Doctor Heck on Online Teaching at the University of Luxembourg in the Context of a Pandemic
What is university life like at the University of Luxembourg, we asked doctor and scientist Sandra Heck, who was invited this year to attend the International Conference of the Montenegrin Sports Academy "Sport, Physical Activity and Health: Contemporary Perspectives".
“Since mid-March we are remote-teaching at the University of Luxembourg and continuing all meetings and research work o
nline-based. As all kindergarten and schools closed at the very same moment, teachers and students had to reorganize privacy and work-time quite quickly and adapt to the new situation”, said Ms Heck.
At the University of Luxembourg, she explained, we regularly use different online platforms for communication, along with the support provided by the IT department and by specialists for digital education. The rector of the university is regularly communicating to inform about the further development and strategy.
“Thus, it works quite well in general, despite the fact that it can of course hardly replace the meetings face-to-face, especially when it comes to the practical preparation for becoming a physical education teacher or to the professional development of school teachers which my colleagues and I are also in charge of”, said doctor Heck.
She added that, taken the given situation, she feels that everyone gives his/her best to adapt and to find creative ways to continue and give the students the possibility to complete their semester despite COVID-19 and its implications.
“The research landscape always reacts to current social situations, so I believe that COVID-19 also might be reflected in future MSA conference topics. As the virus is largely impacting the whole world and also the people's mindmaps, it is quite likely that some papers will directly address the topic”, she expressed her opinion.
Sandra Heck works at the Institute for Teaching and Learning at the University of Luxembourg. She gained her PhD in Sport Science at the Ruhr-University Bochum, taught at universities in Germany, Australia and France.
Since 2014 she holds the position of General Secretary of the International Society for the History of Physical Education and Sport (ISHPES). Further, she is the National Delegate for Germany in the Fédération Internationale de l'Education Physique (FIEP-Europe) and an Executive Board Member both of the European Physical Education Association (EUPEA) (co-opted) and of the International Council of Sport Science and Physical Education (ICSSPE).