Covid Measures At Universities: Digitize Or Surrender?

Due to the highly virulent and infectious nature of COVID-19, many countries in Europe, including the German-speaking region (Germany, Austria, and Switzerland) have included among the preventive measures several restrictions. Such include all large gatherings of people to be prohibited and a minimum distance of at least six feet to be maintained between each individual. Due to the restrictions set in place, universities within the German-speaking region have taken several preventive measures including all on-site lectures and teaching to be forbidden or postponed until the beginning of the school holidays, in addition to most of the staff being relocated to working at home. All unessential meetings are cancelled or done remotely as a means to prevent further spreading of COVID-19. Furthermore, libraries, cafeterias, and research facilities on campus are to either work at reduced opening hours or close until further notice, with similar measures being taken for gyms or computer centers. Apart from the previously-mentioned measures, institutions of higher education have also cancelled or postponed all traveling of staff. In addition, all staff, students or guests returning from areas that have been affected by COVID-19 are requested to remain at home and monitor symptoms for a period of two weeks and to contact their doctor if any symptoms show. The Deutscher Akademischer Austauschdienst (DAAD) has stated that individual scholarships for studying in Germany will be unavailable for the summer semester of 2020. In addition, students who have received their scholarship yet cannot return to their home country due to travel restrictions; they can apply for an extension of their scholarship until travel restrictions are lifted. Similarly, ERASMUS students who have chosen to return to their home countries are highly recommended to do so with the option of having travel expenses reimbursed.

Each of the universities within the region has implemented these or other measures to various degrees depending on their location and the severity of the preventive actions taken within the country. For instance, the institutions of higher education in Austria and Switzerland have completely closed down until further notice due to the pandemic. Similar is the situation within Bavaria, Bremen, Hamburg, Hesse, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Lower Saxony, North Rhine-Westphalia, Rhineland-Palatinate, Saarland, Saxony-Anhalt, Schleswig-Holstein and the city of Berlin, with only selected universities such as the University of Heidelberg closing down. However, most of the institutions of higher education have chosen to maintain a moderate form of social distance by following the previously-mentioned measures. Examples include the GISMA Business School, the Berlin School of Business and Innovation, the Technical University of Munich, the Free University of Berlin, the University of Göttingen, and the Baden-Württemberg Cooperative State University. Yet, one should bear in mind that due to the evolving nature of the pandemic and the subsequently changing situations within the affected countries, there is a possibility of more institutions of higher education to close down or tighten preventive measures. Regardless of the level of strictness of the preventive measures, universities tend to be severely affected as the pandemic causes unwelcome setbacks both to staff and students. This particularly applies to students to whom the preventive measures can become an inconvenience in terms of study and credits.

Due to the pandemic and the preventive measures that different countries including Germany, Switzerland and Austria have taken, a safe yet effective alternative needs to be taken by the institutions of higher education. At numerous higher education institutions, this alternative takes the form of digitizing as much of the activities pertaining to both students and administration as possible. In this regard, use is made of different digital means. Prior to implementing them, some essential factors need to be considered first.

Digital alternatives can be worthwhile particularly in times of quarantine, however proper implementation is essential. Therefore, proper consideration of several key factors must be done. Factors which must be considered to prevent disabling setbacks for both staff and students include desired outcome, efficiency of digital platform in delivering the desired outcome, affordability, limitations of platform, level of interactivity and engagement, and design simplicity.

When asking whether one or more platforms will be suitable for the institution of higher education’s task, desired outcome should be the first key factor to be considered, with notable details including the target group that will be using the platform and what goal should be accomplished. For instance, if a certain application is to be used by students, the institutions of higher education should consider whether the platform is meant to assist in sharing knowledge or providing aid in matters relating to the handling of bureaucracy, for example in the context of applying for admission. Once the desired outcome has been determined, design simplicity should be determined next. In this regard, it is important that the functionality of the platform is examined, including ease of navigation and userfriendliness. The simpler and more streamlined the design of the examined platform, the less confusing and more worthwhile the application. Once design simplicity has been examined, focus should be placed on the limitations of the analyzed platform. For instance, careful consideration should be given regarding whether the platform can meet all needs and to what degree each of the desired outcomes is met. To this end, several test trials should be conducted, including having the program perform daily tasks such as calculating exam results, organizing events, and others.

In regards to selecting a platform meant to share knowledge, careful analysis should be done regarding the level of interactivity and engagement. Lastly, when a platform is considered, affordability should be taken into account. This includes whether the platform is free to use or requires a paid subscription and what features it includes. Based on these factors, it should be determined if the platform is worth investing in.

A higher education institution’s day-to-day operations encompass many aspects apart from sharing knowledge via teaching of students and the conduct of research. While not all areas of an institution of higher education’s organization can be practiced via digital means, there are certain vital ones that can be digitalized completely or to a certain degree. The essential aspects of higher education and university management that can and should be practiced via digital means include teaching students via online real-time lectures, videos or interactive tests. In addition, certain aspects of administration within the university can also be digitized, including filling in and analyzing applications/admissions, tracking student progress, sharing/filling in of documents such as accounting bills, quality assurance (e.g., checking exam results), managing human resources (e.g., paid or sick leaves, hiring) and research administration (e.g., publishing new research results or publications). Both essential and non-essential meetings pertaining to matters such as the curriculum, finance or others can also be held via social platforms that provide an option for holding group conversations both with and without visual contact via camera in addition to permitting the sharing of documents or showing of charts via screen sharing. To a certain degree research can also be conducted through digital means although not all forms of research permit such digitalization. For instance, certain experiments may not be conductible via digital means such as computer programs, particularly if the equipment involved requires the presence of one or more researchers in the area. However, analysis of certain results from previous research which requires a suitably powerful computer can be done only through digital means. Similarly, student and administrative support can also be provided via digital means.

There are several digital alternatives that can assist institutions of higher education in ensuring that aspects such as teaching students continue their due course despite the preventive measures warranting social distance and quarantine. For instance, lectures can be held in real time via social contact platforms such as Skype or Dingtalk, which permit both face-to-face communications via camera and sharing of computer screens. Lessons can also be shared and listened to in real time via educational platforms such as Alison and LabXchange, with digital content being created through applications such as EdPuzzle, Wildfire, and Kaltura. Assessments and examinations can also be conducted using platforms such as Google Classroom or Kahoot, with some applications permitting lecturers to perform the examination in real time as a means of evaluating students’ actual knowledge and skills. Students can also continue to prepare for exams and studies via programs such as KnowledgeGuru. This can be accomplished by completing quizzes regarding one or more subjects, by participating in games that involve the usage of knowledge on certain topics, as well as by using flashcards, mindmaps and other means of learning and retaining information.

In terms of performing administration tasks such as processing student admissions and applications or other documents such as timetables, universities have a relatively broad range of selections including Google Documents. Meetings between staff in a similar manner to lectures can be held from a distance using Skype, Dingtalk or other applications due to the option of visual contact via camera and document sharing. Tracking student progress and achievements can be accomplished from a distance via platforms such as Schoology or Mastery Connect. For instance, Master Connect can aid in tracking student progress by assisting instructors in identifying a student’s level of understanding in addition to disaggregating data by student performance and standard mastery, thus making formative assessments straightforward and efficient. It furthermore permits a time-efficient form of bubble sheet scoring through the use of a web camera and the uploading of rubrics for easy scoring. In addition, instructors can determine mastery standards for all forms of performance-based assessment. There is also the option for common assessment sharing and comparison analysis.

Each institution of higher education has a different approach regarding the digital alternatives used and the digitalization of aspects of university organization. For instance, the Baden-Württemberg Cooperative State University has stated that online and self-study are available and that written examinations in the form of assignments, project papers, bachelor/master theses can be turned in on time by getting in touch with the heads of department via email or telephone and asking for an extension of the deadlines. The University of Göttingen has opted to have students study online using the web conference applications Adobe Connect and DFNconf, with instructions being provided for both instructors and students. In addition, conferences at the university can be held either via video conference or by opting to use larger rooms and a restricted number of participants. The University’s faculties furthermore are willing to offer the conduct of oral examinations for individual areas via video and audio transmission. Similarly, they provide access to electronic journals and books via the usage of HAN (Home Area Network) or VPN (Virtual Private Network). The Free University of Berlin, for instance, has opted to convert their orientation program to a digital event via the Distributed Campus portal. The Technical University of Munich has decided to increase the server capacity of their systems as a temporary alternative until a long-term offline option has been constructed and prepared.

The outbreak of the coronavirus has resulted into the necessity for universities to postpone or cancel social events such as lectures until the latter half of April with the possibility of further extending the date. In addition, institutions of higher education are ready and willing to make further changes should such measures prove to become inefficient, including canceling the summer semester. Whether such measures will be necessary will depend on how the pandemic progresses.