Digital university teaching: Cooperation as the key to success!

Digital university teaching: Cooperation as the key to success!

In the age of digitalization, the educational landscape has undergone a noticeable change. An outstanding example of this is the Co3Learn project, which was launched in 2021 and runs until December 2025. The universities of Braunschweig, Göttingen and Hanover are working together to provide digital tools and infrastructure for cooperative and collaborative learning. Loud TU Braunschweig A central finding of the project is that good tools alone are not enough; What is crucial is the joint development and anchoring of these tools in the respective curricula.

Co3Learn, which stands for “Communication”, “Cooperation” and “Collaboration”, follows a systematic approach to surveying needs and testing solutions together with the target groups. This integrative approach promotes the connection between technical infrastructure and didactic design in educational institutions. Another location advantage of the project is the close coordination with IT departments, teachers and service facilities, which is viewed as an integral part of all processes.

Digital infrastructures as key

The further development of the Academic Cloud by the Society for Scientific Data Processing mbH Göttingen (GWDG) contributes significantly to the implementation of the project. It is essential that digital tools are low-threshold and can be integrated didactically. Experience shows that collaborative learning works well when the technical infrastructure is reliable.

Co3Learn has also recognized the potential of location-independent teaching as an opportunity to develop innovative didactic concepts. What is also pleasing is the establishment of initial networks among teachers, which promotes interest in cross-location exchange.

Open educational resources and infrastructure

Another important aspect in the digitalization of education is the provision of open educational resources (OER). A sub-project within the EduArc project is conducting research into this under the coordination of the German Institute for International School and Educational Research (DIPF). This project aims to create an infrastructure for the cross-functional provision of OER. It addresses central questions regarding the design of an infrastructure that meets didactic, organizational and IT criteria.

The focus is on the analysis and specification of interfaces, the development of metadata standards and the investigation of the use of educational resources in teaching. Particular attention will be paid to the challenges of disseminating OER in an open university ecosystem.

The interdisciplinary project is closely linked to country-specific, national and international developments and is divided into several work packages. This includes, among other things, conducting case studies, developing an infrastructure model or quality assurance of open educational resources. This is necessary to promote the use of educational resources in a targeted manner and to ensure their quality.

In conclusion, it can be said that digitalization in education not only requires technical solutions, but also a fundamental cultural change in teaching and learning practices. In this context, the aim is to develop digital university teaching as a collaborative design process using the results from Co3Learn and other projects. Further information can be found in the dossier “Digital Collaboration”, which brings together perspectives and practical experiences from Co3Learn, and the booklet “Better together – digital collaboration in university teaching”, which offers practical tools and materials.