Digital Learning and Teaching

Virtual Learning

The following scenarios describe the majority of digital courses at our university. However, in individual cases, instructors may choose specific solutions.

What do virtual Lectures look like?

At the University of Göttingen, different possibilities for virtualizing lectures can be implemented, which we will explain below.

Scenarios

Your lectures may be delivered as live streams. At a specified time, online sessions will take place, allowing you to participate digitally (from any location and synchronously). Your role will primarily involve listening and watching, with little to no interaction between you and the instructors. This format is suitable for large courses. At our university, live lectures are mainly conducted via Zoom, though streaming via YouTube is also possible. Instructors will likely share their screen with a presentation.

If your lectures are conducted via Zoom, you will be provided with a meeting ID or a participation link. Access to the live stream is possible via a web browser, desktop client, or mobile apps; you do not need a Zoom account as a participant. In large lectures, it is unnecessary to activate your microphone or camera. You can ask questions to the instructor in the Zoom chat. Recording of the lecture is only permitted with your consent.

For YouTube streams, you can access them via the provided link and participate in the lecture using a web browser on a desktop PC or mobile apps. For data privacy reasons, it is recommended to avoid signing in to YouTube. The live stream may also be recorded, making the lecture available to you afterward.

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Lectures in the digital semester as video podcasts offer you the flexibility to listen to and watch the lecture at any time and from any location. Interaction between you and the instructors is only possible through additional communication channels, such as the forum in the Stud.IP course or a channel in the Rocket.Chat of the GWDG. Video podcasts can reach large groups. The sequences in such a video podcast are diverse: from screen sharing, to recordings of instructors in front of whiteboards, to short clips from films.

The videos will likely be made available to you via the "Media" tab in the Stud.IP course. There, you can either watch the videos directly in your browser or download them to your device first and then watch them there. Distributing the videos is not permitted.

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In small-group lectures, interactive live sessions can also be implemented, allowing interaction between students and instructors. You will meet at a specified time in a video conference. Instructors will present their content and ask you questions. Such lectures will have more seminar-like characteristics and are more likely to occur in advanced study phases than in the introductory phase.

How are digital Seminars structured?

Seminars, tutorials, and exercises thrive on interaction between students and instructors. Therefore, these courses are also interactive in their digital format. We illustrate the range of interactivity with the following scenarios.

Scenarios

Seminars can be conducted in various ways: from a presentation by one person, through intermediate questions, to lively discussions. The key aspect is communication among participants. Therefore, seminars usually take place as video conferences, where exchange occurs via video and audio. As students, you are expected to be actively involved beyond just listening—for example, by giving a presentation and sharing your screen, collecting ideas on an interactive whiteboard, or engaging in intense debates. Please read our tips for video conferences.

If your virtual seminars are conducted via Zoom, you will be provided with a meeting ID or participation link. You can join the digital seminar via a web browser, desktop client, or mobile apps. A Zoom account is only necessary if you are the seminar organizer.

Seminars at our university are also conducted using the web video conferencing service BigBlueButton. To access the seminar room, use the provided link or check the "Meetings" tab in the Stud.IP course.

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To discuss exercise problems, an exercise or tutorial can be offered as a video conference. Such an online exercise will be less interactive than a face-to-face session, as it is more difficult to have students present their solutions due to the digital format. Depending on your program of study, your exercise may either have a more lecture-like character with the possibility to ask questions or require you to give presentations and possibly prepare solution slides to present your results.

Since exercises or tutorials take place in smaller groups, you should enable your camera and microphone during a video conference. Please follow the video conference tips. Like seminars, online exercises will be conducted via BigBlueButton or Zoom.
Online exercises can also be implemented by first providing the exercise tasks in the Stud.IP course. You solve these tasks independently, and several days later, the model solutions are uploaded to Stud.IP so you can compare your solutions with the model answers. If you wish to solve the tasks together as a student group, please refer to the scenarios for teams and meetings.

For questions about content or individual solution steps, a chat channel in the Rocket.Chat will be provided, where you can meet at a specified time for a chat session and exchange ideas. Alternatively, a moderated discussion over the forum in the Stud.IP course could take place over the course of the task completion period.

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There may also be online learning modules available for your course that you can work through alongside the lectures. You can find these via the "Learning Modules" tab in the Stud.IP course, which will direct you to the ILIAS platform of our university. In a learning module, explanatory texts and videos typically alternate with interactive elements such as multiple-choice quizzes.

For questions and answers, you will likely also have access to the forum in the Stud.IP course, a channel in the Rocket.Chat, or an email contact.

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How can Meetings take place virtually?

To enable digital collaboration among student groups, the university and GWDG provide a range of services for you. There are also multiple options for communication between students and instructors.

Scenarios

If you want to exchange ideas with your student group, there are several options:

Student Group in Stud.IP
In Stud.IP, you can create a student group and coordinate with each other through it. A student group offers a variety of options: you can exchange files, discuss in a forum, schedule meetings, and much more. To create a student group, click on the "Courses" tab and select "Create New Student Group" under "Actions".

Group in Rocket.Chat
You can use Rocket.Chat with your student account (your eCampus login credentials) to exchange private messages and create group chats, known as channels. For your student group, you should create a private channel. The person creating the channel can then add you to it.

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Note: You must activate Rocket.Chat for your student account by logging in via a web browser. Additionally, you should adjust your notification settings so that you do not receive an email for every message. To do this, go to My Account, Settings, Notifications, and select "Deactivate Offline Email Notifications".

Video Conferences
If you need more intensive exchange, you can also organize video conferences using BigBlueButton through your student access and invite other students as participants. We recommend using the guides in the "Virtual Teaching" section or joining the Stud.IP course "BigBlueButton for Self-Learning".

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To schedule a meeting time for your video conference, you can use emails, your Stud.IP student group, or Rocket.Chat. A data protection-compliant tool for scheduling meetings and other voting is the DFN Meeting Planner. Additionally, please note the extensive range of services provided by GWDG for mobile work and digital collaboration, which you can usually access with your student account. Particularly useful are the online document service GWDG Pad and the cloud service ownCloud. There are also specialized services such as ShareLaTeX, GitLab, or Jupyter.

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Instructors may provide opportunities for discussions for individual courses, for example, the forum in the Stud.IP course, a channel in the Rocket.Chat, or a video conference office hour.

If you need to contact instructors individually, you can do so via email in the simplest case. You might also reach instructors via private messages in the Rocket.Chat. For more extensive discussions, it is advisable to schedule a meeting via a video conference service or traditionally by phone.

Where can you find Information and Support?

To ensure no question remains unanswered, you will find a compilation of websites with further information and counseling services at the university.

Scenarios

General information about IT services for students and guides can be found in the studIT wiki. If you encounter problems, you can contact the studIT support.

If you are a tutor and need information about digital tools, please visit the "Virtual Teaching" section and join the relevant Stud.IP courses.

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Information about individual courses should be available in the Stud.IP course or sent to you via email. For questions about courses, it is best to contact the instructors or tutors directly.
General information on handling the pandemic at our university and on teaching activities is provided centrally by the university. Your student union informs you about the COVID-19 pandemic on its website, social media, and via a Telegram broadcast. The Student Services of Göttingen also supports you through this difficult time and offers tips and personal counseling. The State and University Library informs you on its website about current options for borrowing literature.

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