Online teaching is different: there’s no face-to-face contact, and some things are more laborious – but there are advantages too. Experiences from a German studies seminar.
Many courses began in the first few weeks of the current online semester with a round of introductions via chat or a web meeting, or alternatively with a welcome video. For the seminar ‘Cases of Doubt in German’, lecturer Niklas Reinken had come up with something different: It starts with a YouTube video by the author and entertainer Bastian Sick. Reinken, a doctoral candidate in Prof. Dr Nanna Fuhrhop’s German Linguistics research group at the Institute for German Studies, wants to explore controversial linguistic issues with his students this semester, such as whether Nutella is ‘der’, ‘die’ or ‘das’, how to pronounce ‘König’ correctly (with a ‘g’ or a ‘ch’ at the end?) or whether it is acceptable to say ‘wegen dem Wetter’. Bastian Sick, who for years poked fun at linguistic quirks in an entertaining way in his well-known column ‘Zwiebelfisch’ on Spiegel Online, provided the ideal starting point.
“I’ve incorporated online elements into my courses before, but so far mostly for optional extra tasks,” reports Reinken. Designing an entire seminar digitally was a new experience for him too. “I used the Courseware programme, which is available via Stud.IP. It allows you to integrate different types of content, and it’s very intuitive for students to use,” he says.
A varied mix
The weekly modules of the current seminar consist of sets of tasks, embedded specialist texts, links to websites, videos, questionnaires and a quiz. “It’s great that so many different media are being used,” says seminar participant Maximilian Grünwald, a fourth-semester German studies student. In his view, Reinken has done a good job of adapting the course topic for a digital format. Svenja Bredenförder, who is studying German and Biology to become a teacher, also likes the varied mix.
Nevertheless, both miss the discussions and conversations that usually bring seminars to life. “A debate with arguments and counter-arguments isn’t really possible online,” says Grünwald. “Seminars thrive on face-to-face interaction,” adds Bredenförder.
For seminar leader Niklas Reinken, too, it is unusual to communicate with students solely in writing. “In a normal seminar, I can tell from their reactions whether they’re listening attentively or whether they might already be familiar with the topic,” he explains. To get feedback even in the current situation, he has set up an anonymous suggestion box for questions and feedback. “For me, online teaching definitely means more work,” he sums up. Whereas he would normally receive one or two verbal replies to a question, now all 40 participants write back – and expect a reply.
Settling into the online routine
From the students’ perspective, too, there is more to do than usual. In Reinken’s seminar, for example, they have to regularly upload summaries of texts, and posting comments in a forum is also part of the coursework. Bredendörfer spent around eight hours on the assignments in the first week. “You have to write far more than usual,” Grünwald adds. Using a coloured bar, participants can track their learning progress and check whether they are on schedule.
The ability to work whenever it suits them is one of the advantages of online teaching, particularly in asynchronous courses, says Bredenförder. “For example, I can get some work done here when there isn’t so much going on in my other modules at the moment,” she explains. “I like the flexible working hours,” adds Grünwald. Both are, however, still finding their feet in the day-to-day routine of the online semester. “It takes me a bit longer than usual to get back into my studies after the semester break,” says Grünwald, who is studying politics and economics alongside German studies. Svenja Bredenförder is struggling, amongst other things, with unreliable Wi-Fi and the difficulty of concentrating at home. “I usually study at the library quite often,” she explains.
Together with their lecturer, they hope that teaching can return to face-to-face format in the winter semester. Nevertheless, everyone was generally satisfied with the start of the online term. “I was actually pleasantly surprised,” says Grünwald. “You can tell that the lecturers have put a lot of thought into it.”
