Compass for teaching in the digital jungle

Compass in the digital jungle

New impulses in teaching with the digitalisation strategy and Digital Teaching Compass

H-BRS believes in classroom teaching and personal contact with students. But digital add-ons enrich teaching in the sense of blended learning. The university has committed itself to these goals in its digitalisation strategy for teaching, which was drawn up by the 30-member core team Digitalisation and adopted by the President’s Office in June 2019.

Successful examples: In Professor Marco Winzker‘s Vision Remote Lab, students can conduct laboratory experiments on their home PC. Supplementary instructional videos impart theory. In Andrea Schröder‘s podcast (audio recording of the course), students can work through civil law issues that are sometimes difficult for non-jurists to comprehend. And for compulsory courses in computer science, Daniel Seibert appoints lecturers who only interact with students digitally via video conferencing.

The digitalisation activities are coordinated by the Centre for Teaching Development and Innovation (ZIEL). The e-Learning Department located in the library is integrated into the ZIEL network and provides the central support

infrastructure. H-BRS also appointed Regina Brautlacht as the first Presidential Commissioner for Global Digital Learning. She is responsible for recruiting and advising teachers who use digital teaching in an international context – for virtual collaboration on student projects or for cross-border teaching projects, for instance.

One concrete digitalisation tool is the Digital Teaching Compass, launched in 2019, initiated by Professor Iris Groß, Vice President for Teaching, Learning and Further Education, and implemented by the e-Learning Department. Via this online platform, teachers (teaching champions) share their experiences, approaches and ideas in digital teaching with other colleagues. “The Digital Teaching Compass enables you to quickly and easily find contacts who can help you and give you tips”, explains Groß. The compass is multifunctional. “It acts as a source of ideas and orientation, but it is also a marketing tool that makes the diverse activities and commitment to digital teaching at the university more visible”, says Susanne Kundmüller-Bianchini, Head of the e-Learning Department. Another advantage is that the compass provides examples of best practice that can be directly applied in teaching.

Links www.h-brs.de/en/ziel www.h-brs.de/kompass-digitale-lehre