Impressions from #LEARNTEC

The last 2 days I spent at LEARNTEC - apparently Europe's #1 in digital learning! The fair claims to be Europe's largest event for #digitaleducation, with over 10.000 visitors and around 300 exhibitors. It was my first time at #Learntec, it was great, I am exhausted, a lot of people asked me about it and so I just want to share a few brief impressions 🚀😎.

At LEARNTEC is really A LOT going on - #gamification #blendedlearning #virtualclassrooms #virtualreality #mixedreality #webinars new #platformideas and #tools. You will find all the big players, but also smaller companies and start ups. The fair also offers different areas for #companies, #schools and #universities. Additionally, there are a lot of talks going on - at the different booths and also in special dedicated areas. So much to see, hear and do - impossible to do it in two or even three days.

Not a lot of time to relax ;) There were so many new things to try and see, everyone was super approachable, friendly and also happy to give a demo - very fun and relaxed atmosphere, we laughed a lot and also had critical talks about necessity and applicability of the technologies.

My personal highlight was trying mixed reality and 'experiencing' an educational project conducted with the BVG (Berlin).

With the VR/Mixed reality experts we had loads of interesting and deep discussions about applicability and fear - today was a good day to also overcome some of my fears, but the conclusion was:

People and how we can better take them on (sustainable and useful) e-learning journeys was definitely the centre of a lot of discussions.

Further, I finally met the Roberta Roboter!

Very cool and fun lego roboter that teaches kids (and adults) some basic coding skills in a playful manner.

Downside - even though this conference has the digital focus, we still live in an analog world, which we need to protect more. Sustainability did not play a great role at this fair - too much (unnecessary?) paper and collateral (like at most fairs!?), plastic cups etc. - #Paperless? Could also not find e.g. a lot of QR Codes. Also the offered food was very basic and simple (frozen) - better bring your sandwiches and reusable cups :)

And (of course?) - so embarrassing and terrible: The internet did not work or was very slow and terrible in most parts of the fair! Europe's #1 in digital learning without proper network! How embarrassing - it is still not possible to provide the proper infrastructure for such an event in Germany?! Showing the latest tech tools without network was of course very frustrating at many points (for exhibitors and visitors).

On the upside - networking, booth parties with craft beer and connecting with a lot of like-minded people was given for sure :) (analog world...)

All in all - great two days, next time I will come back with more time to listen to more talks and have time to connect with more people. If you want to get a good overview of the latest e-learning trends, try out new products and get fresh insights - come to LEARNTEC. Thanks again for the invitation @SAP!