Was Verstehen kostet: Ein Input von Birgit Phillips auf dem U:FF 2026.

What Understanding Costs: A presentation by Birgit Phillips at the University:Future Festival 2026. What if the biggest problem in higher education isn't distraction, lack of motivation, or even AI, but rather ease? This keynote begins with a finding from cognitive science that directly contradicts common sense and draws conclusions for teaching and learning design, assessment formats, and the very purpose of universities. At its core is a competency that can neither be automated nor delegated, yet is rarely taught explicitly. And perhaps it's the only thing that matters when all other answers are readily available at the touch of a button. // The sixth edition of the University:Future Festival took place from June 22-24, 2026, under the motto "Under Pressure!" The hybrid festival's physical locations were Berlin, Braunschweig, Essen, Graz, Hamburg, and Nuremberg. The University:Future Festival (U:FF) is the largest event dedicated to the (digital) future of academic education. Topics included AI, future skills, didactics, and strategy processes. Participants enjoyed a diverse program with approximately 280 presentations from around 550 speakers! The University:Future Festival is a collaboration between the Higher Education Forum on Digitalization, the Foundation for Innovation in Higher Education, and the Stifterverband (Donors' Association for the Promotion of Sciences and Humanities in Germany). The partner stages were organized by the Emerging Tech Lab and the Media Lab of the Project House at TU Braunschweig, ORCA.nrw, Graz University of Technology, Ohm University and UTN Nuremberg, and the University of Hamburg, together with OERCamp. More information is available at https://festival.hfd.digital/de/