The face behind this blog

A Glimpse Into my Life: Germany - Sweden - USA - Back in Germany

Born and raised in Germany, and first-generation student, I studied social sciences with a focus on technology and received my M.Sc. degree in 1997 (Diplom-Sozialwiss. Wuppertal University, Germany). My parents didn't get the chance to study. I grew up in a working-class family (Arbeiterkind). There was no academic background in my family.

After finishing the social science program at the University of Wuppertal, I wanted to see the world outside the academic part, and decided to work as consultant in different organizations such as Prognos (Cologne), MediaCom (Düsseldorf) and Krups Consultants (Dusseldorf)  from 1998 to 2001.

From 2001 to 2005, I was a doctoral student, research assistant and university teacher in "Informatics and Society" (TU Dortmund university, Germany). My research work was partly funded by the Hans-Böckler-Stiftung (HBS). I received my Ph.D. degree (Dr. phil.) in 2005. I conducted an interdisciplinary study of the dynamics of social roles in higher education in (online) learning communities. The study bridges informatics, sociology and education.

During my post-doc years at the Ruhr-Universität Bochum (IAW-IMTM department), I also visited the University of Colorado at Boulder, USA in 2007.

From 2008-2011, I was Assistant Professor (Juniorprofessorin) at the Hochschuldidaktik-Center, HDZ, TU Dortmund.

From 2011 to 2015, I was Professor at Umeå University in Sweden at the Department of Applied Educational Science. I was scientific leader of the research group "ICTML:Digital Didactics", we focused on tablet classrooms and studied the use of tablets in schools from the lens of the Scandinavian and German Didaktik approaches. Here, I developed the DDD-model (e.g., Jahnke et al., 2017, Jahnke, 2016) that is an sociotechnical-pedagogical model to research technology use from an intergrated lens of technologoical, pedagogical and social dimensions.

During that time, I also visited the University of Florida in 2012 - the Educational Technology program.

In 2014, I was general co-chair, w/ Sean Goggins, of the International conference ACM GROUP 2014 which took place in November 2014 in Florida/USA. The conference topics cover group work, information systems, sociotechnical design, and more. Now, I serve as a member of the GROUP Steering Committee: 2018-active, and I am accessibility co-chair (2020 and 2022). Currently, I am also member of the ACM SIGCHI conferences board.

From 2015 to 2021, I got the fantastic opportunity to join the University of Missouri-Columbia. I did deepen my research and teaching as a professor of learning design & technologies and was director of the Information Experience Lab. During those years, I started to use the DDD framework - Digital Didactical Designs (published with Routledge in 2015) in my teaching and for teachers' professional development: it is now a tool for students in teacher education and teachers that helps to integrate technology in schools toward digital, active learning.

Now, since July 2021, I am back in Germany as Professor in the College of Education and Social Sciences. The University of Muenster offered me great lab options so that I can build the Digital LEAD Lab -- a research lab for digital Learning Experience & Active Design.

However, this wasn't the end of my journey. I got 4 full professorship offers in 2021 and the luxury to make new decisions. I am thrilled to announce that I accepted the TU Nürnberg offer. Now since January 2022, I am Founding Vice President for digital learning and Full Professor of information science and learning technologies. The  University of Technology Nuremberg (TU Nürnberg) is a new university, just founded in January 2021 . No buildings exist yet, almost no structures or institutional boundaries: "A New Place of Study is Taking Shape - Interdisciplinary, international and digital". It is a 'once in a lifetime'  opportunity -  I am joining a team of excellent leaders developing a new university  with innovative and creative digital learning, evidence-based, of course. This is a great challenge - and I like challenges! You want to know, what we will create, build, innovate? Stay tuned. 

And then, there are my ~160 publications that include peer-reviewed journal articles, high-quality conferences proceedings, book chapters, books and more. I have given several keynote speeches and I hope that many more will come.

See you online!
:-)