Education: The day after tomorrow
Project Description
This research network aims to design, develop and promote innovative theories, methods and practices in 21st century education.
Education has always been about the future. It has always been transgressive, in one way or another. In this series of projects, Aarhus University scholars are building bridges between computer science, user experience ethnography, digital design, and pedagogy to explore new models for fostering students’ technological imagination, innovation, and agency in 21st century educational contexts. Using action research, design experiments, grounded theory methods and ethnography, we explore and experiment with various theoretical and applied models for transforming teaching and learning practices.
One of our main projects is a longitudinal study of how Blackboard Learning Management System has been implemented and integrated into the educational culture at Aarhus. This is led by Annette Markham and includes a team of student researchers from the MA programme in Digital Living. Learn more here:
Another set of projects combine playful practice, co-co-creation, and critical pedagogy. Most of our current projects are aimed at youth learning, affiliated with CounterPlay Aarhus, Coding Pirates AU, PlayTechSpace, House of Game // Play, and the Master’s degree programme in ICT-based educational design.
Primary Researchers

Rikke Toft Nørgård
Associate Professor
Educational Design & Technology
Aarhus University, Denmark

Annette Markham
Professor MSO
Information Studies
Aarhus University, Denmark
Project Posts
Critical Pedagogy as tool for data literacy
Here, I suggest that we (anti-big-data-scholars) should stop simply rejecting the concept of data. Instead, we should use our long training in pedagogy and teaching and our knowledge of interpretive and inductive/emergent methods of analysis to create better literacies about what data can mean.
a short riff on turning processes into products
In this post, Dr. Margie Borschke riffs on the question of “Can you turn your process into product?”, a question she uses to provoke journalism students to extend their imagination about what counts.
“Clip, Move, Adjust”: Video Editing as Reflexive Rhythmanalysis in Networked Publics
This blogpost focuses on the methodological challenges of studying the dynamics of technologically and computationally mediated publics, especially regarding young people’s experiences.
The Playful Educator
Open-ended education emerges when we combine play with serious challenges. This idea is more gameful than gamification.
Sarah Pink on Applied Research as Pedagogical Model
We asked two of the professors, Annette Markham and Sarah Pink, to talk about the design strategies they used to build such a challenging, creative, and fun learning environment. In this video clip, Sarah Pink talks about the value of developing pedagogical models that highlight collaboration and co-creation.
Open-ended education
Open-ended education for 21st century learning is the coming together of open-ended technology, open-ended projects, and open-ended institutions in ways that foster and promote future education for citizenship in society.