On the recommendation of the Study Commission, the Faculty Council of School I - School of Educational and Social Sciences adopted the following "Guideline for Digital Teaching and Self-Learning Phases" at its meeting on 19 February 2026.

Preliminary remarks:

The University of Oldenburg sees itself as an on-campus university. School I - School of Educational and Social Sciences also considers direct, close contact and personal exchange between students and lecturers to be essential for the success of teaching and learning. The (teaching) events should be spaces in which the exchange of ideas and discussion processes arise and learning processes are professionally and didactically supported.

This self-image does not necessarily contradict the development and implementation of digital teaching and learning formats or the inclusion of so-called "self-learning phases". Rather, we see the potential in digital formats and independent skills development to enrich classroom teaching, knowing full well that the university institution is more than just a place for imparting knowledge, especially for students, but rather an important instance of their own educational biography and personal development.

Supplementing classroom teaching with digital formats and guided self-study phases

The focus of university teaching today is to enable the acquisition of specialised and interdisciplinary skills. The mere presentation of knowledge content by teaching staff and its reception by students is increasingly being replaced by teaching and learning programmes that actively involve all participants and thus intensify individual learning.

With regard to digitalisation in teaching and studies, the German Council of Science and Humanities points out in its statement[1] four dimensions in which the teaching formats operate: content, time (synchronous/asynchronous), location (presence/online) and social (learning groups). Teaching and learning programmes can move within these four dimensions and thus react to the respective requirements of the learners. Digitalisation creates a wide range of possibilities between traditional distance learning and pure face-to-face teaching.

The dovetailing of face-to-face and online teaching utilises the didactic advantages of both formats. While the exchange between students and teaching staff takes centre stage in the face-to-face phases, the learning content can be provided in the form of readings, exercises or videos for self-study and used by the students according to their own needs(blended learning).

School I - School of Educational and Social Sciences has set itself the task of supporting and promoting the integration of digital elements to supplement classroom teaching. In addition to creating the legal, personnel and infrastructural conditions for digital teaching and learning formats, there is also a need for an adequate quality assurance process to review the methodological and didactic implementation of these.

In addition to digital elements, phases of (guided) self-study can also be part of the curriculum to varying degrees. In terms of the preparation and follow-up of courses and exam preparation, these are in any case a genuine component of the student workload, which reflects the total scope of all learning activities to achieve the expected learning outcomes. In addition, it can also make didactic sense to embed phases of self-directed learning in course concepts. However, it should be noted that this self-organised acquisition of skills in accordance with the LVVO cannot and must not replace face-to-face teaching.

Obligation to notify the authorisation of digital teaching and self-learning phases

The support of classroom teaching through interactive and multimedia learning units as well as the embedding of self-learning phases should also be able to be implemented in the future without unnecessary obstacles; on the contrary, their didactically sensible use is expressly welcomed.

In cases where digital offerings or self-study phases merely support classroom teaching and do not exceed a de minimis limit of three sessions per semester (20%), there is no obligation to notify the authorities.

However, if digital offerings or self-study phases are to take up a larger proportion, this must be applied for via the Office of the Dean of Studies, stating the reasons, and approved by the Study Commission. In particular, the academic and/or didactic added value as well as the prevention of or adequate compensation for cancelled courses are considered to be justification. This requires the express approval of the Study Commission of School I - School of Educational and Social Sciences or, if urgency is required, an urgent decision by the Dean of Studies. The Office of the Dean of Studies provides a corresponding (online) form for the application, which is discussed and decided on together with the course planning in the corresponding meeting of the Study Commission.

In all cases, both below and above the de minimis limit, the planned implementation must be made transparent as early as possible by the lecturers on Stud.IP, for example in the course description and in the course schedule tab. Students must also be informed of any changes during the semester as quickly and comprehensively as possible, for example by notifying them and changing the timetable. The mere indication in the seminar/lecture schedule as a PDF or verbal announcement is not sufficient.

Crediting digital teaching and self-study phases towards the teaching load

When counting digital teaching and self-study phases towards the teaching load, the teacher's contact time with the students during the course must always be taken into account.

• Course components with continuous contact time of the teacher (in presence or synchronous digital) are credited at 100%;
• Course components with only passive supervision with limited feedback mechanisms (only limited presence of the teacher) are credited with a factor of 1/3 of the planned teaching load.
• If learning materials are merely provided without further guidance of the students by the teacher, no credit is given towards the teaching load.

Example 1: If 50% of the course sessions in a course with an actual scope of 2 LVS take place synchronously (in presence or synchronously digitally) and 50% in self-study with asynchronous feedback, this results in a crediting of: 2 LVS * 0.5 * 1 + 2 LVS *0.5*0.33 = 1.33.

The universities are obliged to "exhaustively utilise teaching capacities", i.e. the teaching capacities available in the teaching units according to the capacity calculation should/must be used responsibly with the resources provided by the state. The Schools are therefore required to document the teaching provided as part of the teaching load and to fulfil the quantitative teaching standards (basis of the capacity calculation).
In the past, despite course planning that is updated every six months and based on the respective admission figures, and despite the distribution of course places using the so-called "priority selection procedure", very few students have decided to take part in individual courses.

In order to ensure responsible capacity allocation, School I - School of Educational and Social Sciences sets the following minimum number of participants:
- five students per seminar on the Bachelor's degree programme
- three students per seminar on the Master's degree programme

All lecturers are obliged to check the number of participants based on the entries in Stud.IP after the course places have been allocated (usually at least two weeks before the start of the course) and to report this to the Dean of Studies Office if the number of participants falls below the above-mentioned limits.
A decision is made together with the lecturers, if necessary the programme directors, if necessary the respective institute directors and the Office of the Dean of Studies as to whether the planned course will take place or whether the resources can be used elsewhere (e.g. to relieve the teaching load in larger modules).

Of course, it must be taken into account whether
- it is a course in a compulsory module with no alternative and/or
- other concerns of the participating students must be taken into account.

If the course is cancelled, students will be informed immediately and supported in their search for alternative courses. Lecturers should be given the opportunity to fulfil their teaching obligations in the same semester.
A "postponement" of the teaching obligation to the following semester should only take place in consultation with the heads of the institutes and the Dean's Office

Students enrolled at a state-recognised university are covered by statutory accident insurance.
All activities that take place within the university's area of responsibility in terms of content and organisation are insured.
In addition to attending lectures and seminars, this also includes
- excursions
- visits to university libraries
- activities in university self-administration
- as well as the journeys to and from these activities.

Not insured are, for example, private study trips, home study work (self-study) or private interruptions of the journey to and from work.

In order to ensure insurance cover also for excursions, we ask lecturers to notify the Dean of Studies Office informally in good time by email:

Information on insurance cover during internships can be found on the following pages of the German Statutory Accident Insurance: https://www.dguv.de/de/versicherung/versicherte_personen/kinder/praktika_studium/index.jsp,
Information on insurance cover during school internships can be found on the following page of the Lower Saxony State Accident Insurance Fund (LUKN): https://lukn.de/rehabilitation-leistung/versichertenkreis/kinder-schueler-studierende/universitaet.php

If you have an accident, please submit the accident report immediately to the InfoDesk in the Student Service Centre (Building A12) or to the Admissions office. The accident report must be submitted for all accidents, not just sports accidents. Please fill out the proposal on the PC (not handwritten).
- Accident report form
- questionnaire for commuting accidents

Contact: unfallmeldungen.studierende@uol.de