Presentation outlining the research results from the Erasmus+ project Digital Social Impact. Key insights relate to the generation of social impact in a higher education context, leveraging digital technology.

1. Co-funded by the
Erasmus+ Programme
of the European Union
Dominik Lappenküper, Aleksandar Erceg
FH Münster University of Applied Sciences – Science-to-
Business Marketing Research Centre
Josip Juraj Strossmayer University of Osijek Faculty of
Economics
SOCIAL IMPACT THROUGH
DIGITAL TEACHING

2. education for the future
Co-funded by the
Erasmus+ Programme
of the European Union
• Higher education institutions (HEI) face new obstacles and
opportunities due to the shift to digital communication formats
during the pandemic (Cristofoletti & Pinheiro, 2022).
• This new form of interaction has and continues to impact all
three university missions: research, teaching, and engagement.
• Some HEIs focused first on the continuance of the first two while
deprioritizing the third at the pandemic's start (Marinoni et al.,
2020; Rusu, 2020).
• This neglects the continued calls for more engagement and
action based on higher education's civic responsibilities (Wakkee
et al., 2019).
• Question: How can lecturers approach social impact teaching
using digital formats?
Introduction
Research
Teaching
Engagement

3. education for the future
Co-funded by the
Erasmus+ Programme
of the European Union
• The project tries to tackle the challenges HEI lecturers face in embedding
social impact opportunities in their teaching and learning activities.
• The goal is to create a digital configurator that creates social impact
through customized teaching formats. The digital configurator suggests
custom-fit digital teaching formats, ultimately equipping lecturers to
foster their role as being socially engaged.
• Beyond this, the configured courses enable students to get involved in an
actual societal challenge beyond online lectures, thereby fostering
students’ entrepreneurial and social thinking and acting.
• This research was conducted as part of the project CSI: CustomDigiTeach,
co-funded by the Erasmus+ Programme of the European Union.
Digital Social Impact Project
Teaching
Engagement

4. education for the future
Co-funded by the
Erasmus+ Programme
of the European Union
• Map available digital teaching formats, which are currently delivered
by European HE lecturers, focusing on teaching formats, which aim
to create societal impact.
• The study provides a solid base for HE lecturers on designing digital
teaching formats, while aiming to create societal impact.
• The report presents 20 best practice cases, and a list of critical
success factors.
Aim of research

5. education for the future
Co-funded by the
Erasmus+ Programme
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Methodology
literature review of
social impact and
digital teaching
50 semi-structured
expert interviews
short pre-survey

6. education for the future
Co-funded by the
Erasmus+ Programme
of the European Union
Descriptive Sample Statistics
0
5
10
15
20
25
A2: Explorer B1: Integrator B2: Expert C1: Leader C2: Pioneer
Assistant Professor Lecturer without a PhD Full Professor
Junior Professor PhD PhD student
Other:
0 10 20 30 40
Problem-/Project-based Learning
Lectures
Seminars
Case-based Learning
ServiceLearning
Flipped Classroom Learning
Game-based Learning
Other
Frequency of different teaching methods
14
29
8
Completely virtual
Mixed (please indicate
the rough percentage
done virtually)
Completely in-presence

7. education for the future
Co-funded by the
Erasmus+ Programme
of the European Union
Course Development Statistics
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35
Presentation
Assignment
Written exam
Peer evaluation
Oralexam
Other
East West

8. education for the future
Co-funded by the
Erasmus+ Programme
of the European Union
Development Delivery Reflection
Process View to Social Impact Teaching
Lecturer Characteristics

9. education for the future
Co-funded by the
Erasmus+ Programme
of the European Union
Process View to Social Impact Teaching
Lecturer Characteristics
Development Delivery Reflection
• intrinsic motivation
• taking initiative
• teaching capabilities
• previous experience
• Skills: digital literacy, social skills, project management,
communication

10. education for the future
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Erasmus+ Programme
of the European Union
Process View to Social Impact Teaching
Lecturer Characteristics
Development Delivery Reflection
• Partner selection
• Funding and infrastructure
• Lecture-project fit
• Flexible design
• intrinsic motivation
• taking initiative
• teaching capabilities
• previous experience
• Skills: digital literacy, social skills, project management,
communication

11. education for the future
Co-funded by the
Erasmus+ Programme
of the European Union
Process View to Social Impact Teaching
Lecturer Characteristics
Development Delivery Reflection
• Kick off meeting
• Communication
• Ongoing reflection
• Project management
• Final presentation
• Partner selection
• Funding and infrastructure
• Lecture-project fit
• Flexible design
• intrinsic motivation
• taking initiative
• teaching capabilities
• previous experience
• Skills: digital literacy, social skills, project management,
communication

12. education for the future
Co-funded by the
Erasmus+ Programme
of the European Union
Process View to Social Impact Teaching
Lecturer Characteristics
• intrinsic motivation
• taking initiative
• teaching capabilities
• previous experience
• Skills: digital literacy, social skills, project management,
communication
Development Delivery Reflection
• Kick off meeting
• Communication
• Ongoing reflection
• Project management
• Final presentation
• Partner selection
• Funding and infrastructure
• Lecture-project fit
• Flexible design
• Active reflection with all
stakeholders
• Optimization of course and
selection of tools

13. education for the future
Co-funded by the
Erasmus+ Programme
of the European Union
• ability to continue teaching
• effective visualizations
• reach students that were not able to attend
class in person
• enhanced communication
Digital

14. education for the future
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Erasmus+ Programme
of the European Union
• ability to continue teaching
• effective visualizations
• reach students that were not able to attend
class in person
• enhanced communication
Digital
• limited personal interaction
• critical thinking impaired
• take longer to teach content
• Lower examination results
• less effective when working with big groups.
• loneliness and decreased motivation (result of social
distancing)

15. education for the future
Co-funded by the
Erasmus+ Programme
of the European Union
• ability to continue teaching
• effective visualizations
• reach students that were not able to attend
class in person
• enhanced communication
Digital
• teaching material in small separate units
• trying out different approaches and tools
• selection of suitable digital tools while focusing on a small selection
• review and adapt the course during and after the first run
• limited personal interaction
• critical thinking impaired
• take longer to teach content
• Lower examination results
• less effective when working with big groups.
• loneliness and decreased motivation (result of social
distancing)

16. education for the future
Co-funded by the
Erasmus+ Programme
of the European Union
• The empirical results confirm many of the established good practices for service
learning and digital teaching in general while revealing specific insights for the
combination of both.
• They can help new and experienced service-learning educators design their learning
experiences for students.
• Also, they might lead to improved relationships between social organisations such as
NGOs and HEIs by improving the implementation and outcome of joint work.
Discussion

17. education for the future
Co-funded by the
Erasmus+ Programme
of the European Union
• The digital environment is here to stay.
• Even though many universities have returned to predominantly teaching in presence,
lecturers, students, and social organisations have gained experience in communicating and
working remotely through digital formats.
• This can open up new opportunities for universities to go beyond regional limitations and
establish connections away from their immediate surroundings.
• It also enables quick face-to-face communication and eases sharing of data and files.
• Lecturers looking to create social impact through their teaching can benefit from this
development but should be aware of the different requirements it entails.
• Especially for lecturers newly starting with such formats, the study shows the value of seeing
the first implementation as a pilot, both the service-learning aspect and the digital tools, with
continuous improvement cycles after each iteration.
Conclusion

18. education for the future
Co-funded by the
Erasmus+ Programme
of the European Union
1. investigate the shorter and longer implementations in more depth
2. broaden the geographical scope to control for potential differences or similarities in
the approach and to find further best practices
3. longitudinal study could periodically revisit the identified cases to identify how the
recommended continuous improvement cycles were handled
Future research opportunitites

19. education for the future
Co-funded by the
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of the European Union
Further information
Configurator
Audit including
20 best practice cases
Pre-configured sets of tools
and activities
dominik.lappenkueper@fh-muenster.de

20. education for the future
Co-funded by the
Erasmus+ Programme
of the European Union
• Cristofoletti, E. C., & Pinheiro, R. (2022). Taking stock: The impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on
University–Community engagement. Industry and Higher Education, 095042222211199.
https://doi.org/10.1177/09504222221119927
• Marinoni, G., van't Land, H., & Jensen, T. (2020). The Impact of Covid-19 on Higher Education Around
the World.
• Wakkee, I., van der Sijde, P., Vaupell, C., & Ghuman, K. (2019). The university's role in sustainable
development: Activating entrepreneurial scholars as agents of change. Technological Forecasting and
Social Change, 141, 195–205. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.techfore.2018.10.013
References