Productivity and creativity triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic and new technologies

THE ESSENCE OF THE HUMANITIES One of the key components determining the entire field of the humanities consists of teaching critical thinking expressed orally and in writing. [...]whatever literary works or languages we work with, ultimately the purpose proves to be to lay the foundation for cultural competence, linguistic skills, research abilities, and writing skills for a constantly changing world. The exchange via online writing thus proved to be a highly innovative method of studying, demanding a high level of concentration and involvement from the professor and the students. Since we emphasize in the humanities in general and in German studies in particular writing skills, this method was successful. Teaching a literature course in German at an upper level via such a chat room proved to be challenging at first, but then it was highly productive because of the intensive writing activities by students and the instructor. Top Hat is also highly useful for taking attendance (once, twice, or three times per class), for quizzes, and for multiple-choice exams. Since questions can be posted so easily online-also during class meetings-students can also be encouraged to get involved in the teaching process themselves by formulating discussion questions for the entire class.