Online teaching is different: there is no direct contact, some things are more tedious - but there are also advantages. Experiences from a German studies seminar.
In the first few weeks of the current online semester, many courses began with a round of introductions in a chat or web meeting, or alternatively with a welcome video. Lecturer Niklas Reinken had something different in mind for the seminar "Zweifelsfälle des Deutschen": It starts with a YouTube video by author and entertainer Bastian Sick. Reinken, a doctoral candidate in Prof Dr Nanna Fuhrhop's German Linguistics working group at the Institute for German Studies, wants to investigate linguistic disputes with his students in the current semester, such as whether it is called der, die or das Nutella, how to pronounce "König" correctly (with "g" or "ch" at the end?) or whether it is permissible to say "wegen dem Wetter". Bastian Sick, who has been taking the mickey out of linguistic peculiarities in an entertaining way for years in his well-known column "Zwiebelfisch" on Spiegel online, provided the ideal introduction.
"I've incorporated online elements into my courses before, but so far mostly for voluntary additional tasks," reports Reinken. Preparing an entire seminar digitally was also new to him. "I used the Courseware programme, which is available via Stud.IP. It offers the option of integrating different content and is also very intuitive for students to use," he says.
A varied mix
The weekly modules of the current seminar consist of task packages, embedded specialist texts, links to websites, videos, questionnaires and a quiz. "It's great that so many different media are used," says seminar participant Maximilian Grünwald, a fourth-semester German Studies student. From his point of view, Reinken has done a good job of presenting the topic of the course digitally. Svenja Bredenförder, who is studying German and biology to become a teacher, also likes the varied mix.
Nevertheless, they both miss the discussions and conversations that otherwise make seminars lively "Discourse with arguments and counterarguments is not really possible online," says Grünwald. "Seminars thrive on presence," adds Bredendörfer.
It is also unusual for seminar leader Niklas Reinken to only communicate with students in writing. "In a normal seminar, I can tell from their reactions whether they are listening attentively or whether the topic is perhaps already familiar," he says. In order to receive feedback in the current situation, he has set up an anonymous mailbox for questions and re-registering students. "Teaching online definitely means more work for me," he summarises. If he normally receives one or two verbal responses to a question, all 40 participants now write back - and expect an answer.
Settling into everyday online life
From the students' perspective, there is also more to do than usual. In Reinken's seminar, for example, they have to regularly upload summaries of texts, and comments in a forum are also part of the tasks. Bredendörfer spent around eight hours on the tasks in the first week. "You have to write a lot more than usual," Grünwald also reports. Using a coloured bar, participants can track their learning progress and check whether they are on time.
The ability to work when it suits is one of the advantages of online teaching, especially asynchronous courses, says Bredenförder. "For example, I can work in advance when there's not so much going on in other courses," she says. "I think the flexible working hours are good," says Grünwald. However, both are still settling into the daily routine of the online semester. "It's taking me a bit longer than usual to get back into studying after the semester break," says Grünwald, who is also studying Politics and Economics alongside German Studies. Svenja Bredenförder is struggling with unreliable Wi-Fi and the difficulty of concentrating at home, among other things. "I usually study in the library a lot," she reports.
Together with her lecturer, she hopes that teaching can take place in person again in the winter semester. Nevertheless, everyone was generally satisfied with the start of the online semester. "I was pleasantly surprised," says Grünwald. "You can see that the lecturers have put a lot of thought into it."
