The Covid-19 pandemic forced a significant increase in the rate of adoption of digital and online teaching methodologies in schools and universities – a trend that continues to this day. The question is no longer whether digital media should be used in teaching, but how and when they should be implemented (Lehner, 2018).

Nowadays, it is not enough just to plan purely in-person or purely online teaching sessions. What is needed is a blended approach that makes use of appropriate digital tools and materials to create teaching and learning activities that are independent of the virtual or physical space (Seufert and Meier, 2016). It is crucial to recognize that advances in digitalization have changed and will continue to change the world of education, regardless of the accompanying challenges or benefits. Digitalization creates opportunities to improve the quality of academic teaching and study, it creates scope for action at the level of the individual, it promotes intellectual autonomy and it equips graduates with the knowledge and skills needed for the employment markets of the future (German Science and Humanities Council (Wissenschaftsrat), 2022)

If you're a university teacher or student who needs help navigating the new digital landscape, we've put together information and how-to's to assist you in creating and using modern, digitally-enabled learning environments.

Join our community and get inspired

Help shape innovative approaches to university teaching

The idea to develop a set of modern 'how-to' resource materials covering different aspects of university teaching and learning came about following fruitful exchanges with members of teaching staff at Saarland University who shared their best practice examples with us. These best-practice recommendations were then analysed in terms of the current theoretical and empirical models used in educational and psychological research in order to compile a set of effective, evidence-based how-to's.  We would like to continue this very productive interaction by inviting you to give us feedback on the various how-to guides and by encouraging you to share your ideas on and experiences with digital teaching.

What worked well? What didn't work so well? What would you like to see in future? Get in touch. We're excited to hear your views:  digitalelehre(at)uni-saarland.de

Digital teaching in MS Teams

Anyone interested in the field of digital teaching is invited to join the team Digitale Lehre UdS ('Digital Teaching – Saarland University') in Microsoft Teams. You can join the team by simply entering the following team code in Teams:  24fhh2f    
Here's a quick explanation of how to join a team in Microsoft Teams: MS Teams – First Steps (currently only available in German)

The team has been created as a forum where all those with an interest in digital teaching can share ideas, discuss new developments and post information on relevant internal and external events. Join the discussion! We'd love to hear from you.

Webinars on best practices in e-learning

Save the date! We'd like to invite you to take part in our webinar series on best practices in the field of e-learning. The webinars take the form of presentations given by expert speakers both from within and from outside Saarland University on a broad range of topics in the area of digital teaching.

We try to make time at the end of each presentation for questions and to allow participants to share ideas. Questions of a more general nature on digitalization and digital teaching are also welcome.

The dates and topics of forthcoming webinars will be posted in advance in the Digitale Lehre UdS team in MS Teams.

The digital teaching team and the services we offer

In addition to developing the how-to guides, we can also support you in developing and refining your digital teaching activities. Areas we can help with:

  • Advice on implementing effective digital teaching methodologies
  • Technical advice on creating courses that use digital media
  • Advice on creating digital materials and videos
  • Sharing knowledge and ideas with peers
  • Advice on how to equip spaces for hybrid teaching

If you'd like to learn more, simply email us with what you'd like to discuss: digitalelehre(at)uni-saarland.de. We'll get back to you as soon as possible.

Your contacts

Katharina Kessler (M.A. Digital Media)

Projektkoordination
Geb. A4 4, Zi. 2.04
Tel.: 0681 302-4780
katharina.kessler(at)uni-saarland.de

Dr. Manuela Benick

Teaching Coach
Geb. A4 4 Zi. 2.01 
Tel.: 0681 302-3506 
manuela.benick(at)uni-saarland.de

Dr. Sebastian Höfner

Educational Technologist
Geb. C5.5 Raum 0.03 
Tel.: 0681 302-4535 
sebastian.hoefner(at)uni-saarland.de 

Marc Freiler

Projektassistenz
Geb. A4 4, Zi. 2.01
marc.freiler(at)uni-saarland.de 

Dr. Andreas Korbach

Instructional Designer
Geb. A4 4 Zi. 2.01 
Tel.: 0681 302-2589 
andreas.korbach(at)uni-saarland.de

Yue Zhao (M.Sc. Educational Technology)

Teaching Coach
Geb. A4 2, Zi. 2.15
Tel.: 0681 302-70430
yue.zhao(at)uni-saarland.de