In the past two years, due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the associated lockdowns, not only the importance of interpersonal contact but also the indispensability of face-to-face teaching has been repeatedly addressed and discussed. Never before have lecturers had to change and redesign their teaching methods in such a short period of time. Poor Internet connections, difficulties in the technical implementation and the lack of personal exchange made the transfer of knowledge and teaching content more difficult.
For a high-quality university education, face-to-face teaching is considered an extremely important core component. However, digital teaching also brings unexpected advantages and opportunities, demonstrates the Study and Teaching Commission of the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Psychologie (German Psychological Society (DGPs)) in a report for Psychologische Rundschau. Therein, Dr. Anne Gärtner from Technische Universität Dresden explains that digital teaching offers students as well as lecturers new, unprecedented opportunities and brings a completely renewed form of teaching and learning to life: "On the one hand, the flexibility in terms of time and space in work organization is one of the greatest advantages of digital teaching, as not only time but also costs can be saved, for example, by eliminating travel. Lecturers have greater autonomy and can decide for themselves how to manage their time and organize their seminars and lectures. In addition, recorded teaching material can be reused."
Students feel similarly: digital teaching allows them to learn at their own personal pace and repeat recorded lectures as often as necessary. Nevertheless, "face-to-face teaching and digital formats should not be played off against each other," says Dr. Gärtner. "Digital teaching should be seen as a complementary means to further improve the quality of teaching, and the importance of face-to-face teaching should not be forgotten." Because even if online learning brings more advantages than initially expected, the lack of contact between lecturers and students leaves many gaps that cannot be "filled" online. One obvious disadvantage, for example, is the requirement of a stable Internet connection and the necessary technical equipment. Since digital teaching and its technical implementation was still uncharted territory for many, there was accordingly an increased workload, especially in the early days. In addition, one of the main disadvantages is undoubtedly the difficulty of remaining disciplined, focused and motivated in front of one's computer all by oneself over a long period. For students in particular, this requires significantly more self-discipline and organization than in face-to-face courses.
For Dr. Gärtner personally, the biggest disadvantage was not knowing whether she could actually reach her students in her online courses: "However, it turned out that my online seminars and lectures have been very well attended so far, and interaction and exchange have been possible, albeit in a somewhat different form. As well as that has worked out -- my digital seminar was even awarded a teaching prize, which I was particularly pleased about -- I still hope that I will soon be able to discuss things with students together again in the seminar room and conduct exciting experiments in the lab," explains the psychologist.
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