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| Trendsetting approaches to learning: didacta 2015 How will we teach and learn in the future? Which concepts and tools will support the learning process? And what does the future hold for members of the teaching profession? Educators are facing major challenges – challenges which call for new approaches. didacta 2015 in Hannover, Germany – the world's largest and most prominent education fair – will bring together experts, enterprises and institutions, open up new perspectives and examine key issues – for example, inclusion, university entrance after 12 school years and extended school opening hours. "Life-long learning is the backbone of our modern society. Optimum education concepts are in high demand in all sectors, " emphasizes Dr. Jochen Köckler, Member of the Managing Board of Deutsche Messe. "From 24 to 28 February, didacta 2015 will open up wide-ranging opportunities." Digital media teaching "didacta will take a critical look at how digital media are finding their way into teaching and learning, for example by means of tablets, and what impact they are having or can have, " explains Reinhard Koslitz, Managing Director of the Didacta Association in Darmstadt. According to a recent survey by the Allensbach Institute, 35 percent of primary school teachers and 46 percent of secondary school teachers favour the use of digital media. "Deploying technology in the classroom hinges on having a complex set of conditions in place first. didacta 2015 will shed a lot of light on everything involved." Wilmar Diepgrond, Chairman of the Educational Media Association, Frankfurt/Main, emphasizes the ongoing development of teaching materials and underscores the role of didacta as an event to enlighten educators: "didacta is the leading event for the education sector. School teachers and instructors can gather information about analogue and digital products and discover how these can be made part of classroom teaching. Teaching staff should take this opportunity to enter into dialogue with educational publishers about the latest didactic innovations and trends. With its extensive line-up of talks, workshops and political debates, didacta is also unparalleled when it comes to educating the educators." Vocational training and qualification now united in a single exhibition hall Occupying five exhibition halls and the Convention Center, didacta 2015 will provide an unrivalled platform for institutions and enterprises in the education sector. The exhibition is divided into five categories: Early Childhood Education, School/University, New Technologies, Vocational Training/Qualification, Ministries/Institutions/Organizations. Vocational training and qualification will figure prominently at didacta 2015. For the first time vocational teachers and instructors will be able to view all the relevant products and media resources in a single hall (Hall 15). Rich program of events and top-notch forums "Next year, a total of over 800 exhibitors from Germany and abroad will participating in the show, " predicts Dr. Köckler. didacta is a also a visitor magnet, with more than 80, 000 expected to attend in 2015, drawn not only by the many innovations on exhibit, but also by the numerous value-adding forums on offer (e.g. "didacta aktuell" and the Education Forum) and the extensive supporting program organized by Deutsche Messe in cooperation with the Didacta Association, Darmstadt, and the Educational Media Association, Frankfurt/Main. The program includes various seminars devoted to early childhood education, as well as the UNESCO Day and the appointment of the Educational Ambassadors. Inclusion a major topic at didacta 2015 Inclusion is one of today's hottest topics. The aim is put an end to the exclusion of special-needs pupils from mainstream education. Under the terms of the UN Disability Rights Convention, inclusion is a basic human right. 153 countries, including Germany, have already signed this convention. On the one hand, the inclusion goals have been clearly formulated. On the other hand, implementing inclusion puts great pressure on educators. didacta 2015 will focus on this issue and show (for example) how mainstream schools can deploy inclusive teaching methods tailored to the needs of children with disabilities. "The provision of the necessary learning resources is a matter being faced by parents, therapists and educators, alike, " explains Christiana Hennemann from the international rehabilitation network rehaKIND. "Above all, teachers at mainstream schools face a new set of challenges with regard to pupils with special needs. Teachers are under pressure to acquire knowledge and skills which go beyond their traditional expertise." didacta 2015 will pool the knowledge and experience of therapists, medical professionals, manufacturers and retailers in order to inform parents, teachers and other educators about disabilities and the best didactic solutions. "The funding of learning resources and integration assistants still has to be resolved, " says Christiana Hennemann. "This is where rehaKIND comes into play. At 2 p.m. on each day at didacta we will be organizing discussions with pupils and experts. And at the rehaKIND stand we will be presenting various teaching materials which visitors can try out for themselves." write your comments about the article :: © 2015 Exhibition News :: home page |