---
type: concept
title: Digital Teaching
tags: [pedagogy, elearning, higher-education, e-learning, infrastructure]
related: [moodle, grypstube, bigbluebutton, jitsi-meet, dfnconf-pexip]
created: 2026-06-30
updated: 2026-06-30
sources: ["output/rz_uni_greifswald_de_dienste_studium_lehre_elearning.md", "output/rz_uni_greifswald_de_dienste_studium_lehre_elearning_dienstuebersicht_digitale_l.md"]
---

# Digital Teaching

**Digital Teaching** (Digitale Lehre) at the Universität Greifswald is an approach to instruction that leverages digital tools to increase flexibility and accessibility. It is implemented through a tiered infrastructure of conferencing and streaming services.

## Pedagogical Principles
According to the URZ, successful digital teaching requires a student-centric approach that accounts for the following:

- **Cognitive Load**: Attention spans are lower on screens than in person. Content should be delivered in short blocks of **10 to 20 minutes** rather than long 90-minute sessions.
- **Student Constraints**: Instructors must consider that not all students have private internet-capable devices, stable internet connections, or the capacity to attend live sessions due to obligations such as **care work** (Pflegearbeit).
- **Simplicity**: The principle of "less is more" is encouraged, suggesting that basic knowledge transfer works best with simple tools and content.

## Technical Implementation and Tooling

### Hub-and-Spoke Model
The URZ recommends a hub-and-spoke model where [[moodle]] serves as the central point of contact. All other resources, such as [[grypstube]] videos or web conferences, should be linked within a Moodle course.

### Tooling Strategy
The university provides a variety of tools based on the required scale and level of interactivity:

- **High Interactivity / Medium Scale**: 
    - [[jitsi-meet]]: Up to 35 participants.
    - [[bigbluebutton]]: Up to 225 participants.
- **Low Interactivity / High Scale**: 
    - [[dfnconf-pexip]] (Lecture mode) and [[grypstube]]: Utilized for one-way broadcasts and recordings for unlimited audiences.

## Operational Considerations

### External Service Load
Instructors must account for the "External Service Load" when using external tools like Pexip/DFNconf. These services are prone to performance issues during peak university hours:
- **Morning Peak**: 10:00 – 11:00
- **Afternoon Peak**: 13:00 – 15:00

### Instructor Requirements
To effectively deliver digital content, instructors are advised to ensure:
- **Hardware**: A modern PC/laptop, webcam, headset, and a **second monitor** (to monitor the chat/back-channel during live sessions).
- **Environment**: A quiet room without acoustic echo, proper lighting (avoiding backlight), and a professional camera angle.