We were really excited to welcome everyone to the sixth LMDDC workshop, especially around a topic that feels more and more important today: reconnecting learning with physical experiences, curiosity, and interaction beyond the screen. With “EdTech Speed Dating with Things”, we wanted to explore this “phygital” space between digital and tangible learning, and create a hands-on experience that sparks ideas, conversations, and curiosity.

The preparation

But let’s step back for a minute and talk about the last few months before the event, because honestly, preparing it was almost just as fun and exciting as the workshop itself. Weeks before “EdTech Speed Dating with Things”, the whole LMDDC space slowly turned into this strange but wonderful playground of controlled chaos. The team had to constantly watch their step not to accidentally kick a little car driving around the office, while others could suddenly be spotted in the cafeteria with welding pens, testing concepts, fixing objects, playing board games, or assembling last-minute creations together.

At the same time, the workshop space itself became alive with the sounds and smells of making. You could hear the constant rhythm of the 3D printers running in the background, the air cleaners humming, the laser cutter working, tools moving from one table to another, and every now and then the smell of burned wood drifting out from the workshop area. It felt less like preparing a formal educational event and more like building a temporary creative lab where people were fully allowed to experiment, test, fail, laugh, and try again.

The vibe

Within minutes, you could feel that something was working, not in a forced or over-designed way, but because people were genuinely open, curious, and ready to engage, creating a lively and playful atmosphere where conversations flowed naturally and the whole room carried this light, energetic buzz.

Participants were moving, rotating, picking things up, reacting, laughing, and building on each other’s ideas. That shift alone completely changed the dynamic, making the experience feel much more alive, spontaneous, and memorable.

Our partners

A big part of this came from the mix of people who joined and contributed, bringing very different perspectives that complemented each other in a natural way, including Luxembourg Institute of Science and Technology, represented by Dimitra Anastasiou together with their QT Robot, Fablab MDesign with their hands-on, maker mindset.

Special thanks to the students from the BTS Game Art and Game Design at Lycée des Arts et Métiers, who brought fresh creative energy to the event and made every exchange more dynamic, curious, and unpredictable in the best possible way. The students not only showcased their own game projects, but also actively helped around the different stands, engaged with visitors, and contributed to the welcoming atmosphere throughout the workshop. Their enthusiasm, creativity, and openness perfectly matched the spirit of the event. A warm thank you to their teacher, Françoise Ahlborn, for her constant support, encouragement, and presence, both for the students and for us, over the years!

During the workshop, our guests rotated between four different workstations, each built around a specific topic connected to hands-on, object-based, and phygital learning. Every station explored a different way physical things can support education through experimentation, creativity, collaboration, and interaction.

The workstations

The “Talking with Things” booth explored how objects can become a form of language through storytelling, symbols, and physical interaction. Inspired by Maria Montessori and multimodal learning approaches, participants used cards, tactile objects, and collaborative prompts to create meaning together, showing how communication and learning become more intuitive when ideas are grounded in physical experiences.

The “Making with Things” booth invited participants to experiment with sound, visuals, and movement through playful artistic and musical activities inspired by Leonardo da Vinci’s hands-on approach to creativity. Visitors tested interactive setups, explored sensory experiences, and discovered how art and creativity can naturally spark curiosity.

The “Exploring through Things” booth focused on experimentation, observation, and shared discovery. Inspired by Galileo Galilei and inquiry-based learning, participants tested interactive activities together, compared outcomes, and explored how physical tools and experiments can encourage curiosity, discussion, and active participation.

The “Thinking with Things” booth showcased logic, systems, and computational thinking through physical interaction and problem-solving activities. Inspired by Albert Einstein’s thought experiments and concrete reasoning, participants manipulated objects, tested patterns, and worked through challenges together, making abstract concepts feel much more tangible and approachable.

Alongside the activities, LMDDC also showcased Skilltech.tools , a free to use open toolbox to support teachers, trainers, and educational organizations in Luxembourg with open-source and sovereign educational technology solutions. The platform provides tools for multimedia content creation, online collaboration, virtual classrooms, AI-supported learning environments and more.

Honestly, going through all these pictures, it was really hard to choose what to share. Seeing so many smiling faces, moments of curiosity, excitement, discussions, experiments, and people discovering new things together truly shows what this event was about.

And because this should not remain a one-time experience, we are now working on publishing all the activity blueprints so that others can easily reproduce and adapt the format, allowing this playful, hands-on approach to spread into more classrooms, workshops, and learning spaces.

To everyone who joined us, showcased, helped, explored, asked questions, tested activities, and shared this experience with us: thank you. Your energy and enthusiasm made this event something special, and we already cannot wait to see you again next time! 😊