During the coronavirus crisis, digital teaching resources and freely accessible online learning content are more important than ever. To drive this development forward and support higher education institutions in this endeavour, the Ministry of Culture and Science of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia and the Digital University of North Rhine-Westphalia (DH.NRW) are jointly funding 18 proposals for digital teaching and learning formats under the ‘OERContent.nrw’ funding scheme (Open Educational Resources). The selected proposals, in which at least three higher education institutions are collaborating on e-learning formats, will receive up to 1.5 million euros. Such formats may include, for example, online courses, educational videos or virtual laboratories.
Out of a total of 28 applications, the jury – comprising representatives from DH.NRW and the universities in North Rhine-Westphalia – deemed 18 proposals worthy of funding. The Rhine-Waal University of Applied Sciences is also among them. Together with the Niederrhein University of Applied Sciences, the Bochum University of Health Sciences and Münster University of Applied Sciences, the Rhine-Waal University of Applied Sciences is working on the project ‘Institutional Framework Conditions for Care Provision – An interdisciplinary approach from the perspectives of health sciences, nursing science and economics for the management of social systems’.
The aim is to develop an online teaching and learning programme to equip students for management roles in inpatient and outpatient care facilities, as well as to advise the organisations responsible for these care services. To this end, the topic of institutional frameworks is examined from various angles and perspectives. Using an interactive learning map, students can – based on realistic scenarios and in the spirit of self-directed learning – select eight different core modules to gain an understanding of the institutional foundations of care provision. The programme can be used entirely independently as a self-study resource or integrated into a course as part of a modular system.
Rhein-Waal University of Applied Sciences focuses its content and methodology on the demand for care services and the corresponding supply. This includes, for example, the topics of the need for care, care requirements and care provision, providers, types of care services and legal frameworks. Quality assurance for the project is also the responsibility of Rhein-Waal University of Applied Sciences. “The various quality assurance and development measures can be carried out using established tools and methods from evaluation research. The continuous improvement process thus aimed at enables a quantitative and qualitative assessment of content usage as well as participant satisfaction,” explains Professor Dr Frank Schmitz, Professor of Business Administration and the person responsible for the concept on behalf of the Rhine-Waal University of Applied Sciences.
