Concepts and scenarios of digital teaching
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Concepts and scenarios of digital teaching
The basic terms that describe the variety of different digital or digitally supported teaching/learning formats are: Online, face-to-face, hybrid, synchronous and asynchronous teaching. The term "hybrid" in particular is interpreted differently in different contexts. On this page you will find a brief clarification of these terms and different scenarios.
An event can take place in the following forms:
- completely on site in simultaneous (synchronous) presence - in presence,
- completely as online teaching (synchronous and/or asynchronous) - online,
- in a mixed form - blended or hybrid.
Presence
Teaching/learning settings that take place in presence are understood as simultaneous physical presence on site and the associated communication. Everyone is in a shared space, in spatially synchronised contact.
Presence can also be understood as a quality in an online setting, especially when simultaneous (synchronised) work takes place in a virtual space (e.g. BBB) with a lot of interaction between the participants. As a rule, however, the understanding of presence in teaching situations is limited to simultaneous presence on site.
Online
In online teaching, all learning activities take place synchronously and/or asynchronously in a digital setting (online).
In synchronous online teaching, recurring (weekly) appointments take place. Teachers and students are present together and synchronised in online sessions (e.g. video conferencing via BBB).
In asynchronous online teaching , learning materials are provided and students work on these individually as self-study units.
It is also possible to switch between synchronous and asynchronous sessions. In this scenario, self-study tasks alternate with joint online sessions (e.g. via BBB).
Blended
Blended learning means a mixture of physical presence on site and online learning phases for all students, whereby presence and online phases alternate. The online learning phases can include online sessions, online group work or self-study phases.
Flipped
A special form of blended learning is the flipped classroom. Its main feature is that knowledge transfer and application or practice are flipped. Students acquire knowledge independently with the help of learning materials provided (e.g. recorded lectures, videos, texts) outside of the joint sessions of the course. The time spent together (in class or online) is used to actively work on assignments and discussions.
Hybrid
There are certainly overlaps between the terms "blended learning" and "hybrid teaching". They were (and still are) sometimes used interchangeably. In the current discourse, which is characterised by the pandemic, a key distinction is emerging: hybrid formats are those in which different groups can participate simultaneously both in person and online.
Hybrid sessions
In a hybrid session, some of the students are present synchronously on site and other students are connected online via video conferencing or video streaming. Since the coronavirus pandemic, when we talk about hybridity, we usually mean hybrid scenarios that enable simultaneous on-site and online participation.
Hybrid course
Hybrid courses combine face-to-face and online sessions. The combination can take place in different ways:
- Alternating online and face-to-face sessions (one after the other). In this case, we do not actually mean hybrid teaching in the narrower sense, but blended learning.
- All sessions are hybrid sessions and allow different groups of students to participate in a session at the same time - some face-to-face and some online.
- A mixture of the first two.
Scenarios
The following scenarios arise for the practical realisation of a course. The diagrams show how face-to-face and online appointments can be distributed over the semester.
Blended learning
Some attendance dates (P) are spread throughout the semester. In between, there are learning phases with learning activities that take place - asynchronously or synchronously - online (O).
The attendance dates do not always have to alternate regularly; they can be distributed differently throughout the semester.
Flipped Classroom
The special feature of the flipped classroom is the reversal of knowledge transfer and application or practice. While the knowledge transfer is individual and self-directed, the focus is on application and discussion during the time spent together. The latter can take place in presence (variant A) or online (variant B).
Variant A: Materials + face-to-face sessions
Rotating presence
Students are divided into groups that are present on site every two, three or four weeks on a rotating basis (G1, G2, G3). The attendance dates are used, for example, for exercises and questions on the current content.
Recorded lectures or other materials are made available to all students. Each week, a different group attends the classroom session. However, there is a joint start date and a joint conclusion (e.g. as a synchronised online meeting).
The following options are available to ensure that students who are not on site do not lose touch:
- Recording: The face-to-face sessions are recorded (as video or audio) and made available later, e.g. via Stud.IP.
- Hybrid: Participants who are not on site can take part via video stream (as mere listeners) or via BBB with the option of taking part via requests to speak or chat.
- Taking minutes: The students present on site create minutes, which are made accessible via Stud.IP, for example, and used for further exchange.
Hybrid sessions
Hybrid sessions take place with one lecturer and some of the students in attendance, while the others are connected online via video conferencing or video streaming.
A hybrid session usually includes the opportunity for online participants to take part digitally. This can be done by activating the microphone - and possibly also the camera - in the video conference or through written participation (e.g. questions or contributions to the discussion in the chat). Teachers can also use survey tools to obtain feedback and create opportunities for interaction in which everyone can participate (both on site and online).
