Digital teaching

Teaching in Higher Education faces the challenge of engaging students with diverse learning backgrounds and life circumstances. Online teaching offers additional opportunities in this regard: students can work through asynchronous learning units at their own pace or participate in online live sessions from home.

At TU Hamburg, two central systems are available for this purpose:

• The university’s learning platform for asynchronous learning phases
• Video conferencing systems (Zoom or BigBlueButton) for synchronous online sessions

The combination of these systems enables the use of diverse didactic methods and the presentation of learning content in various formats.

Teachers often face various challenges in face-to-face teaching:

• Students come with very different levels of prior knowledge, leading some to feel overwhelmed while others are underchallenged
• Complex subject matter can be difficult to convey in an accessible way
• It is not always easy to engage students actively and maintain their participation throughout the course

Digital tools can provide valuable support in addressing these issues, for example:

• Multimedia representations help to illustrate abstract concepts more clearly
• Interactive tasks enable students to check and reflect on their own understanding
• Online materials can be used by students for self-paced preparation and review

To support the selection of appropriate digital tools, the ZLL, HOOU, and data centre have developed a digital tool guide for teaching. This guide presents specific use cases for a variety of tools tailored to different teaching scenarios

At the ZLL, we provide guidance on how the use of digital tools can meaningfully enhance face-to-face teaching.

Students in their first semester often face two main challenges:

• Developing effective strategies for independent learning
• Managing different levels of background knowledge, which can affect how easily students engage with the material

A well-structured phase of self-directed learning can help ease this transition. Clearly defined tasks and learning objectives support students in establishing regular learning habits and systematically addressing knowledge gaps.

The learning platform at TU Hamburg can assist students in evaluating their own learning process and working in a targeted manner to close specific gaps, for example through:

• Self-assessment tools to check current knowledge levels

• Online exercises with immediate feedback

• Learning modules for independently revising basic knowledge

• Regular surveys to monitor learning progress

Digital teaching not only changes the way learning content is taught and learned. It also impacts how assessments, tests and feedbacks are designed. For this reason, the use of digital technologies should always be considered in the planning of (digital) teaching.

Regular online tests support continuous learning. They help students to assess their level of knowledge and identify gaps at an early stage. For teachers, they provide valuable insights into the learning progress of the group. Digital feedback can be provided in real time and take various forms – from automated responses to personalised comments from teachers. Audio response systems also promote critical engagement with the learning material.

At the ZLL, we offer guidance on how digital tests and feedback can be effectively integrated into teaching and contribute to student success.

AI has become a regular part of our everyday lives. 

As a result, integrating AI into higher education is becoming increasingly important. AI is changing the way teaching and learning take place and is also influencing assessment formats and evaluation methods. To enable students to develop a sound understanding of the technological foundations – as well as the opportunities and risks associated with AI – a comprehensive engagement with the topic is essential. This includes technical aspects as well as ethical and societal developments.

In this context, Hamburg University of Technology (TU Hamburg) has published the guide "AI-Tools for teaching and learning. It serves as a point of orientation and includes potential teaching scenarios, requirements for examiners, and both fundamental and legal considerations.

The ZLL also addresses AI as a cross-cutting theme within its professional development programmes. In addition, Multimedia Kontor Hamburg (MMKH) currently offers training sessions on various AI generators. Tailored advisory services on these technologies are also available to partner institutions within the Hamburg higher education network.