Prof. Dr Thomas Heun, Professor of Marketing and Research Methods at the Faculty of Communication and Environment and a teaching mentor at HSRW, talks in an interview about how the digital summer term went at Rhein-Waal University of Applied Sciences.
Professor Heun, how is teaching going in the digital summer term of 2020?
It is still too early to make a definitive assessment, as we are in the middle of the lecture period. But the key point regarding my courses is this: a good proportion of the students seem to have settled into the digital learning environment. How can I tell? I see students being active on the digital learning platforms, the first assessments have been successfully completed, and I’ve received hardly any complaints so far.
In your opinion, what are the biggest challenges this semester?
The biggest challenge from a university lecturer’s perspective is the fundamental issue of participation. Although I have observed a certain level of activity in my courses, this clearly does not apply to all students. My colleagues have also noticed this phenomenon.
And what do you think is the reason for this?
I’ve noticed that the ‘active students’ amongst the student body also find their way around purely digital learning environments more quickly and effectively. This is the type of student who also stands out during face-to-face sessions and in larger groups. I do not know the exact reasons for this higher level of engagement either; it may be down to motivation, but it could also be due to having more time for their studies, greater digital literacy, and so on. At the same time, there is a grey area involving students who do not use the communication channels available to me – such as course-specific video consultation hours – and have not yet made themselves known. This does make me wonder whether these students are currently being reached by our teaching activities.
And what other challenges are there? Digital technology and the legal framework have, of course, been the subject of intense discussion since the start of the semester …
Yes, I’ve also found these discussions to be quite wide-ranging. Technically, neither I nor my students have encountered any major problems, which is also down to the excellent support from our e-learning centre. The legal issues often centred on the examination system, and in particular the question of face-to-face exams. That, too, has affected me and my students to a lesser extent, as I have relied on digital formats that do not require face-to-face attendance, such as e-portfolios.
For me, one of the biggest challenges is the question of ‘e-didactics’ – in other words, how learning takes place in purely digital learning environments and how it can be successfully structured.
So? How is digital learning changing?
Of course, this is not an easy question for me to answer either. But it is clear that students were already making extensive use of digital media – and thus digital content – even before this term. This process has been further accelerated by the shift away from face-to-face lectures in lecture theatres towards alternative teaching methods, and by the closure of libraries with all their printed resources – which I, too, as a university lecturer, like to refer to. In my view, it is a good idea for lecturers to engage with current learning theories, such as connectivism. This approach has helped me to engage students more easily and to make teaching more interactive and self-directed from the students’ perspective. In practical terms, this term I have encouraged students much more strongly to seek out ‘their own sources’, to collaborate with other students via digital platforms based on the ‘wiki principle’, and to publish joint contributions on the platforms provided.
That sounds like a new experience for both sides. How did it go?
At the start, I did indeed have to act as a ‘facilitator’. But over time, the students have taken on this role – which was unfamiliar to them too – and realised that learning begins with their own initiative, and that the ‘good sources’ of knowledge aren’t just at the front of the lecture theatre or found in academic publications, but that they can actually learn a great deal from their fellow students.
Prof. Dr Thomas Heun is Professor of Marketing & Methods at the Faculty of Communication & Environment and a mentor in higher education pedagogy at the HSRW.
