Interactive Workshop for "H2NOE" Water School

The St. Pölten University of Applied Sciences has developed a concept for a "H2NOE" Water School basic workshop that uses audiovisual and interactive elements to teach pupils in lower and upper secondary school about water, health, and environmental protection.

Which role does water play for our health and our environment? What happens when we consume too much sugar in the form of sweetened beverages? A new basic workshop for "H2NOE" Water Schools answers these questions and more. The research group Media Creation of the St. Pölten UAS’ Institute of Creative\Media/Technologies developed the workshop based on an interactive knowledge and information concept.

"For the basic workshops of the 'H2NOE' Water School, we developed a modular knowledge transfer format. At its centre are Hanna and Andreas, two young people helping their fellow pupils find out more about different aspects in connection with water, health, and the environment in an authentic and relatable manner. We support them with the help of age-appropriate animation and use video recordings to remind them to take water breaks and to exchange their views in class", says Julia Pühringer, co-lead of the project and member of the St. Pölten UAS’ Institute of Creative\Media/Technologies.

© Institute of Creative\Media/Technologies

Interactive and Age-Appropriate

The basic workshop meets the pupils at eye level and actively involves them from the outset. Right at the beginning of the workshop, the children and adolescents are asked to take part in an interactive quiz. Their answers are then sent via smartphone or notebook and visualised live. In addition, the workshop offers interviews with teachers, learners, and the headmaster of an "H2NOE" Water School that were recorded by the pupils themselves.

© Institute of Creative\Media/Technologies

"H2NOE" Water School: Integrating Environmental Protection and Health

The St. Pölten UAS is developing the concept for the basic workshop on behalf of the "Tut gut!" Gesundheitsvorsorge GmbH and in cooperation with gutessen consulting. In order to promote the pupils’ health consciousness and environmental awareness, the contents of the workshop are extended for the "H2NOE" Water Schools to include important questions from the fields of health and environmental protection that are closely connected with the water topic.

"With the newly created basic workshops, we have even more to offer our 'H2NOE' Water Schools in Lower Austria. A big thank you is due to the Department of Media and Digital Technologies at the St. Pölten University of Applied Sciences for the professional implementation that also builds a nice bridge between the realms of tertiary and secondary education through the schools that we supervise", explains Mag.a Heidemarie Hell enthusiastically, programme manager for the “H2NOE” Water School at "Tut gut!" Gesundheitsvorsorge.

Further information on the project can be found on our research website.