December 9, 2021

At the online networking symposium "Meet your partners! Virtual Teaching Collaboration between Germany and Taiwan", 65 professors, lecturers and general staff of Karlsruhe University of Applied Sciences (HKA) and six partner universities in Taiwan exchanged ideas about the possibilities of joint virtual teaching and its requirements.

The network meeting took place in the context of the BA.International program at HKA, which is currently being established. Starting in the summer semester of 2022, HKA Bachelor students will have the option of completing their studies in an international version.

Prof. Shieh Jhy-Wey, Representative of Taiwan in the Federal Republic of Germany, opened the second day of the symposium with the words "Curiosity is the mother of wisdom" and thus gave an important impetus to the event and further cooperation. During the two days of the event, expert contributions were made on country-specific, intercultural, digital, and linguistic features that are relevant for the planning and implementation of joint virtual teaching events. Examples of established international online collaborations of HKA and other universities were presented and analyzed. Challenges and benefits for teachers and students were discussed, practical tips for implementation were shared and discussed. The two days ended with pitching rounds by professors and lecturers with first concrete concepts for the development of joint courses.

Instead of the inaugural visits originally planned for small delegations from each university, the online format allowed many more people to participate in the meeting. "This is entirely in line with the BA.International program and the internationalization of the university," says Prof. Dr. Angelika Altmann-Dieses, Vice-President for Academic and International Affairs at HKA, adding: "We want to enable as many of our students as possible to gain international experience, whether locally in Karlsruhe or abroad. Similarly, we also want to support as many teachers as possible to jointly develop exciting projects with new perspectives and new ideas with our international partners. We see this as a great opportunity."

This meeting was an important first step for the development of joint digital courses for mixed German-Taiwanese student groups, which will be offered to HKA Bachelor students in various disciplines. The virtual cooperation projects at HKA will be accompanied by an instructional designer, among others, who will provide didactic support for the online teaching with regard to intercultural and technical peculiarities.