Speaker profile: Meet Edith Ackermann

When we asked Edith Ackermann whether she would like to comment on what she heard at Lift, rather than give a prepared speech, she immediately agreed - And we suspect she was even grateful. Not that she's unable to prepare a speech: She's been a professor, a researcher and a consultant for decades. No, it's just that she enjoys learning, being confronted to new people and ideas, and building knowledge on the go.

In fact, that's what she's been doing all her life with the likes of Jean Piaget and Seymour Papert, before she herself became one of the great figures of research and innovation in education and psychology.

Listen to what Edith has to say: "In my work, I team up with partners from varying backgrounds to help shape the future of play and learning in a digital world. I study how people use place, relate to others, and treat things to find their ways – and voices – in an ever changing world. Two lessons I have learned: When it comes to learning and creative uses of technologies, children have more to teach adults than adults to children! When it comes to innovating for others, don’t guess what they want or do what they say: co-create what they—and you—will love once it is there!"