What is different?

Teaching via the Internet differs significantly from teaching in the lecture theatre in many respects. The learning attitude of the students is different, the availability of transmission media has a considerable influence, services must be available in a stable manner and, finally, the operation of technical systems must not override the transmission of teaching and learning content.

The aims of teaching via the Internet are defined in the module descriptions in addition to the transfer of knowledge and information, despite all the restrictions. As long as no other stipulations are made here, students may refer to both the form of teaching and the form of examination.

Accordingly, online teaching must be designed in such a way that every student is able to pass the final module examination at the end. The design of teaching must therefore be measured against this. The legal advisor should be consulted on changes to the module descriptions.

Technical equipment

E-learning scenarios always depend on the technical equipment available to the participants. Please do not assume that all students will be able to participate in large video conferences; such plans must be clarified in advance, for example with a test in the OPAL course.

You should also make sure that the internet connection, webcam, microphone and room conditions (acoustics, lighting, privacy, etc.) allow teaching via video in a way that ensures learning success.

Test, test, test - please test the technology and the chosen tool in good time (several days before the event) and have a backup solution ("Plan B") ready in case of emergencies.

Video lessons

It makes sense to hold your lecture in front of a camera instead of in the lecture theatre while the students watch on their devices. This scenario will not be suitable for covering the entire teaching programme at HTWK Leipzig due to the insufficient capacity of services available. In addition, various other circumstances speak in favour of alternative teaching scenarios.

The DFN provides two tools. However, the underlying infrastructure is not scaled to cover the entire teaching output of all German universities. Accordingly, bottlenecks can be expected very quickly.

Not all students are likely to have the infrastructural prerequisites to participate in video lessons on a permanent basis. The diversity of the student body must also be taken into account. In rural areas in particular, internet access is far from sufficient to complete the entire degree programme via streaming.

Alternatives to live streaming

Record the lecture in advance using a PowerPoint presentation, for example with a tool such as Camtasia (for a fee; available to borrow) and upload it in advance to the HTWK media server, for example, and link it to OPAL,
Record a podcast, make the presentation slides and the file available in the OPAL course element Podcast
Upload presentation slides to OPAL and make them available in the chat for a set time.

For some methods, it is advisable to combine them with an exercise task that can be carried out by the students either alone or in small groups using a collaboration tool(storage cloud, forum or wiki in OPAL, Google Docs, WhatsApp or similar if necessary).

The result can be uploaded to a forum or file folder in OPAL and discussed again in peer groups. Advanced users can use the course element Task for this purpose. This covers all of this, but requires a little more administrative effort.

Reduce the amount of material

All the technically supported systems and scenarios are currently linked by the fact that they are not practised in use. Accordingly, part of the attention and cognitive capacity of all those involved is tied up in mastering interfaces and interaction rules. It is therefore advisable to reduce the amount of material already in the redesign of the offers. It is conceivable here to link further resources and motivate learners to continue working on their own.

Binding specifications

In order to document learning progress and motivate students in the long term, it is helpful to set and document binding specifications. This can include, for example, how many assignments students have to complete in a semester, the planned completion times and how assessment and feedback are organised.

Furthermore, fixed deadlines should continue to be adhered to. Ensure that the planned face-to-face events are opened in chat systems, for example, or in telephone or video conferences for small groups. Students can ask questions about the material and the procedure, which the teachers can answer directly. In turn, they can outline further tasks until the next conference and recommend new literature. If these deadlines are strictly adhered to, then the permanent, uncontrolled maintenance effort for the courses is significantly reduced.