Successful online summer semester for University of Applied Sciences students

University of Applied Sciences Professor Dr. Uwe Heil, professor for marketing/marketing research at the University of Applied Sciences Kufstein Tirol surveyed all students of the University of Applied Sciences in Kufstein about their opinions and thoughts regarding virtual teaching. The result was quite positive, “The quality of our teaching and thus the education of our students is our highest priority. The survey verified that in spite of the restrictions caused by corona the summer semester went very well as a whole, and the students were generally glad that all courses were held, said Heil reporting about the results of the survey.

Online teaching is going much better than expected!

The University of Applied Sciences in Kufstein was able to switch to distance-learning in a very short time thanks to the good digital infrastructure and the dedication of all administrative and teaching members of the university of applied sciences staff. Online lectures were held with the help of conference systems, especially Microsoft Teams. This gave students some advantages such as more flexible time management because the lectures were recorded. “Recorded lectures were able to be watched several times, which gave me more independent time management. And I was effectively able to invest a large part of the time that I would have spent driving to the University of Applied Sciences into the study program,” says a bachelor student from Munich with a very positive look at the past summer semester.

Personal contact and individual interaction was also possible at any time because of the conference system, “Thanks to MS Teams, I was able to contact my teachers at any time, and discussions with other people were also possible,” said a surveyed master student from the Kufstein District as he emphasized the advantages of online teaching.

However, the most valuable thing for students was the fact that in spite of the pandemic the summer semester was able to be completely finished including all tests. “The digital lectures were even specially marked in the FH App afterwards,” said a participant as she praised the professionalism of the University of Applied Sciences Kufstein Tirol.

Distance learning 2.0

The survey confirmed that the efforts of everyone involved were successful. The learning affects that occurred for teachers and the results of the survey represent valuable feedback for the management. “We are not under the impression that we will have to completely switch courses at the University of Applied Sciences to online teaching again. But if it comes to that, we are very well prepared,” says University of Applied Sciences Professor Dr. Mario Döller who is already looking forward to the upcoming winter semester with significantly more courses in the classroom.

This is how it will go

The experience from the online teaching in the past summer semester 2020 showed that education at the University of Applied Sciences Kufstein Tirol can continue with a high level of safety and quality even in times of crisis. As a University of Applied Sciences with a practical, personal approach, the goal is to mainly conduct the upcoming winter semester once again in a classroom format* on campus. The highest priority is still the safety and health of students and members of the staff, which is why the University of Applied Sciences in Kufstein will strictly comply with the statutory regulations.

*subject to state and federal laws