StudioLab: Teaching Digital Agency Business
Netural took part in Life Radio´s “StudioLab” project, opening its office doors to introduce eight whole school classes to the world of digital business. On July 3rd we celebrated the closing of this year-long project.
Starting November 2014, the AXIS Coworking Space at Tabakfabrik Linz was a scene of mutual learning, with digital experts and school classes meeting on eight Friday afternoons for lively exchanges: „In design thinking everybody who contributes an idea becomes an expert. In these workshops we learned from the students as much as they learned from us,“ says workshop leader and Netural senior strategist Ernst Demmel.
Both Netural and AXIS Linz Coworking Loft sent their A-teams: Markus “MMeX” Pargfrieder, Stefan Baumgartner, Martin Zeplichal and Ines Höchstöger vastly enjoyed their times as workshop trainers. Ernst Demmel and Iris Mayr (AXIS) led the events.
The kick-off: an exciting behind-the-scenes look at Life Radio.
Altogether eight classes from various types of schools and education levels did not limit themselves to mere listening. The focus of the lessons was „digital service design“, with presentations by the workshop leaders complementing the students´ own activities culminating in creating their own app. “The commitment of these kids was hugely inspiring. They so intense that even their own teachers wanted to engage in the projects”, says Iris Mayr.
Netural Lab head manager MMex describes workflows in a digital agency.
The student´s active participation was truly inspiring.
Students aged thirteen to eighteen learned about the structures of client projects, their execution and latest mobile technology. The main intention was helping teenagers to understand the digital media they use in everyday life: “We felt that they should understand the logic and the work involved in app development”, explains Demmel.
The participants got a chance to apply their fresh knowledge right away: A dodgy love story was the briefing, identifying its problems and their roots was the initial task, and developing a problem-solving app was the project goal.
Participants presented their app-concepts with visible pride and confidence.
Lamenting today´s teenagers seeming lack of purpose regarding careers and occupations does not help matters, while showing them opportunities certainly does. „We had some kids attending the workshop who would gladly have stayed to work with us,“ says Demmel.
Relaxed work environment at the AXIS Coworking-Space.
On July 3rd a big final party at Ars Electronica Center Linz celebrated the closing of this successful project. After that, the Life Radio “StudioLab”, supported by Netural and nationwide tech retail chain Hartlauer, went on a well-deserved vacation.
