Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

  The proposed Educathon schedule presented in this Toolkit does not work for me – can I change it?

Yes, of course! This toolkit only wants to equip you with the basic material & knowledge for organizing an Educathon. You can use it as it is but you may want to add or change things according to your Educathon needs!

  What if we have too few participants?

That means there will simply be less pitches – which is not a bad thing, and might leave more room/time for idea development before and after the pitches (see also “Results & Impact” for ideas). With learners who do not need a lot of supervision, you could also consider having teams consisting of just 2-3 people.

  Do we really need facilitators?

In most contexts and groups: Yes, because the host would be easily overwhelmed with hosting and facilitating and looking after all the different teams. In case of established learning groups, however, such as school classes or university seminars, the teacher could consider being host and facilitator at the same time.

  Can I invite experts?

Experts would of course be a great addition to an Educathon: Either at the very beginning of phase 1 (WHY?) to provide an input on the topic, or at the very end of the Educathon, after the pitches and/or as part of the jury.

  What if no good ideas emerge?

That is most unlikely – and also depends on what “good” means for you. Following the mindset and workflow of the Educathon, every team will come up with the idea/solution they find most suitable for their chosen challenge/question. Therefore, identifying challenges and defining a question (during phase 1 “WHY?”) is probably the most important component of the Educathon.

  What does an Educathon cost?

Apart from a few printouts (and assuming you can provide a room): Nothing. 🙂

  Can participants use Artificial Intelligence (AI), such as e.g. ChatGPT?

Due to the inherently creative nature of the Educathon, which is based on the participants’ own ideas, we strongly recommend refraining from using AI for idea generation (i.e., in the “HOW?” phase). In the WHAT? phase, AI can be used to refine pitches; however, we would also recommend first attempting to draft the texts without the help of ChatGPT or similar tools.

Literatur

• Wikipedia: Digitale Kompetenz. Online verfügbar unter: https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digitale_Kompetenz. Letzter Abruf: 25.02.2025.