Also involved: Aalen University and the Leibniz Information Center for Science and Technology in Hanover. The aim of the project is to promote so-called boundary management skills - skills for self-regulation, action control and decision-making - in pupils from secondary school level I onwards. Based on competence-oriented teaching and learning formats, a training course will be developed, tested and scientifically evaluated. The training will then be embedded and used in lessons and made publicly available. In this way, it can benefit as many children and young people as possible.
In times when smartphones and tablets are used equally for schoolwork, leisure activities, in the family or with friends, the boundaries between different areas of life are becoming increasingly blurred. This not only applies to children and young people, but also continues into adulthood. Here, an increasingly digitalized (working) world requires the successful navigation of different roles, tasks and areas of life through the competent use of digital media. This makes it all the more important for young people to learn how to consciously structure their digital living and learning environments. This is precisely where "DigiBound" comes in.
After an intensive period of preparation, "DigiBound" was jointly launched on April 1, 2025. The project draws on expertise from the fields of psychology, IT didactics, media didactics and video production. Prof. Dr. Karsten Müller from Osnabrück University is responsible for the overall coordination of the project and, together with his team, contributes expertise in the fields of work and organizational psychology as well as educational psychology in the context of digital learning. Prof. Dr. Michael Brinkmeier from the Department of Computer Science Didactics at Osnabrück University and the Department of Business Psychology at Aalen University , which is responsible for assessing the needs of students and helping to design the content of the training, are also involved in the project. The network is rounded off by the expertise of the Technical Information Library (TIB - Leibniz Information Centre for Science and Technology) in Hanover with regard to the media didactic implementation of the training and the production of digital learning formats.
"Preparing children and young people for a digitalized working world is an important concern for us in order to strengthen the generation of tomorrow for dealing with the diverse demands from different areas of life," says Prof. Müller. "The self-determined use of digital media and their conscious use to manage these demands are an important resource for strengthening resilience and mental health," continues Müller.
To ensure that the content developed reaches as many children and young people as possible, "DigiBound" is relying on a broad communication strategy: in addition to traditional handouts, digital roadshows, social media content and other innovative formats are planned. The aim is to involve and empower not only pupils, but also teachers, school authorities and parents/guardians.
Further information about the project on the website and on LinkedIn
Further information for the media:
B.Sc. Lena Haasken
Research assistant DigiBound project
Institute of Computer Science / Didactics of Computer Science working group
lena.haasken@uni-osnabrueck.de
