Language training in the virtual classroom: A report from the Ruhr University Bochum

Companies and educational institutions such as language schools and universities around the world are facing the same problem: In order to minimise the risk of infection, traditional face-to-face classes may either not take place at all, or may only be carried out under strict safety precautions. As an alternative, lessons in the virtual classroom and eLearning are available. But what needs to be considered when making the classroom virtual? How can language training be designed to be particularly effective in the current situation?


Traditional classroom courses replaced - study preparation secured

With the Integra-12 program, the Ruhr University Bochum (RUB) offers intensive, multi-week preparation for their study program. This also includes free German courses for those with a migration background, which in the current semester could not be conducted as the usual face-to-face classes due to the Covid-19 pandemic. In order to enable the approximately 150 refugees affected to prepare for their studies, the RUB, with the help of LinguaTV, quickly moved the lessons to the virtual classroom. To participate, the German learners had to complete an online placement test and were then divided into small groups with the appropriate level.

Classes are conducted using the tried and tested LinguaTV method in the form of Blended Learning. The lessons in the virtual classroom are seamlessly integrated into the content of the LinguaTV private study courses. For example, the teachers use the scenic videos in the classroom and give homework in the form of interactive exercises and educational games in the LinguaTV app. Applying the concept of the “flipped classroom”, learning new vocabulary or grammar topics can also take place before the live lessons in the private study phase. This leaves more time during the lesson to answer questions or to practice active speaking, e.g. in the form of role-playing games that are linked to the respective video. The automatic learning reports also offer teachers the opportunity to better recognise their students’ individual strengths and weaknesses and to optimise their lessons accordingly.

After the first lessons, there is already positive feedback from the course participants. Not only can German courses take place at all in spite of the pandemic, some of them also save up to six hours of travel time per week, because many participants do not live directly in Bochum, but are spread across the entire Ruhr area. There was also special praise for the LinguaTV app, which enables learners to take the private study courses directly on their smartphones.

Another example of the successful introduction of teaching in the virtual classroom is the Gegenbauer group with over 18,000 employees. You can download the detailed case study as a white paper via the following link:

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