A trip to the educational avant-garde

Anke Käding, Head of the Deutsche Schule Medellín, was in Germany. We share a summary of her trip and the benefits of this visit for the school. During the first months of the year, our Head had the opportunity to visit Germany on a trip of encounters based on cooperation and alliances. "The idea was to look for innovations and best practices to enrich the learning process," said the Head. The main objective was to attend the annual meeting of German school Heads, an event organised by the ZfA in which educational leaders from German schools abroad participate. "For three days, I had the opportunity to align with colleagues, address common concerns and update ourselves on the latest trends in education. These meetings were especially enriching, providing a space for the exchange of ideas and collaboration on a global level," she said.

Didacta Fair.

Subsequently she visited Didacta, a renowned educational fair which on this occasion, stood out for presenting the latest technological innovations in the classroom, from avatars that allow remote participation of students to robots that complement face-to-face teaching. In addition, our Head attended talks and presentations on artificial intelligence and differentiated teaching practices. "I was able to interact with influential people from governmental and academic institutions, as well as education professionals," she said.

Interinstitutional cooperation.

The trip also included visits to the Studienseminar Hameln, an official institution for the training of official teachers at a post-graduate level. Thanks to this, several of the DSM teachers will be able to travel to Germany to receive training, improve their language skills and gain a better understanding of the German educational system. A visit was also made to Integrierte Gesamtschule Hameln and Internat Solling. The former is a public school, with which alliances will be established to carry out virtual conversation exchanges and receive students from the school who are doing the Klasse 10 exchange programme. "In addition, I was able to see how Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) are used through tablets in the classroom. This was a great reference for the pilot plan that we will implement in 2025 with Klasse 9, when we will start using these devices in the classroom". On one side, Internat Solling is a boarding school and the objective was to get to know it closely: "There are several of our families who have been interested in this model for the Klasse 10 trip, so we want to establish a partnership that is positive for our students". This trip allowed for an immersion in the latest didactic technologies, both at Didacta and at the institutions visited. "The new insights and alliances established allow us to perceive a horizon of interinstitutional collaboration that will further enrich the learning process of our students", concludes Mrs. Käding.