New Technology for Learning and Skill Transfer
1. Information
Member Universities Engaged
University | Key Contact Person | Department/Faculty |
Technische Universität Dresden | Ercan Altinsoy, Irene Valori, Merle Fairhurst, Giang Nguyen, Shu-Chen Li | Chair of Acoustics and Haptics, CeTI, Haptic Communication Systems, Chair of Lifespan Developmental Neuroscience |
CY Cergy Paris Université | Sophie Sakka, Muriel Epstein | Robotics / Engineering Sciences, Digital learning environments / teacher education |
Vrije Universiteit Brussel | Heidi Ottevaere, Jolan Kegelaers, Bram Vanderborght, Nikos Deligiannis, Martijn Van Heel | Faculty of Engineering, Applied Physics and Photonics, Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, Health Psychology, Robotics, Artificial Intelligence / Data Science |
University of Gothenburg | Chiao-I Tseng, Kerstin Persson Waye | Multimodal communication and audiovisual analysis, Acoustics and health |
Thematic Focus
New technologies in teaching, learning and applied skill transfer across disciplines, with a focus on haptics, robotics, acoustics, multimodal interaction and future-oriented learning environments.
Key Information
- Date of Creation: 2023
- Status: Active
- Primary Lanague(s): English
- Academic Staff: 13
Leadership & Coordination
CC Coordinator(s): Ercan Altinsoy, Professor, Technische Universität Dresden
2. Our Story
Origins & Development
This Connected Community began with a concrete idea between Sophie Sakka and Ercan Altinsoy to develop a joint international Master’s programme. The intention was not to replicate existing structures, but to create a setting in which students could learn together across universities.
From this starting point, a collaboration gradually took shape. Initial meetings were held online. Teaching staff from different disciplines began to develop joint formats and bring their perspectives into a shared space.
This collaboration moved beyond digital exchange and became tangible in formats such as the EUTOPIA Dresden International Summer School on Haptics and Cognitive Robotics for Social Inclusion. Researchers and lecturers from different fields worked side by side. Teaching and research did not run in parallel, but directly interacted.
Where We Are Today
The community brings together disciplines that do not naturally overlap. Engineers, electrical engineers, psychologists, linguists, roboticists and acousticians work within the same framework.
These perspectives do not merge automatically. They remain distinct, and that distinction creates productive tension. The work lies in connecting these perspectives without reducing them.
Students are trained within their own field, but are continuously exposed to other ways of thinking and working. Disciplinary boundaries remain present, but no longer fixed.
Our Ambitions & Future Directions
The central question remains how knowledge becomes applicable skills. Access to information alone is not sufficient. What matters are the conditions under which knowledge can be translated into practice.
Future work focuses on embedding this process more strongly within teaching formats. The development of joint study programmes remains a long-term objective, but depends on aligned institutional structures and stable funding conditions.
At the same time, the community continues to build formats that allow disciplines to meet, test ideas and work together. The goal is not expansion, but continuity in collaboration.
3. What We’ve Accomplished Together
The collaboration became most visible in the Summer School format. During the EUTOPIA Dresden International Summer School on Haptics and Cognitive Robotics for Social Inclusion, participants from different disciplines worked intensively together over several days.
The format went beyond conventional academic structures. In addition to keynote lectures and presentations, participants engaged in workshops, lab sessions and collaborative discussions. Topics ranged from haptic interfaces and robotics to perception, interaction and applications in social contexts.
The focus was on joint work. In interdisciplinary groups, participants developed approaches that combined technical, psychological and design perspectives. Outcomes were not limited to presentations. They included practical implementations, experiments and collaborative musical results emerging from the working process.
At the same time, the collaboration did not remain within the format itself. Work developed in this context was continued and transferred into teaching. Research ideas were not isolated outcomes, but became part of ongoing academic work across institutions.
The exchange between participants from different contexts created a space in which perspectives were not only shared, but actively challenged and extended.
4. The Impact We’re Making
The work of the community made visible that access to knowledge does not automatically lead to the ability to apply it. Skill transfer requires situations in which knowledge is actively used, tested and adapted.
The Summer School created such situations. Participants did not remain within their disciplinary boundaries. They engaged with different perspectives, methods and ways of thinking.
This led to a shift in how participants approached their own work. It became clear that many challenges cannot be addressed within a single discipline. Understanding how other fields operate became part of the learning process.
Ercan Altinsoy emphasised that this is where the value of the community lies. The collaboration worked because there was genuine interest from the beginning. Formats such as the Summer School demonstrated that teaching and research can be directly connected and that interdisciplinary collaboration can be realised in practice.
The continuation of projects beyond individual activities showed that collaboration does not end with the format itself. Research and teaching became linked across institutions, and ideas developed further over time.
At the same time, one challenge remains central: developing a shared language and a shared way of working across disciplines. This is not a side effect, but a necessary condition for sustainable collaboration.
Looking ahead, the work points towards forms of learning in which disciplinary expertise remains important, but is no longer sufficient on its own. The ability to connect fields, adapt knowledge and work across contexts becomes increasingly relevant. This is where skill transfer continues to develop.
5. Voices from the Community
Ercan Altinsoy, Technische Universität Dresden:
“The collaboration worked, and the interest was there from the beginning. The Summer School in particular showed what is possible when disciplines come together. Teaching and research were directly connected, and real interdisciplinary work took place. At the same time, it became clear that we still need to develop a shared language and a shared way of working.”
Chiao-I Tseng, University of Gothenburg:
“I was able to connect different research domains, linking multimodal communication with learning and audiovisual analysis. A joint project continued beyond the initial collaboration and was integrated into my teaching.”
Irene Valori, Technische Universität Dresden:
“The community creates a space for collaboration across institutions and disciplines. The exchange with students and colleagues from different contexts opens new perspectives and changes how learning is experienced.”
What to expect: Participation means working across disciplines and institutions. Community members develop teaching formats, contribute to Summer Schools and workshops, and exchange ideas through research-led, practice-oriented collaboration. The engagement is shaped by active contribution rather than passive attendance.