idea.

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