Eight rooms in the Provision Building are equipped with cameras and microphones, enabling synchronous hybrid seminars. In addition, in exceptional cases, a mobile set is available, which can be borrowed for a seminar in the Provision Building. For this, we use a Logitech Rally with 2-4 Mirtofonen - depending on room size - each time.
The following rooms are equipped (number of seats according to Corona regulations):

• VG 1.103 with 56 seats
• VG 1.104 with 48 seats
• VG 1.105 with 40 seats
• VG 1.108 with 36 seats
• VG 2.104 with 16 seats
• VG 3.104 with 24 seats
• VG 3.105 with 20 seats
• VG 4.101 with 85 seats
• VG 4.102 with 24 seats
• VG 4.104 with 16 seats

How can I book one of the equipped rooms: If you want to use the technology for your already registered courses in the Provision Building, please inform the central room booking office (raumvergabe@zvw.uni-goettingen.de). They will then try to arrange a room swap for you.

How can I use the booked room: The rooms are locked when not in use. The security staff in the VG will open the room for the booked times.
If you want to test the technology in advance, please schedule a test appointment with Frau Hoffmann, the security officer. She will unlock the room for you. Please ensure sufficient lead time and note that the security staff cannot provide technical support.

Security Staff Provision Building
Phone: 0551 / 39-24404
margret.hoffmann@uni-goettingen.de

Important: You cannot book rooms through the security gate! Always contact raumvergabe@zvw.uni-goettingen.de first

What do I need to do to use the technology? The Logitech Rally is a self-contained system with camera, microphones, and speakers. It is connected to the computer via USB. Normally, the system is directly connected to the lecture hall PC. However, you can also use your own laptop. The Logitech Rally behaves like a normal microphone, webcam, and headset to the computer. You only need to check or set the settings on your computer:

• Set the audio output (speakers) to Logitech Rally and adjust the volume.
• Select the camera (Logitech Rally) in the conference software and allow access.
• Select the microphone (Logitech Rally) in the conference software and allow access.
• Depending on the system, you may need to select the microphone in the audio settings and adjust the level.

An instruction manual for the lecture hall PCs is available in the room.

How can I borrow one of the mobile units: This option should only be used if a room swap is not possible. There are sufficient microphones available in the equipped rooms, so the effort there is minimal for you. This is not the case with the mobile unit.
The mobile Logitech Rally is stored in two equipment cases. There is an instruction manual for setup. However, you will need to find your way around initially. Plan at least 30 minutes of preparation time for the first session. Ideally, you have the support of one of your SHKs or staff members.

Due to the effort involved in setup and teardown, we have decided to install most of the equipment in the above-mentioned rooms in the Provision Building. The one remaining unit can be borrowed from the Multimedia team in the building management. To ensure it benefits as many people as possible, borrowing is only possible for individual specific appointments and not for extended periods. Please contact Multimedia in advance if you need the equipment (thomas.fritsch@zvw.uni-goettingen.de).

Additionally, several faculties and institutions have purchased their own equipment. Please check with your academic dean's office to see if suitable equipment is available.

Are you interested in purchasing your own mobile equipment? We are happy to share our experiences with you (dirk.lanwert@uni-goettingen.de).

Several faculties have enhanced the equipment of their teaching rooms for the winter semester.

• The Faculty of Agricultural Sciences has equipped 16 rooms with cameras and microphones.
• The Faculty of Physics has newly equipped several lecture halls.
• The Faculty of Economics and Business Administration has equipped several rooms in the Oeconomicum with cameras and microphones.

Please contact your academic dean's office if you need further information.

We recommend first clarifying who among the participants wants to attend in-person sessions and who does not want or cannot. You can then divide the rest of the group using one of the following methods:

The classic: Form cohorts by alphabet. The cohorts remain the same. For example, cohort A-L always attends in even weeks, while cohort M-Z attends in odd weeks.

Free lists: For each session, participants register themselves in a simple list. You can create this list in the Wiki in StudIP or in EtherPad or StudIPad. The participants themselves are responsible for adhering to the maximum number of participants. The list is editable by anyone at any time. Checking who changed what is only possible with effort through version control.

Groups in StudIP: You can directly create a group in StudIP for each in-person session, into which students can register themselves. The advantage of this method is that you can set the maximum number of participants per group or session: Once this limit is reached, no further registrations for that session can be made. You can,

• activate all sessions for the semester and allow participants to register for any number of groups ("self-registration in all groups").
• only activate the next two sessions (if you are working with two groups) - for example, week 45 and week 46 - and allow "self-registration in only one group." This requires more clicks from you, as once the session for week 46 is over, you must manually activate the session for week 47 and 48 so that students can again choose from two sessions. This way, you maintain an overview of all participants and ensure a fair distribution of in-person times.

You can find instructions for creating and managing groups in StudIP on the Stud.IP help pages.

Group representatives: Another option is that not the entire (sub)group attends the in-person session, but only a representative. This variant is suitable, for example, to present the group's work results or to take on a specific role on behalf of the group during simulations.

In the context of hybrid courses - especially with public participation - data processing occurs due to the transmission, so data protection regulations must be observed. Unlike purely online events, those present in the room can usually not individually avoid the transmission. Therefore, if students are transmitted in image and/or sound, the following rules must be followed:

• Students must be able to choose between participating online or in person.
• Students must be clearly informed in advance that audio and/or video transmission will take place during the course, and participation in person is considered consent to the transmission of image and/or sound.
• If individual students do not consent to the transmission of image and sound, they can participate in the course online and turn off their camera image and/or audio.
• Consent to transmission does not automatically include the right to recording. For recordings, we refer to our Guidelines on Personal Rights in Image and Audio Recordings

The "inverted classroom" describes a methodology that, when fully applied, means shifting content delivery to "homework/self-study" and implementing application/active engagement or discussion of learning content in person.
In a scaled-down version, this could now look like this: the content is provided as a recording, while the discussion/application is conducted in person and/or synchronously in BBB or Zoom. Further support should be offered asynchronously via the Stud.IP forum or emails.

This format is based on a lecture in person (which is streamed), a small discussion round in person, and a group online. During the lecture, questions and comments are collected in a separate digital tool, such as a RocketChat channel or StudiPad. The digital contributions are addressed and discussed at fixed time slots during the in-person session. Particularly helpful here is the use of a student assistant or a student "connector" (see below), who collects and bundles the online inquiries.

If you plan group work in your HyFlex scenario, divide your students into separate online and in-person groups. This saves in-person students from bringing and using their own computers and reduces technical barriers. The presentations can be delivered by online students in BigBlueButton/Zoom and shown on the PC and projector in person, or transmitted from in-person via webcam into the digital space.

Divide your students into any groups for group work and let them decide when and how they want to work on the assigned tasks. The presentation takes place at fixed times in person (and is transmitted/recorded online) by one group member or the entire group.

Traditionally, "blended learning" refers to a concept where students alternately complete online and in-person phases. For example, they start with an in-person kick-off session (which you may repeat for a second group), to clarify the semester plan, topics, questions, and requirements. Then they enter an online phase, where students independently or in learning groups work through lecture recordings, texts, learning modules (e.g., in Stud.IP Courseware or ILIAS). This is followed by another in-person session, then another online phase, and so on. Finally, a closing session is offered in person. Blended learning requires a well-structured guide for students and continuous support from the instructor, for example, through online office hours, forums, or Blubber communication (in Stud.IP).

Script
As an instructor, you will be highly challenged by the new teaching situation and should carefully consider in advance which methods or tricks you will use to integrate both groups. In other settings, it has proven effective to create a script for each session, documenting the flow, necessary methods, and technology. Check here how often and how well you manage to involve both online students and in-person participants. Use elements such as the "audience question" or methods from the list below.

Camera operation
Use the possibilities of webcams to create variety. Changing the image frame (e.g., from the instructor to the blackboard or to the student group) makes the seminar more lively for the online group.

Engaging a connector – help from students or SHK
Keeping track of two groups (in-person and online) is very difficult for a single instructor. Therefore, it is recommended to designate one student per session/term who is responsible for specific tasks related to connecting the offline and online groups and is present in person. Possible tasks could be:

• Collecting and sorting questions from the online group, which are discussed at pre-scheduled time slots in person.
• Co-moderating the online session.
• Presenting results from the online groups.

This task requires that the connector is properly equipped technologically for the in-person session and can be taken over by a student assistant.

Etiquette
To ensure all participants - online and in person - can actively contribute to the course, proper netiquette is of great importance. We have compiled a few tips for you:

For in-person participants:
• Avoid background noise and side conversations.
• Take turns speaking.
• Speak loudly and clearly.
• If you are also working on a laptop, turn off the microphone to avoid feedback.

For online participants:
• Turn off your microphone when not speaking.
• Where possible, turn on your camera: On one hand, it feels strange for conversation partners on the "other side" to speak to a blank screen. On the other hand, if you are not seen, it is harder to get a word in.
• Take personal responsibility to stay engaged: The temptation to distract yourself with parallel activities is great, stay strong ;)

For the instructor:
• Keep an equal eye on both in-person and online participants.
• Make clear announcements when switching activities ("Let's look at the presentation again").
• Directly address both groups ("What do the online participants think about this? Are there any questions from the in-person participants?").
• Provide enough space for feedback and brief check-ins: "Could you follow the proceedings/engage? Where did you lose track? What's still missing?"
• Allocate time at the beginning of the course to communicate netiquette rules to both groups. You can also collaboratively develop additional rules with the group, which will achieve even greater engagement from students.

Moderation
When moderating discussions or teaching-learning phases in plenary, the following additional aspects should be considered:

• It is advisable to record the course to make the content available afterward. This recording does not necessarily need to be made available from the beginning, but can serve as a supplement if technical problems occur during the live stream. Inform your students in advance whether the session will only be streamed or whether a recording will be made available afterward.
• Speak loudly and clearly.
• Here, a co-moderator/connector can also help. Additionally, this person can assist with managing the chat or distributing tasks to students. These could also be students present in person.

This category includes seminars where student presentations or reports, followed by discussion, are the main components. For presentations/reports by in-person participants, the camera focus should be on the speakers, while the presentation can be followed on the smartboard or via projector in person and within the video conferencing tool online. For presentations/reports by online participants, it is recommended that the presentation be shown on the smartboard or via projector for in-person participants. In this case, the speakers are only seen small. Therefore, our recommendation is that students present their presentations/reports in person if possible.

Group presentations
The function of breakout rooms, known from virtual teaching, is used to conduct online small group work. In person in the seminar room, this is often solved by forming small groups. Due to current distancing rules, this familiar small group work in person is currently not easily feasible. Therefore, we recommend mixed small groups between in-person and online participants using breakout rooms. For this variant, each in-person participant needs a suitable digital device to participate in the video conference, as well as a headset with a microphone. For overview, it is additionally helpful if students add a (O) or (P) after their name to indicate whether they are in person or online (e.g., by placing a (O) or (P) next to their name). After the group work phase in the breakout rooms, for example, students in person can present the results.

However, mixed group work with participants from both in-person and online settings is difficult to implement (e.g., speaking of in-person participants in the room with online participants leads to high noise levels, feedback, delays, problems with adjusting a suitable camera perspective, etc.). Therefore, the following variant is also possible:

Geographically separated small group work
In this case, both groups receive the same task, which is worked on separately in online groups (using breakout rooms) and in-person groups. When forming groups in person, consider distancing rules. If these cannot be guaranteed due to room size during the group work phase, students must wear face coverings during this time. The presentation and discussion of results can then take place in plenary, with both groups participating.

Finally, here are some methods, tips, and tricks for structuring and actively designing your courses. The following method collection includes interactive methods that work both online and "analogously" in person and are intended to serve as inspiration. The basis was the IRIVE model (Icebreaker, Resources, Inform, Process, and Evaluate), a didactic model that aligns proven models of traditional in-person teaching with the needs of digital online teaching. For each of the individual phases, seven different methods are presented.

• Method Book of the Learning Group "From Analog to Digital" MOOCamp 2020

In many cases, the use of an additional tool or second channel during a web conference has proven effective. The Higher Education Forum for Digitalization (HFD) has created an extensive website on this topic, which we have linked here. There you will find a wide range of tools for creativity, collaboration, feedback, documentation, and presentation.
Due to the cancellation of the EU Privacy Shield agreement with the USA, all platforms hosted in the USA are currently classified as non-compliant with GDPR. Please keep this in mind when selecting a suitable tool for your teaching.
For digital presentations, tools such as Mentimeter, Padlet, or even the whiteboard function within the video conferencing tool are suitable.

• HFD Tool Collection "From Analog to Digital" MOOCamp 2020

There are also useful tools in Göttingen that have proven effective for supporting hybrid and digital teaching:

• mVote
• Rocket.Chat
• GWDG Pad