Impressions of the digital semester at Karlsruhe University of Applied Sciences

Cover picture:
Online lecture by Prof. Dr. Peter Henning at Karlsruhe University of Applied Sciences I Photo: Sandra Zahneißen

The semester officially started in Baden-Württemberg at the beginning of this week. However, some universities are already in the midst of digital teaching. Professor Peter A. Henning from Karlsruhe University of Applied Sciences takes stock for karlsruhe.digital.

“According to the Baden-Württemberg Ministry of Science and the Arts, the summer semester began for many universities on April 20. However, thanks to the digital expertise in the Karlsruhe technology region, we are already much further ahead here.

The Faculty of Computer Science and Information Systems at Karlsruhe University of Applied Sciences began its summer semester as normal on March 16, 2020 – and has been running its almost full lecture schedule in digital form ever since. A variety of technologies are being used: video conferencing and livestreams from the professors’ home offices, recorded lectures from an empty lecture hall, content on the university’s central ILIAS learning platform as well as instant messengers and chats to communicate with students are suddenly playing an important role.

The offer has been very well received by the students. “It’s great that new media are being used in this situation,” says a computer science student at . “The mix of camera and slides is great because the personal and social aspect is still there “.

But the online lectures provided for later download at are also well received: “The recordings allow me to adjust the playback speed, so I’m currently learning even more efficiently with the recordings at than with live lectures, of course also because I can choose times at home when I can concentrate.”

Of course, this was only possible thanks to the great commitment of all teaching staff and employees. And it is based on years of experience in the field of digital education, so that Dean Prof. Nees can say with a clear conscience: “You have been able to study here almost regularly for 5 weeks now”. As the other faculties at Karlsruhe University of Applied Sciences have also become active with numerous digital offerings, the entire university can now be considered a beacon example of digital transformation.”