TUM Learning Festival: Year of Learning celebrates success

A successful year of learning is coming to an end: The TUM Learning Festival of the TUM Institute for Lifelong Learning in 2021 provided participants with a wealth of knowledge – with a sustainable challenge, exciting panels, forums and digital and hybrid events as well as exclusive discussion rounds that aroused keen interest. 2022 continues – with new learning ideas…

Learning is our chance to shape the future – and for a lifetime. But in which areas is lifelong learning particularly important? What can we learn from successful leaders? How can you integrate learning into your everyday life and what are particularly good methods to absorb new knowledge? The Learning Festival of the TUM Institute for LifeLong Learning at the Technical University of Munich 2021 provided a wealth of answers to these questions in its hybrid and digital events as well as additional offers. At the end of the year, we can look back on a successful Learning Festival, which also accompanied the first year of the TUM Institute for LifeLong Learning since its foundation.

Achieving new goals with the TUM Learning Challenge

Trying something new and learning what you’ve always wanted – it often takes the right impetus. More than 100 enthusiastic participants received it through the TUM Learning Challenge 2021, which helped them to achieve their goals. The TUM Learning Experts, led by PD Dr. Kristin Knipfer, Executive Director of the TUM Institute for Lifelong Learning, supported the learners with helpful “learning nuggets” and tips by email. For example, the experts explained how important it is to set a measurable, attractive and achievable goal instead of reaching too high with a ‘noble idea’. The Learning Nuggets supported the participants in making their own learning process meaningful and in dealing with obstacles or setbacks. All tips can be found on the  Learning Challenge page.

Exciting panels with helpful knowledge

Which EdTech innovations (Educational Technologies) are already being successfully used in practice and where is the journey going? Thomas Münch, responsible for Digital Innovations & Leadership at the TUM Institute for Lifelong Learning, discussed this with the participants of the first EdTech panel. For example, it was about how employees use a coaching app to consistently and daily train new behaviors comparable to top athletes in everyday life in order to significantly increase learning success in the long run.

Seeing learning as a welcome change and living the “New Normal” – how this can work was discussed by HR managers at the digital panel “Learning for Digital Transformation” on the occasion of the Personnel Management Congress 2021, moderated by Claudia Paul-Helten, Director Networking at the Technical University of Munich (TUM). This “new normal” also means that the productivity time of humans is extended by the longer working life, explained the economist Professor Dr. Helmut Krcmar, Founding Dean and Representative of the President of the TUM Campus Heilbronn in his keynote speech. In this situation, it is important to use the possibilities of digital transformation, to try out new things again and again and to enjoy the practice of self-transformation.

At the Summer of Purpose in creative dialogue

Prof. Dr. Claudia Peus, Founding Director of the TUM Institute for LifeLong Learning, at the Summer of Purpose 2021

At the hybrid Summer of Purpose 2021, the TUM Institute for Lifelong Learning participated in a creative dialogue to solve global challenges of our time. It was about finding new, sustainable ways of doing business and ways out of the global crisis. To this end, not only people are to be networked, but also forces are to be pooled and initiatives coordinated: by 2025, a strong community is to be created that will drive the transformation of regeneration in a wide variety of interaction formats and design spaces. Prof. Dr. Claudia Peus took part in this and participated in panel discussions with Victoria Ossadnik, Board Member of E.ON SE or Prof. Dr. Dieter Frey, Head of Center for Leadership & People Management.

“Learning from Leaders” – when leaders provide insights

Dr. Reinhard Ploss, CEO of Infineon Technologies

In the digital event series “Learning from Leaders”, successful managers shared their experiences with leadership approaches in the digital age. Prof. Dr. Claudia Peus, the founding Director of the TUM Institute for Lifelong Learning, welcomed illustrious interlocutors: Harald Krüger, who is active as a member of the Supervisory Board of Deutsche Telekom AG and Deutsche Lufthansa AG, talked to her about the importance of values in difficult times.

Petra Scharner-Wolff, CEO of the Otto Group, dealt with how managers can respond to the needs of employees in the digital age. The importance of thinking ahead, staying curious and anticipating new technologies for yourself and your company became clear in the third episode. Dr. Reinhard Ploss, CEO of semiconductor manufacturer Infineon Technologies, discussed the importance of technology in the context of leadership and lifelong learning.

Stay tuned to see how things will continue in 2022! The TUM Institute for Lifelong Learning will keep you up to date on current developments and innovations that will advance your very personal learning process – and of course about a Learning Festival in 2022.