Abstract:

Mainly as a consequence of the impact that digital culture has had in all areas of society, education has been immersed lately in a great process of change. This transformative process involves, among other aspects, a total renovation of the whole educational structure and, in a very special way, of the teaching methodologies.

In the new education, the integration of digital technologies is no longer enough, a new way of interacting with teachers, with knowledge and with other students is also needed. For this, it is necessary to develop a more active and collaborative learning; a way of teaching that allows students to become protagonists of their learning.

The University of Salamanca has been immersed in this process of change for years. Since 2010, it has a space focused on the new learning formulas, that is called MEDIALAB USAL and which promotes the educational innovation in Higher Education. MEDIALAB USAL also has extensive experience in collaborative and project-based learning.

The teaching and learning model of MEDIALAB USAL emphasizes collaborative and interdisciplinary work, the use of digital technologies and a practice-oriented learning. In recent years, thanks to this experience, MEDIALAB USAL has carried out hackathons with the goal of transforming and improving society through the use of technology. These hackathons involve students from all areas of knowledge (engineering, social sciences, health sciences, humanities, etc.) and other from outside the University, working altogether to solve specific social challenges that have been previously proposed by other citizens. Hackathons are organized in coordination with other universities in Spain.

Participating in these meetings allows students to work in multidisciplinary teams with a common goal, to apply the knowledge gained in university, to acquire new knowledge in a practical way, to develop strategies to solve real problems and to prototype systems that have a practical application.

So far MEDIALAB USAL has carried out three hackathons with more than 200 participating students. In addition to living a great experience, they come into contact with other students and social agents, develop their critical and reflective capacities, improve their communicative skills and experience new ways of learning, different from the usual ones. This paper describes, from an educational point of view, the most interesting results of the hackathons at the University of Salamanca and suggests some keys to integrate this type of activities in the University, as new learning formulas.

Keywords:

Collaborative learning, problem-based learning, new learning spaces, hackathon, MediaLab.