234
J. Schulz et al.
12.2.2 Digital Media and the Resulting Changes in Higher
Education Teaching and Learning
The digitalisation of (higher) education unfortunately remains an issue that fails
to create an optimistic and positive image of the future among the public (Schulz
2018). This is certainly not unfounded and is sometimes important; but as a societal
cross-cutting task, there should at least be a vision for action in the future. However,
digital transformation in education is particularly evident when comparing courses
requiring presence to online courses. The example of “seminar versus webinar”
shows the extent to which change is generally understood. In universities, students
often sit in rows facing the lecturer, with a notebook or tablet on their desks in
front of them, while students interact with teachers or each other, depending on the
nature of the course. The lecturer uses a digital projector to show PowerPoint slides.
The difference to face-to-face courses 20 years ago is astounding: notebooks and
tablets take the place of books and paper; PowerPoint presentations have ousted the
blackboard. Features may, of course, depend on the teacher and the subject culture,
but most courses, whether seminars or lectures, now take place in such a format.
Indeed, recent forecasting using scenario and Delphi techniques suggests that there
will no longer be any pure offline educational situations by 2030 (Köhler et al. 2018,
2019).
Webinars are purely online seminars. They dissolve the physical space of the
course, as both lecturers and students can participate from anywhere. Citizens of the
“global village” come together in a virtual space; link up with knowledge of others
in real time; generate their own knowledge; and finally share that knowledge with
others. On closer inspection, however, most offers are a 1:1 transfer of the seminar
concept to a non-physical space: the lecturer determines the degree of interaction by
assigning rights; students sit (or lie) in front of a computer with an image transfer
of the lecturer and the PowerPoint slides, and note important information in virtual
and/or physical exercise books. Although there has been significant progress with
digitally enhanced courses in terms of participation in educational processes, the
opportunities associated with digital technologies are rarely fully exploited.
As mentioned above, digital teaching and learning technologies also open up new
opportunities for imparting knowledge and learning material. Media didactics differentiate between “traditional” and “new” media formats. Traditional media formats
are understood to be mainly analogue texts, images, graphics, presentations, films,
videos and audio files. In this case, information and communication technologies are
used for unidirectional performance or instruction. Newer mediation formats allow
students to apply knowledge, obtain feedback or interact with fellow students in a
more connectivist, co-constructionist way. As a consequence, the spatial distance is
no longer decisive, but online access and interaction possibilities are
J. Schulz et al.
12.2.2 Digital Media and the Resulting Changes in Higher
Education Teaching and Learning
The digitalisation of (higher) education unfortunately remains an issue that fails
to create an optimistic and positive image of the future among the public (Schulz
2018). This is certainly not unfounded and is sometimes important; but as a societal
cross-cutting task, there should at least be a vision for action in the future. However,
digital transformation in education is particularly evident when comparing courses
requiring presence to online courses. The example of “seminar versus webinar”
shows the extent to which change is generally understood. In universities, students
often sit in rows facing the lecturer, with a notebook or tablet on their desks in
front of them, while students interact with teachers or each other, depending on the
nature of the course. The lecturer uses a digital projector to show PowerPoint slides.
The difference to face-to-face courses 20 years ago is astounding: notebooks and
tablets take the place of books and paper; PowerPoint presentations have ousted the
blackboard. Features may, of course, depend on the teacher and the subject culture,
but most courses, whether seminars or lectures, now take place in such a format.
Indeed, recent forecasting using scenario and Delphi techniques suggests that there
will no longer be any pure offline educational situations by 2030 (Köhler et al. 2018,
2019).
Webinars are purely online seminars. They dissolve the physical space of the
course, as both lecturers and students can participate from anywhere. Citizens of the
“global village” come together in a virtual space; link up with knowledge of others
in real time; generate their own knowledge; and finally share that knowledge with
others. On closer inspection, however, most offers are a 1:1 transfer of the seminar
concept to a non-physical space: the lecturer determines the degree of interaction by
assigning rights; students sit (or lie) in front of a computer with an image transfer
of the lecturer and the PowerPoint slides, and note important information in virtual
and/or physical exercise books. Although there has been significant progress with
digitally enhanced courses in terms of participation in educational processes, the
opportunities associated with digital technologies are rarely fully exploited.
As mentioned above, digital teaching and learning technologies also open up new
opportunities for imparting knowledge and learning material. Media didactics differentiate between “traditional” and “new” media formats. Traditional media formats
are understood to be mainly analogue texts, images, graphics, presentations, films,
videos and audio files. In this case, information and communication technologies are
used for unidirectional performance or instruction. Newer mediation formats allow
students to apply knowledge, obtain feedback or interact with fellow students in a
more connectivist, co-constructionist way. As a consequence, the spatial distance is
no longer decisive, but online access and interaction possibilities are