Technical Aspects

At Leuphana, hybrid teaching means synchronous teaching with participants on site and participants connected online. This means that some of the students are on campus and participate in the course, while others are present via a meeting room, e.g. via the Zoom video conferencing service. This results in a variety of interaction options that can vary depending on the course and the didactic setting.

In order to hold a course in the hybrid format, it is necessary to create the following infrastructure in addition to the installed room camera and directional microphone:

• Set up a Zoom video conference and provide the access data to the participants who are connected online.
• Connecting the USB cable to a computer to feed the image and sound of the room into the video conference.
• Connecting (the same) computer via HDMI or VGA to project the video conference in the room itself.

The newly purchased and installed equipment in the rooms on campus is supervised and maintained by the AVM's colleagues, who have provided a compilation of the technical equipment. Nevertheless, it may be advisable to include student co-moderators during the planning of your hybrid scenarios, who will keep an eye on the smooth running of the session.

84 rooms on campus are now equipped with video technology for hybrid events. A brief guide on how to use the technology is also available in each room. Additional mobile cameras (with tripod) and meeting owls are available for loan from the AVM team for the duration of your meeting.

Under what conditions may image and sound be transmitted? Basically the following applies: Image and sound are not recorded. The data may not be stored and processed manually. It is not permitted to record the non-publicly spoken word of others without authorisation; this constitutes a violation according to § 201 para. 1 no. 1 StGB. Please point this out to the participants of your event.

As already mentioned, only those courses in which discussions are desired and required may have a hybrid structure. Audio and video transmissions of students on site are only permitted for the times in which the participants actually interact with each other. If, for example, you are giving a lecture, please make sure that the camera is not pointed at the participants in attendance.

Students who are online should switch on their camera and sound. However, they must also be allowed to participate in the course without using a camera or microphone via the video conferencing system (§2(2)3.d). In any case, it is necessary that you secure the videoconferencing system with a password and provide your students with this password for their participation.

Hint: Talk to your students in the first session about what it is like for you to look at a screen with black tiles. Together with your students, create rules for the hybrid course. Ideally, teachers create rules for the hybrid course together with the students. The recommendations for an open and fair digital teaching and learning culture, which were developed jointly by teachers and students at the beginning of the winter semester 20/21, are also helpful for this.

The processing of personal data during the transmission of images and sound is carried out in accordance with the legal requirements. In order to ensure the greatest possible transparency, you will find more detailed information on this in the data protection information for hybrid courses (available only in German).