LEARNTEC 2024: A celebration of digital education

Whether Digital Pact 2.0, learning with artificial intelligence or exclusive insights into the development of a national education platform - after three successful event days, visitors to the 31st edition of LEARNTEC, Europe's most important event for digital education, set off into their learning world of the future with numerous innovations and impulses in their luggage. The exhibition stands, numerous lecture formats and workshops as well as an outdoor area with festival character created an ideal setting for business and encounters.

"The relevance of digital learning is currently higher than ever. I am very pleased that Messe Karlsruhe has once again succeeded in bringing innovations in the field of learning to Karlsruhe with LEARNTEC - and has done so continuously for 30 years and in all its facets: young, colorful and lively,” said Britta Wirtz, Managing Director of Messe Karlsruhe.

“Anyone attending here will hear what is still lacking in digital education - but above all, how we can change this and make it better,” said patron Bettina Stark-Watzinger, Minister of Education and Research, in her opening address, emphasizing the high appeal of LEARNTEC throughout Germany and beyond. The fact that LEARNTEC was once again able to underline its position as the most important event for the education sector is also confirmed by the learning community: not only the trade visitors, but also the exhibitors drew a consistently positive conclusion. Christian Friedrich, Managing Director of Haufe Akademie, said: “LEARNTEC is the trade fair when it comes to positioning learning technology and digital learning in Europe.”

World premieres and innovations meet a relaxed networking atmosphere

Visitor Marco Thornagel, Managing Director of Tech2Know, summarizes LEARNTEC 2024: “Dealing with knowledge is a strategic success factor for companies in the future. How we deal with knowledge and how we learn is changing dramatically. LEARNTEC shows where the path of learning is heading in the future. That's why I'm here. I am experiencing an incredibly dynamic, well-attended and exciting trade fair."

The 419 exhibitors from 19 countries once again used LEARNTEC as a stage for numerous product premieres. Much of the focus was on the megatrend of artificial intelligence and the opportunities and challenges it presents for teachers and learners in schools, universities and companies. But learning with augmented realities and the acquisition of future skills also played a role at this year's LEARNTEC.

Joshua Luca Kirkland from The SimpleClub said: “We love being here because it's exactly the contacts we need. LEARNTEC is a huge event for the industry, bringing together all the companies that are driving the industry forward. The topic of education is generally very dry, but there are a lot of companies here that want to push the whole topic, also with regard to artificial intelligence. We have already booked for next year and are looking forward to taking part again."

Versatile specialist program for schools, universities and companies goes down well with the community

At LEARNTEC, around 14,000 participants from 43 countries once again benefited from the varied specialist program. This year, the LEARNTEC congress committee, consisting of Sünne Eichler, Prof. Dr. Peter A. Henning and Micha Pallesche, had designed the program to be even more target group-oriented. The specialist congress once again offered all e-learning experts and newcomers a practical look into the future of the digital education market. The first day of the trade fair was also dedicated to digital university teaching with the university@LEARNTEC lecture program. The school@LEARNTEC forum, on the other hand, focused on current topics for school administrators. Wednesday was aimed in particular at school authorities and local government.

Sabrina Hack, Head of the Municipal Media Center of the City of Cologne, visited LEARNTEC for the second time in a row and says: “We are at LEARNTEC to take away new ideas and to see what has happened in the digital media landscape for schools. We took a lot away with us: Products that we had presented to us, contacts that we made, old acquaintances that we met again."

Exhibitor Philipp Schulz from Forum Bildung Digitalisierung adds: “This is the first time we've taken part. It's really good for us to be able to talk to the players here. We've already spoken to school authorities, head teachers and representatives from the school administration and it's really nice to network here."

Self-guided tour, matchmaking & co: digital tools create added value

Not only the tried-and-tested formats such as the AR/VR Area, but also the more recent special shows such as the LEARNTEC Future Lab, where AI, robotics and smart learning technologies could be tried out, were well received by the trade visitors. In order to make the visit as efficient as possible, the digital formats at LEARNTEC were also further expanded, such as the trade fair app. Visitors not only found an interactive hall plan there, they were also able to plan individual tours of the trade fair. A matchmaking tool brought supply and demand together. More than 1,200 participants made appointments at the trade fair via the app and sent more than 20,000 chat messages.

Forward-looking and market-oriented: LEARNTEC 2025 already almost fully booked

By the end of the event, around 75 percent of the space available for LEARNTEC 2025 had already been booked. “We are delighted with the high level of interest,” said Stefanie Ruf, Project Manager of LEARNTEC. “We owe this success to our very market-oriented, agile trade fair team, our advisory board and congress committee, who always manage to bring the latest topics to the event and thus make LEARNTEC the place to be for the education industry.”

The next LEARNTEC will take place from May 6 to 8, 2025 at Messe Karlsruhe.

Further information and tickets for LEARNTEC are available online at www.learntec.de/tickets.