Energy guzzler digitization - how much resources do digital learning formats consume?

Less paper in the workplace, reduction of letter transports associated with high CO2 consumption, and space savings by moving information from physical to digital spaces: What was once considered the epitome of the path to greater sustainability is now itself coming under the critical eye of sustainable action - digitization. Digital learning formats are also affected by this.

Merely digitizing the information, storing it on servers and making it available to MAs via a resource-intensive learning system, on the one hand, does not exploit the potential of digitizing learning content; on the other hand, it merely produces CO2 from other sources. Exploiting the potential of digitization while acting sustainably means creating sustainable learning formats.

Brevity is the spice of life?
At first glance, you might think sustainable learning formats are small digital trainings with less data; short, concise and to the point. But then you have to ask yourself the question: Are non-fiction books with fewer pages automatically the more sustainable knowledge brokers? Do shorter songs have a longer lasting emotional effect than slightly longer ones? Is a short novel more formative than a long one?

It depends on what is ultimately taken away from the information into the personal and everyday working life. Here, too, it is important to find a balance between the generation of large amounts of data and intensive computing work in the production and provision of the courses and, on the other hand, the effect of the courses.