At Bertelsmann Unter den Linden in Berlin, around 30 students, teachers, school principals, and young digital mentors gathered at the end of February for the closing event of the project “Voneinander Lernen!” to reflect on the past months, present project results, and discuss future perspectives. The project was initiated by Bertelsmann Stiftung founder Liz Mohn and Germany’s First Lady Elke Büdenbender, who both attended to see the individual projects that had emerged from the initiative first-hand.
The pilot project “Voneinander Lernen!” aims to strengthen teachers’ digital skills through mentoring. At its core is direct exchange between experienced educators and young digital experts – an approach that enables mutual learning. In recent months, various projects were developed at secondary schools in Gütersloh, Rostock, Berlin, and Nuremberg/Ingolstadt under the guidance of volunteer digital experts. Participants presented these projects and discussed them with the two initiators during the event.
In her welcome address, Liz Mohn emphasized the importance of dialogue, meeting one another as equals, openness, and curiosity in driving innovation and change. During the subsequent interactive “walk-around,” participants presented their results at a series of themed stations.
Making learning visible: project stations with practical focus
The “walk-around” offered impressive insights into the diversity and creativity of the individual projects developed through the initiative. The stations demonstrated how young people take responsibility, expand their digital skills, and reflect on social issues.
At the station “Kurzgeschichte durch die Linse” (“Short story through the lens”), participants presented a digital photo story created using Canva. The project combined creative media work with critical reflection on topics such as colonialism, raw materials, and prejudice in the digital world. The “Zukunftsschmiede in Wedding” (“Future lab in Wedding”) illustrated how schools can strengthen skills for the digital society. Students spoke about their experiences managing the school’s Instagram account while learning about the opportunities and risks of social media. Teachers also reported on AI training courses at their schools, which encouraged them to integrate digital media openly and meaningfully into their lessons.
Students also developed their own tutoring platform, the “Learnity platform” – by students for students. The project not only facilitated the sharing of subject knowledge but also promoted entrepreneurial thinking. Media literacy was the focus of the station “TikTok entlarven,” where participants developed a digital tool to verify the authenticity of news on TikTok using a fact-checking application.
Under the title “Aus Altem was Neues gestalten” (“Turning old into new”), students redesigned an existing website for booking a team house. The station “Brückenbauer – Voneinander Lernen!” (“Bridge builders – learning from one another”) highlighted the intergenerational dialogue that developed during the project. Participants shared their experiences of collaboration between younger and older generations.
Additional momentum came from projects such as “LaseThat. Zukunft wird gelasert” (“LaseThat. The future is laser-cut”), in which students established their own student company producing laser-cut wooden products, as well as the station “Schule kann mehr!,” where participants recorded a podcast on topics related to the project and the digital transformation of schools. Elke Büdenbender and Liz Mohn praised the diversity of the individual projects and used the “walk-around” to engage in in-depth discussions with students, teachers, and digital mentors.
A broad alliance for education and dialogue
The pilot project “Voneinander Lernen!” brought together the Ernst Schering School Berlin, the Evangelisch Stiftisches Gymnasium Gütersloh, the Don Bosco School Rostock, and the Gemeinnützige Gesellschaft für soziale Dienste Nuremberg/Ingolstadt. They were supported by young digital experts who provided guidance for implementing new digital projects at the schools. Collaboration across schools, regions, and professions was a central element of “Voneinander Lernen!” – in keeping with the spirit of vibrant, intergenerational dialogue.
“Voneinander Lernen!” created spaces in which teachers, students, school leaders, and digital experts could exchange ideas, test new approaches, and jointly develop new pathways for digital education. The official project phase concluded with the joint exchange in Berlin. What remains are new networks, strengthened partnerships, and numerous impulses for future-oriented education. In the spirit of the initiators, “Voneinander Lernen!” remains an example of how dialogue, trust, and shared commitment can sustainably strengthen education, as Elke Büdenbender emphasized in her closing remarks.
