DIGITAL TEACHING IN TIMES OF COVID-19

Erfurt, 19 March 2020 - How do you create an online course in German, maths, bio or physics for a school class? Many teachers have been confronted with this question since the first school shutdowns. The problem: Most schools still do not have a suitable infrastructure. And only a small part of the teachers have received further training for digital teaching formats so far.

"We see ourselves as part of the education system with a responsibility," says Prof. Dr. Holger Sommerfeldt, head of the IUBH distance learning programme. Because the current exceptional situation in connection with COVID-19 poses great challenges for schools, teachers and students. The question is: How do you manage to switch from classical face-to-face teaching to online teaching at very short notice and for all grades and school types? How can teachers prepare teaching material for the web in a didactically sensible way? How can you use video conferencing to get students excited about topics? What online tools are available? And how much technical knowledge is required?

"As the largest private university for online studies in Germany, we have almost 10 years of experience with digital learning formats. In contrast, most schools in Germany are only at the beginning of digitalisation. We are happy to help ensure that school teaching in Germany can continue to function and are making our experience available to all teachers free of charge with immediate effect. The idea is to provide pragmatic and practical suggestions and advice on how to overcome the didactic and technical hurdles on the way to digital teaching as quickly as possible - so that maths, German, English and all other school subjects can be translated into exciting digital formats across the board in the short term."

The IUBH experts are now teaching these and other topics free of charge in live info sessions. "Our education system is the backbone of society. We believe that everyone with their special skills is now called upon and we are happy to take on this task," Sommerfeldt explains. Experienced professors and experts in online teaching give tips and answer questions. They present didactically useful online tools, show the opportunities and possibilities of web-based teaching and learning and give concrete tips on how students can also be motivated via video conferencing.