Half-time: Collaboration in the Virtual Classroom

International students present their collaboratively developed solutions

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After the launch of the seminar „Collaboration in the virtual Classroom“ the attending groups presented their ideas for green energy solutions regarding the gas and oil industry in the Middle East. The first round of pitches showed a great variety of proposed solutions that were developed in multinational teams with Students from Shiraz University and TU Dresden as well as Iranian industry experts. Together they experienced real collaboration to solve authentic problems in situative learning scenarios. This demands powerful tool support – like provided with the Microsoft 365 suite including MS Teams as a fully integrated collaboration solution. The Students experienced not just communication in a webinar but a realistic workplace of an international project team. The innovative proposals of the groups will be refined in the next weeks. To deepen the innovative and collaborative character of the seminar the students have to face a review cycle, a dilemma, and critical incidents before the final proposal will be finished.

For more information about our collaboration solution and the virtual collaborative learning check out our blog or get in contact with us.

Konstruktiv und Miteinander: so kann der erfolgreiche Abschluss des digitalen Sommersemesters 2020 gelingen!

Der Corona-bedingte schnelle Shutdown und der Umstieg in die (fast vollständig) digitale Lehre ist gelungen. Um das Semester erfolgreich für die Studierenden beschließen zu können, muss aber auch der Abschluss der digitalen Lernprozesse – die Prüfungen – gelingen. Dafür stehen noch viele Fragen offen. Eine Initiative des E-Learning Beauftragten der Fakultät Wirtschaftswissenschaften gemeinsam mit Studierenden konnte frühzeitig wichtige erste Antworten auf die Frage nach dem Funktionieren von online Klausuren geben.

Alle Zeichen auf digital

In der aktuellen, von vielfältigen Digitalisierungsbemühungen geprägten Zeit des Covid-19 Shutdown an deutschen Universitäten sind good practice Erfahrungsberichte von Akteuren gefragt. Die Anbieter digitaler Plattformen für die Unterstützung von Kommunikations- und Kollaborationsprozessen sind sehr daran interessiert, wie ihre – eigentlich für Unternehmen konzipierten – Werkzeuge jetzt im Hochschulbereich genutzt werden. Die Digitalisierung der Hochschullehre, die bislang kaum Beachtung fand, rückt in den Fokus.

Im verlinkten Interview zeigt Prof. Schoop am Beispiel der TU Dresden auf, wie bereits vor der aktuellen Krise eine sinnvolle Nutzung digitaler Plattformen die Hochschullehre technisch, organisatorisch und vor allen Dingen didaktisch weiterentwickeln kann.

Digital Expert Forum – Virtual Mobility in Albania

Erasmus+ project continues despite the actual situation

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The Expert Forum was attended by 9 universities from 4 different countries (Albania, Slovenia, Italy and Germany). There were 3 meetings from 12-13 May, one for academic staff, one for students and one for Albanian experts and decision makers (Ministry of Education).
In each forum there was a welcome by the TUD of Mattis Altmann, a presentation on the VCL concept by Prof. Schoop and a presentation on the results of the „Albanian Needs Assessment report“ by Dr. Besarta Vladi. Afterwards the discussions of the stakeholder groups started, in which students, academic staff and experts were asked about their opinions, feelings and visions for the VALEU-X project. In an internal meeting after the three expert forums, a first evaluation of the results was carried out in which two points were identified: the recognition of ECTS points in virtual, international teaching-learning arrangements and the lack of appropriate didactic and technical training.
In the following steps of the project the Needs Report will be finalised. Subsequently, an online platform and training materials will be made available as well as a qualification concept for e-tutors. The Albanian partners will get an insight into the VCL operation through a job shadowing and will then hold a pilot VCL seminar with the support of the TUD. Finally, the project will result in a joint development of didactic design patterns which will encourage the Albanian partners to improve their virtual mobility and the related EU exchange independently and continuously.

For a deeper insight check also our Expert Forum Teaser Video

Digital Change: Mit Microsoft Teams im Uni-Rucksack

Seit wenigen Tagen läuft die Lehrveranstaltung „Digital Change: Kompetenzen für das Arbeiten von Morgen.“, die wir gemeinsam mit Dr. Peter Geißler durchführen. Die Studierenden erhalten hierbei die Möglichkeit praxisnaher Lehre. Auf Grund der aktuellen Situation findet die Veranstaltung komplett virtuell statt und die Studierenden erleben die zuvor vermittelte Theorie. Tiefere Eindrücke gibt Dr. Geißler in folgenden Beitrag:

https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:6665487063887953920/

Success at the CVC 2020 Kick Off LiveEvent in MS Teams

Collaboration in the Virtual Classroom – 3 countries and 4 stakeholders in one seminar

This year the knowledge partnership between TU Dresden and Shiraz University has gone into the second round. In addition to the existing partnership between the two universities, industry experts from Iran and observers from the Erasmus+ project are also participating this year. The participants were integrated directly into the kick-off event via a Microsoft Teams Event and showed lively participation

Five moderators and presenters invited all 39 participants to introduce them to their team members and details of this year’s case study. At TUD as well as at SU and in the Erasmus+ project VALEU-X the approach is to generate didactic design patterns in virtual teaching. After a first acquaintance with the VCL (currently the Observers), the participants will actively participate in a VCL (currently the SU) to be able to plan and implement international case study arrangements in virtual teaching and thus promote virtual mobility and internationalization@home.

The well established German- Iranian Relationship between Technische Universität Dresden and Shiraz University builds on last year’s success to further their partnership even in times of social distancing.

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This year, unfortunately, we will be forced to cancel our onsite meetings in Germany or Iran due to COVID19. However, thanks to the commitment of our international partners to virtual teaching, we have been able to cushion this effect and have started a purely virtual seminar this year, which has met with a good response from the participants thus far.

How does it work?

9 Iranian students from Shiraz University, 18 German students from Dresden, 12 Albanian observers from the project VALEU-X and 10 Iranian experts are divided into teams that work together on the case where a project proposal for green solutions in the Oil and gas industry has to be developed as a final artifact. The Experts joined this project to broaden their understanding of the dual education system and build a bridge between case study and real-life business for the students. This synergy is observed by Albanian Partners who whish to implement the VCL concept in their further international exchange programs of their home universities.

Seven qualified E-Tutors support the teams in their journey through the writing process. As the teams work on their proposals and presentations they complete various stages and milestones. This year’s seminar ends with a virtual presentation by each group and a simulated agency jury lead by Prof. Schoop from TU Dresden and Prof. Savafi from Shiraz University as „judges“.

Also interesting:

DAAD Conference Virtual Exchange – Borderless Mobility between the European Higher Education Area and Regions Beyond in Berlin

 

„Run auf Digitalisierungs- experten“ – In der Coronakrise kann es plötzlich nicht schnell genug gehen mit dem Wissenstransfer!

Prof. Schoop und sein Team an der Professur Informationsmanagement der TU Dresden forschen seit 20 Jahren zur Digitalisierung von Lern- und Lehrprozessen. Lange scheinbar „uninteressant“, wird die Expertise jetzt plötzlich verstärkt nachgefragt.

Participation in the Virtual Conference CSEDU 2020 – An Experience Report

Research associate Alexander Clauss took part in the 12th the International Conference on Computer Supported Education, CSEDU. The conference was planned in Prague, but had to be held online from 02.05.-04.05.2020 due to the COVID 19 pandemic. Alexander Clauss presented a collaborative paper written with Dr. Helge Fischer entitled: Design Recommendations For Successful Cross-University Collaborative Group Work – Two Best Practice Cases. The paper was selected out of 190 submissions from 46 countries. The acceptance rate was 23%.

Zoom was used for the virtual conference. Both recorded and live presentations were possible.
Recorded contributions were streamed in Zoom, afterwards the authors were available for questions. The quality of the majority of the presentations was consistently very high and easy to understand.
The sessions were moderated by a session chair and supported by a technical assistant. Technical problems were an exception. Switching between different sessions and rooms was possible without any problems. Questions were possible after the lectures via the chat function or as live messages, but they were mostly limited to simple check-backs and short answers, more detailed discussions hardly ever took place. However, for each article a forum for further discussion was offered on the conference platform. In addition, accompanying SLACK channels were offered in which the participants could exchange information in an uncomplicated and informal manner.

In summary, the transfer of the conference into a virtual environment was very well implemented and followed a very convincing and stable technical concept. A few recorded presentations were difficult to understand because of the audio quality. It might be helpful to introduce quality guidelines for recordings and check if they have been implemented.

A critical point to mention is that the participation fee which was already paid for real participation was not reduced for virtual participation. The full price appears to be very high for a virtual conference. The only reduction offered was a 25% voucher for the follow-up event in 2021.
Grants for participation were applied for in the form of the Graduate Academy’s Travel Award.

Disputation online – rechtssicher und stabil!

Der E-Learning Beauftragte der Fakultät Wirtschaftswissenschaften an der TU Dresden, Prof. Schoop, informiert:
Die aktuellen Restriktionen im Kontext der Corona-Pandemie führten zu einer Pemiere an der Fakultät: die erste online Disputation in einem Promotionsverfahren.

Big Blue Button – Ein Erfahrungsbericht

  

Letzte Woche startete der Kurs Gestaltungsorientierte Forschungsmethoden im Informationsmanagement. Mit einer simplen Anmeldung über das ZIH kann ein Mitarbeiter oder Student einen Raum buchen. Ohne Verzögerung wird durch das ZIH ein Slot generiert und drei Links angeboten. Für Moderatoren, Studierende mit ZIH LogIn und ohne.

Unsere Veranstaltung verlief problemlos an allen Seiten. Wir haben gemeinsam Folien betrachtet und Notizen geteilt. Es gab keine Internetausfälle oder Überlastungen des Systems.