About me

I am a certified social worker and doctoral candidate.

I focus on the use of smart technologies by older people in everyday life.  My research interests lie in qualitative, participatory and interdisciplinary approaches. 

My role is best understood as an interpreter and an intermediator between the social sciences and computer science. I am particularly interested in questions related to the Internet of Things, hacking and the mediation of digitalisation issues, including artificial intelligence and privacy.  

I was born in Chemnitz in the last months of the former GDR. I am #First Generation in academia.

Project activities

I am co-responsible for social and administrative issues and field studies in the Simplications project. I am  the contact person for the project partner at the Chair of Media Informatics. You can find out more about the Simplications project at https://simplications.tucmi.de/.

I am also responsible for the project 'Erika meets ChatGPT'. I have  'hacked' an old typewriter so that users can interact with a chatbot, which more than 1200 participants have already experienced. It helps us understand the possibilities and limitations of AI. It gives us researchers insights into participants' ideas about AI, as well as their expectations and concerns. It raises questions about these technological developments and stimulates discussions about the social implications of compressing and accelerating information and communication flows.

Current focus of the research + topics for scientific papers

It is always possible to write term papers, seminar papers, bachelor and master theses on the topics and issues I specialise in:

• (Smart) Technology in the everyday life of older people
• Hacking, free and open source, digital network movements
• Topics and questions on the history of technology in the GDR, especially computers in the GDR
• Citizen science - participatory research
• (Digital) tech accessibility

Please feel free to send me a message.

Curiculum Vitae

Professional Experience

• 12/2023 – ongoing: Research Assistant -project "Simplications" - implications of simple sensors and their data in the home
• 06/2023 – ongoing : ESF funding for innovation: "Smart Technology in the Everyday Lives of Older People. A qualitative empirical study of use, attitudes and potential for support".
• 01/2023 - 11/2023 : Research Assistant /Lecturer, -project  “Data-I – Experiencing data interactions interdisciplinary” interdisciplinary teaching-learning project on IoT sensor data
• 08/2022-03/2023 Research Assistant -project "PartWiss 22 +PartWiss23 , BMBF (01PA2201B)
• 02/2023-12/2023: Project Lead of "Schlaue Technik. Tolle Helfer? as part of the Science Year 2022 
• 07/2021-08/2022: Research assistant as a substitute for the Junior Professorship of Sociology of Technology 
• 01/2021- 06/2021: project manager at WohnXperium e.V., Chemnitz in collaboration with Chemnitz University of Technology: Ambient Assisted Living technologies and PFLEX Sachsen
• 01/2019-12/2020:  Scientific project manager at Mittweida University of Applied Sciences, implementation of the inclusion sub-project -Lecturer Faculty of Social Work

Qualification

• 09/2024: "Qualitative Educational and Social Research"  Centre for Social World Research and Method Development at the Otto von Guericke University Magdeburg
• 04/ 2020: Saxon Higher Education Teaching Certification (HDS Certificate) + E-Teaching Certification (TU Dresden)
• 07/2018: Certificate from the Bavarian Elite Academy Foundation in Munich, which offers training programmes in Brussels, Hanoi, Shanghai and Beijing 
• 09/2016: Master's degree in Management of Social and Healthcare Organisations, Catholic University of Applied Sciences Munich
• 03/2015: Bachelor Bachelor's degree in Social Work, minor business administration, Mittweida University of Applied Sciences + Hogeschool Inholland Alkmaar. 

Organized Conferences, Workshops and Sessions

• 12/2023: "From simple sensors to (un-)intended implications", workshop at Things 2023, Rotterdam, co-organisation
• 12/2023: "From (un-)intended implications for privacy to implications for design and use", workshop at Things 2023, Rotterdam, co-organisation
• 11/2023: "PartWiss: Konferenz zur Vernetzung und Stärkung von Partizipation in der Wissenschaft", part of Programme Commission (2022+2023) and co-organisation
• 11/2023: "Sensordaten in der Lehre: interaktiv und interdisziplinär", HDS workshop, Chemnitz, main organisation

Publications 

2024

Kurze, Albrecht und Köpferl, Karola: "From Simple Sensors to Complex Context: Insights for HabiTech." CHI24 Extended Abstracts, Workshop HabiTech, May 11, 2024, Honolulu, HI, USA. https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.2412.06085.

Köpferl, Karola und Kurze, Albrecht: "Human-Chatbot Interaction: When ChatGPT meets an old Typewriter." Proceedings of the 21th International Conference on Culture and Computer Science (KUI ’24). ACM, New York, NY, USA. https://tuc.cloud/index.php/s/in3fNx9FDFrjNjT  (Pre-Print)

Köpferl, Karola, Lehmann, Tanja, Börner, Andy, Becker, Alexa, Berger, Arne, Bischof, Andreas und Kurze, Albrecht: "Partizipative Ansätze in der Entwicklung smarter und privatsphärefreundlicher Technik für das Zuhause." In Maike Klein, Daniel Krupka, Cornelia Winter, Martin Gergeleit, Ludger Martin (Hrsg.), INFORMATIK 2024. Lock-in or log out? Wie digitale Souveränität gelingt. Lecture Notes in Informatics (LNI) - Proceedings. https://doi.org/10.18420/inf2024_69

Börner, Andy, Köpferl, Karola, Lehmann, Tanja, Becker, Alexa, Berger, Arne, Bischof, Andreas und Kurze, Albrecht: "Ohne Big Brother und Cloud, aber nicht ohne Probleme. Fallbeispiele zu Implikationen smarter Technik mit einfachen Sensoren im Zuhause." In Maike Klein, Daniel Krupka, Cornelia Winter, Martin Gergeleit, Ludger Martin (Hrsg.), INFORMATIK 2024. Lock-in or log out? Wie digitale Souveränität gelingt. Lecture Notes in Informatics (LNI) - Proceedings. 10.18420/inf2024_65

Köpferl, Karola, Lehmann, Tanja, Börner, Andy, Becker, Alexa, Berger, Arne, Bischof, Andreas, und Kurze, Albrecht: "Ich sehe das, was Du nicht siehst: Spuren einfacher Sensordaten im smarten Zuhause erleben und reflektieren." Mensch und Computer 2024 - Workshopband. Gesellschaft für Informatik e.V. MCI-WS17: Usable Security und Privacy Workshop. Karlsruhe, 1.-4. September 2024.10.18420/muc2024-mci-ws17-153

Köpferl, Karola: "'Meine Oma hat nen Nachttopf mit Beleuchtung...' Praktiken und Orientierungen älterer Menschen bei der Nutzung smarter Technik." Scientific Reports 2024, Nr. 3, Mittweida 24. Nachwuchswissenschaftlerkonferenz. https://doi.org/10.48446/opus-15381

Bischof, Andreas, Köpferl, Karola, Haupt, Bendedikt, Becker, Alexa, Pentzold, Christian und Berger, Arne (2024). "Partizipative Wissenschaftskommunikation für (zukünftige) Technologien." In: Kernebeck, S., & Fischer, F. (Eds.). Partizipative Technikentwicklung im Sozial-und Gesundheitswesen: Interdisziplinäre Konzepte und Methoden. Hogrefe AG. S. 161-174.

2023

Kaden, Sascha, Köpferl, Karola, Bischof, Andreas, und Röhrbein, Florian: "The robot should motivate: 'Come on, you can still do it!' An Exploratory Pilot Study." 2nd Workshop on Care Robots for Older Adults at RO-MAN 2023 (2023). croa-roman.com.

Kurze, Albrecht, Köpferl, Karola, und Eibl, Maximilian: "Data-I – Interactive Experience of IoT Data: A Practical Tool for IoT Sensor Data in Interdisciplinary Human-Computer Interaction Education." In Proceedings of the 5th Annual Symposium on HCI Education (EduCHI '23). Association for Computing Machinery, New York, NY, USA, 85–90. https://doi.org/10.1145/3587399.3587405.

Kurze, Albrecht, Köpferl, Karola, und Börner, Andy: "Data-I: Daten-Interaktion interdisziplinär erleben." In HDS Sommerfest 2023. https://tuc.cloud/index.php/s/mMtD4z64WY4kiX2.

Bessert-Nettelbeck, Mathilde, Bischof, Andreas, Sturm, Ulrike, Nagy, Emilia, Schraudner, Martina, Backhaus, Julia, Bruckermann, Till, Hecker, Susanne, Henke, Justus, Köpferl, Karola, Kirschke, Sabrina, Liedtke, Christin, Mahr, Felix, Maibaum, Arne, Podann, Audrey Cathrine, Rössig, Wiebke, Schäfer, Martina, Schröder, Carolin, Schrögel, Philipp, Shennan, Victoria, Steinhaus, Norbert, Stewart, Mhairi, van den Bogaert, Vanessa und Voigt-Heucke, Silke: "Participation as a research approach in academia: a converging field." Research Ideas and Outcomes 9: e105155. https://doi.org/10.3897/rio.9.e105155.

Köpferl, Karola: "Participatory Research with the Community of Older People on Using Smart Technology in Everyday Life." Eye on TAMK. International Week: Finnland, 2023.

2021

Köpferl, Karola; Naumann, Katrin (2021): "Social Entrepreneurship education – an approach to empower for Entrepreneurship and Innovation Thinking for social work students – SWES." Ankara, Türkei.

Köpferl, Karola; Naumann, Katrin (2021): "Social Entrepreneurship Education as a way to enhance students' awareness of starting a business." Eye on TAMK. International Week: Finnland.