By Merethe Hollen, Center for Digitally Supported Learning. Translated by LeeAnn Iovanni, AAU Communication and Public Affairs.
Photo: AAU

PBL Digital, the Centre for Digitally Supported Learning and IT Support are focusing on providing better assistance to busy teachers who are motivated to provide good digitally supported PBL. 

Basic package: Central systems for education

The learning environments at AAU use different systems, but common across disciplines are Moodle, Microsoft 365, Zoom and Panopto. These comprise AAU's Basic Package and they are in strategic focus for the digital support of PBL in terms of better assistance, clear management and technical development.

Teachers are motivated but busy and demand more help and inspiration

In 2022, 78% of AAU's academic staff responded that they see the value of digital teaching methods. Only 17% feel that they have time to experiment with digital practices in their teaching and one in three teachers state that they lack either technical support, pedagogical advice or collaboration opportunities when using digital methods (Baseline 2022).

Given this, programme management has prioritized working strategically in 2024-2026 towards better support for AAU's teaching staff for using Moodle, Panopto, Zoom and the many opportunities in Microsoft 365. The Centre for Digitally Supported Learning and IT Support in close collaboration with local programme management are implementing the initiative.

"We know that our teaching staff are busy and that they work hard at good teaching while also having a research career. We would like to offer more support from a central team to meet teachers where they are, so that it’s easier to provide good teaching, and so that our students have a more uniform experience and positive learning outcomes," says Louise Møller Haase, Vice Dean of the Technical Faculty of IT and Design and Coordinator for PBL Digital.

Students demand more uniformity on Moodle

Several students point out that Moodle is used differently, making it difficult to find information: "Where different information is changes every semester on Moodle." – Students (Baseline, 2022).

"Moodle is our central platform with more than 10,000 logins per day. Still, we see that our teaching staff and programme secretaries don’t get enough help with setting up in Moodle; this affects both their motivation and the students' experience each semester where a new teacher uses it differently. We need to get a handle on that!", says Louise Møller Haase, Vice Dean of the Technical Faculty of IT and Design and Coordinator for PBL Digital.

Centre for Digitally Supported Learning and IT Support roll out workshops for all departments

In the autumn of 2024, the Centre for Digitally Supported Learning and IT Support worked with a handful of study boards on a pilot implementation, testing the format for better assistance in the form of workshops for programme secretaries and teaching staff.

The pilot implementation indicated that, given how busy the departments are, short courses are needed, and that Moodle must have a separate focus from other technologies in the basic package.

In 2025 and 2026, the basic package will be implemented for all departments at AAU. This involves a course focusing on how best to use the basic package's technologies in teaching and supervision. The focus will then be on Moodle and how teachers can more easily standardize the structure of courses with a common AAU course template developed specifically for the needs of teaching staff and programme secretaries.

Open meetings about the basic package

Every Tuesday in the spring, the Center for Digitally Supported Learning and IT Support will hold open meetings for all teaching staff/programme secretaries who want assistance with the basic package. The open meetings will be held alternately at Kroghstræde 3, Room Bohr, and at Rendsburggade 14, Room 5.355A, 8.30-11.30. The first meeting is on Tuesday, 21 January in CREATE. It is also possible to call.

Initiative and organization

Read more about the implementation plan for all departments here

The initiative is part of the Master Plan for the programme for digitally supported PBL (PBL Digital).

The Digitalization Team (ITS) under the management of AAU's Strategic Committee for Digitalization and Strategic Council for Education are implementing the programme.