In February 2020, everyone was still hoping that the Corona virus would soon be contained. But soon the pandemic had spread across national borders and presented the world with completely new challenges. At TU Ilmenau, too, everything changed as if overnight ...
"In March 2020, the first lock-down occurred and we had to adjust to a whole new situation," TU President Kai-Uwe Sattler recalls. "On March 23, 2020, TU went into emergency mode and temporarily stopped face-to-face teaching."
Conversion to online teaching in the shortest time possible
Immediately, a crisis team with representatives of the faculties and central structural units had been formed, which took all necessary decisions for the further work in the entire university operation as effectively and quickly as possible. A Corona website was set up, the student council opened a Telegram channel on which all information was made available to students on a daily basis.
Most importantly, all faculties and departments were working feverishly on setting up and expanding digital courses in order to be able to run the 2020 summer semester as a completely online semester. "Fortunately, even before the Corona pandemic, the University had been working on the issue of digitising courses for students," he said. "This relates to the provision of IT services by the University Computing Centre and advice on their use in teaching by the Central Institute of Education, as well as the teaching formats of the faculties. "Nevertheless, the proportion of digital teaching at that time was only about 30 per cent, because normally we are a face-to-face university."
Great efforts were made to expand digital formats in order to fully secure teaching in the summer semester of 2020.
In the process, various usage scenarios of online teaching were established:
- Lecture as video recording,
- lectures via live video stream,
- virtual exercises/seminars with interaction possibilities such as chats, breakout rooms or voting tools
- virtual learning rooms for students
- virtual individual or group consultations with lecturers.
The technical requirements including streaming possibilities in the lecture halls were available in basic form at the TU Ilmenau and enabled the recording of lectures, exercises and practical courses. In addition, the following technological platforms were provided university-wide or newly acquired:
- Moodle (as an online learning platform),
- OpenCast (as a video management platform with Moodle integration),
- NextCloud (as a file sharing platform),
- Cisco WebEx (as a collaboration platform for online teaching, video/audio conferencing, online training, online meetings, online events) and
- Vimeo (as a video management platform).
In order to be able to use these technological possibilities quickly and comprehensively for teaching, the five faculties received special funds from the state of Thuringia in the amount of 40,000 euros each in order to be able to procure the necessary equipment for the implementation of digital courses.
Effective infection control concept
Parallel to the development of the new courses, work was carried out on a sustainable infection control concept. Distance and hygiene regulations were followed by the compulsory use of protective masks in all buildings, the marking of the occupiable seating capacity in the lecture halls and seminar rooms and an electronic contact data collection system using QRonitron. For months, the refectory and cafeterias sold only outside or were closed. In the winter semester, the cafeteria was able to offer lunch service again under conditions such as mouth guards, spacing regulations, and cashless payment with the Thoska card. In order to enable the University's employees to work from home on a mobile basis, appropriate service agreements were concluded and the virtual desktop infrastructure, with which employees can access their familiar desktop environment from home, was continuously expanded. 500 service laptops were provided and protective masks were issued for all employees and for students. "This has prevented the development of infection chains at the university to date, despite isolated CoVid19 cases," said TU Ilmenau Chancellor Dennys Klein.
Hope for face-to-face teaching in the winter semester
The measures taken by the federal government, states, districts, cities and companies initially showed success, and after a decline in the infection rate, relaxations were allowed throughout Germany over the summer months of 2020. At TU Ilmenau, too, there was renewed hope of a gradual return to face-to-face study. "The experiences from the summer semester 2020 had shown that, on the one hand, digital teaching opens up new possibilities, but on the other hand, the personal exchange between teachers and students or between students among themselves is missing. Especially students in the first semester thus had hardly any opportunities to get to know fellow students or lecturers in person," says the Vice President for Education, Prof. Anja Geigenmüller. "In addition, there is teaching content that can only be taught virtually to a limited extent. This is especially true for the internships and lab work that are typical in engineering courses. That's why we initially planned the 2020/21 winter semester according to the principle of 'presence before online', but kept a complete digital range of courses available so that we were able to adapt to the situation at any time." The principle of "presence before online" was followed in particular for the first to third semesters of the Bachelor's programmes and the first semester of the Master's programmes.
Lecturers were asked to present their courses as Moodle courses. Modules and module descriptions as well as access to Moodle courses were linked via the electronic timetabling system Open Timetable so that students could access course content at any time and from anywhere.
No disadvantages for students
However, it soon became apparent that the next lock-down was inevitable, and at the beginning of December it was a case of everything going back to online teaching. In order to be able to hold at least the examinations in presence form, the infection protection regulations had to be strictly adhered to. The start of the examination period was postponed by three weeks, and the examination period was extended until 24 April 2021. The statutes on the "Special Regulations for Studies, Examinations and Doctoral Studies due to the Virus SARS-CoV-2 Pandemic" were updated, and the so-called "cancellation rule" introduced in the summer semester 2020 was retained. According to this rule, students can have their examination performances declared as "not undertaken" upon application and without giving reasons. Professor Geigenmüller: "The Corona pandemic is a great challenge not only for all areas of the university, but also for the students. It demands a great deal of effort from students to keep track of various courses, technical requirements, content, assignments and deadlines. Studying online requires a high level of motivation and self-discipline, especially when you have little contact with other students and are always on your own. The situation is particularly problematic for our international students. They have hardly any chance of organising their studies abroad in such a way that they really experience Germany. The great advances in a digital university teaching are contrasted by the realisation that university is more than lectures and exercises. It is a place where teachers and learners acquire, expand and apply knowledge together. And this togetherness cannot be adequately provided by a purely virtual world."
As the pandemic situation in Germany worsened again in March 2021, examinations were only allowed in presence in exceptional cases from 12 April. Thanks to the commitment of the staff in the University Computer Centre, the Legal Department, the Data Protection Department and the faculties, an "examination Moodle" was set up very quickly, which allowed examinations in the form of homework or seminar papers to be carried out from home. The changeover to these examination scenarios was not without problems in all cases. But here, too, new perspectives emerged as to how the repertoire of competence-oriented forms of examination could be enriched by digital forms, at least for some subject disciplines.
Third Corona semester begins with emergency brake
After two predominantly digital semesters, the third semester under Corona conditions began on April 26, 2021 - in the midst of the third wave of the pandemic and shortly after the federal emergency brake went into effect. While schools were banned from face-to-face classes above an incidence level of 165, the situation at universities remained unclear. University presidents and science ministers of the federal states appealed to the federal politicians to create clarity for university teaching on the one hand and to continue to allow research activities, activities in laboratories and practical training components in face-to-face form on the other. The service agreement on mobile working during the Corona pandemic was adapted to the requirements applicable nationwide. According to this agreement, employers are obliged to offer home office to their employees, who in turn have to give reasons if they do not want to or cannot take up the offer.
On 24 April, a Corona test centre opened in the campus sports hall, which is also open to students and staff. This has enabled laboratory practicals, in particular, to be made possible again, as everyone has access to appropriate testing facilities.
Balancing health protection and study progress
Against the background of the unclear regulations for the university sector, the TU Ilmenau planned the new semester by weighing up the protection of the health of employees and students against the interests of the progress of studies. Lectures, exercises and seminars in presence were prohibited until further notice and replaced by online offerings. Examinations, especially final examinations, and practical courses requiring work in a laboratory or similar facility continued to be permitted in face-to-face form, subject to strict compliance with the applicable infection control measures. However, they must now be notified in advance to the respective dean's office.
Outstanding performance
The challenge of the "Corona pandemic" continues at the start of the 2021 summer semester, but unlike last year, the University can build on what it has achieved. According to the President: "Thanks to the tireless efforts of our staff and students, the University has managed to overcome the difficult situation over the past two semesters. We have managed to push ahead with digitisation in the shortest possible time in such a way that we have not only been able to secure teaching, research and the entire university operations, but also to maintain them at a high level. That was a great achievement, for which you all deserve thanks and recognition."
The hope of being able to return to normal conditions in teaching, research and administration and technology now rests on the second half of the year or the winter semester 2021/22. But this time the prospects are significantly better, because according to the motto inoculate, test, follow up, the turnaround is getting closer. TU Ilmenau will continue to benefit from the experience gained during the pandemic and the progress made in the field of digitalisation as a result of major joint efforts in the post-Corona period. Several departments have successfully applied for funding projects to further develop digitally enriched teaching. This can provide valuable impulses for fulfilling the university's demand for contemporary and high-quality teaching.