These questions have been on Marina Winkler's mind for many years. She decided to study for a Bachelor's degree in Educational Science at the University of Vienna. She went on to study for a Master's degree in E-Learning & Knowledge Management at the University of Applied Sciences Burgenland. Today, as a freelance educational designer, she develops digital and hybrid learning programmes that focus on real-life situations and concrete decisions.

She became aware of Burgenland University of Applied Sciences through recommendations and her own research. She was specifically looking for a part-time degree programme that covered digital learning in theory, but also provided concrete tools for practical application. She was particularly impressed by the topicality of the content, the strong practical orientation and the personal support. She remembers:

The decision to do the degree programme had a lot to do with her professional ambition. Marina wanted to develop learning programmes in the field of financial education. In her work in the education sector, she had repeatedly experienced how great the need is for understandable information on money topics that is relevant to everyday life. One formative moment during the pandemic was when she began producing self-organisation videos for her students. This made her realise the potential of digital learning formats to reach people and impart knowledge in a sustainable way.

Thanks to her professional experience in banking, EU education programmes and teaching, she was able to directly link what she had learned during her studies with the challenges of the real world. During her studies, she was particularly influenced by courses on lesson design, digital learning technologies and assessment methods. There she learned how to clearly define learning objectives, develop suitable formats and design educational programmes in such a way that their impact can be measured.

One example of this is her "Skills-UP!" project , a hybrid financial education programme for apprentices aged between 15 and 20. Short educational videos in peer format, interactive exercises and workshops address topics such as budgeting, consumer behaviour and debt traps. The project was voted one of the MEGA Education Foundation's top 3 - a success that also builds on the methodological foundations from the degree programme.

Managing work, studies and projects at the same time was not always easy. "Time and energy management were the biggest challenges," she says. Clear priorities, fixed study times and realistic routines helped her to maintain a balance.

Today, Marina utilises precisely the skills she developed during her studies: evidence-based instructional design, structured work and the ability to present complex content in an understandable way. Her goal is to develop educational programmes that empower people and open up new scope for action.

Her advice to future students: "Find a practical project as early as possible. If you apply what you have learnt directly, you will understand much more quickly what really works."