Resources

Continuing education courses (Virtual Academy)

Lecturers and researchers can find continuing education courses and develop their digital and teaching skills in the Virtual Academy. The Virtual Academy also offers advice, along with a platform for sharing information and teaching material (OER).

Moodle support (School of Architecture, Wood and Civil Engineering)

In each field of study and in continuing education, Moodle superusers are available to help with questions about Moodle, especially in relation to the following: setting up and copying courses, settings and activities, digital exams in Moodle.

Didaktik2go consultations (Virtual Academy)

Do you work at BFH and have questions about your teaching? BFH’s Virtual Academy offers you advice on a wide range of issues, from lesson planning, to suitable methods and tools, through to evaluation. If you prefer, you can also just listen or talk to us about your teaching experiences. We can also explain the different methods and tools to you, or help you apply them in practice.

Support for topics related to teaching at BFH

Are you involved in teaching? Here, lecturers, associate lecturers and other people interested in education can find support in the form of courses, advice and information sheets. Centrally in the Virtual Academy or locally in their own department.

Learning Centre (School of Health Professions)

The staff of the Learning Centre are available to provide guidance to both lecturers and students of the School of Health Professions and respond to needs relating to the production and use of digital media in teaching. Among other activities, they also create audio and video productions for teaching purposes and bridge the gap between teaching requirements and the technological capabilities of BFH IT Services.

Teaching support at the School of Social Work

If you have any questions about the organisation, provision and evaluation of your teaching and/or the supervision of your students, or if you want to explore new analogue and digital forms/methods of teaching and learning and incorporate them into your work, we are your contact at the School of Social Work. We look forward to hearing from you and supporting your teaching.

Teaching Committee

The Teaching Committee promotes higher education teaching at BFH in close collaboration with the Office of the Vice-President Teaching. It deals with national and international developments in higher education teaching and participates in the development of innovative projects. It also helps to define guidelines and policies and ensures that they are implemented in the departments.​​​​​​​

Continuing Education Committee

The Continuing Education Committee promotes continuing education at BFH. It coordinates cross-departmental activities and represents the interests of continuing education within BFH.

Digital Teaching Cooperation Committee

The cross-school committee for the coordination, promotion and support of digital teaching at Bern University of Applied Sciences.

Knowledge Base Virtuelle Akademie

Here you find our constantly growing collection of resources on effective teaching.

Teaching and Learning Network (School of Architecture, Wood and Civil Engineering and School of Engineering and Computer Science)

Using specific examples of good practice, this Moodle course shows which values are embraced in teaching at the School of Architecture, Wood and Civil Engineering (AHB) and the School of Engineering and Information Technology (TI).

Teaching methods (School of Agricultural, Forest and Food Sciences)

This section of the Moodle course “Lehre@HAFL” contains detailed information about structuring your teaching (including a table of methods/media).

Teaching and learning at the School of Social Work

Are you involved in teaching, specifically on a bachelor’s or master’s programme or in continuing education? Then you have come to the right place. This page contains lots of important and useful information related to teaching.

Virtual Reality Lab (VR Lab) at the School of Social Work

The School of Social Work has a Virtual Reality Lab, where different skills can be learned and practised in a virtual environment. The VR Lab is available to both staff and students.

Moodle course: Lehre@HAFL

You teach a variety of modules, hold lectures, develop orders and choose topics to cover in more detail. We have observed that you make use of various options to shape your teaching.

Moodle course: Moodle Test & Safe Exam Browser (SEB) (School of Agricultural, Forest and Food Sciences)

This Moodle course provides information about conducting exams with Moodle and the Safe Exam Browser (SEB).

Hochschuldidaktik-online.de: digital teaching treasure trove

Digital teaching is more commonplace than ever. Fortunately, a wealth of helpful material is available on the internet to support teaching staff. Have a look for yourself.

DigiLab at the School of Social Work

The DigiLab is a space equipped with modern multimedia technology, where digital teaching and learning material can be produced in various formats ranging from simple podcasts to sophisticated videos or animated films.

Teaching support at the School of Social Work

Comprehensive Moodle course for teaching at the School of Social Work.

Resources offered by the Office of Teaching at the School of Social Work

Teaching is a complex subject. With the following resources, we want to assist you with various aspects of it, such as designing curricula, developing study programmes, planning, delivering and evaluating your teaching, and incorporating new forms of teaching and learning.

Data Protection specialist service at BFH

The Data Protection specialist service provides advice on all legal aspects related to data protection. It maintains contact with the cantonal data protection supervisory authority and works with the information security officer to develop ISDS (information security and data protection) analyses and concepts that must be conducted or adhered to whenever new information and telecommunications technology is used for the first time. Furthermore, the Data Protection specialist service is part of the Ethics Consultation Group established at BFH, which can be consulted to clarify ethical issues on research projects.

BFH learning technologies (Virtual Academy)

BFH makes learning technologies available to all students and staff to help them shape their teaching and learning. These include the learning platform (Moodle), a video delivery network (Kaltura), a plagiarism checking service (Turnitin), a portfolio learning system (Mahara), software as a service for classroom assessment techniques (Wooclap), and digital pinboards (Padlet).

Digital communication, cooperation and collaboration – aids for teaching staff from the School of Social Work

Information document on the topic of “Digital communication, cooperation and collaboration”.

Moodle course “E-assessment” (School of Social Work)

This Moodle course provides basic information about different forms of e-assessment. It incorporates literature and experiences from the School of Social Work and other departments at BFH or other universities.

Forms of evaluation at BFH

This systematic collection of additional evaluation methods at BFH was created at the request of the Quality Development Committee (QDC). In addition to the existing evaluation tools, this inventory aims to provide lecturers and their supervisors with a set of tools for evaluating various aspects of teaching on an ad-hoc or supplementary basis.

Equal opportunities at BFH

Bern University of Applied Sciences promotes full gender equality. It is committed to diversity and supports equal opportunities for all employees and students. It advocates for a respectful and considerate approach to similarities and differences and works to eliminate discrimination.

Information document: Guide on project and group work(School of Architecture, Wood and Civil Engineering)

In group or project work, the students cover a topic more deeply, looking at it from several angles and working in a practice-oriented way. In addition to learning the subject matter, they develop methodological and social skills such as innovation, organisation, transdisciplinarity and the “4 Cs” (communication, cooperation, critical thinking and creativity).

OERinfo | Information centre Open educational resources

General information about open educational resources in higher education teaching.

OER platform of BFH

Shaping the teaching of tomorrow. This is the OER repository of Bern University of Applied Sciences.

Openness at BFH

Page on open science, open access, open research data, open source software and open educational resources at BFH.

Open science BFH

Open science is a movement to make scientific research and data more accessible and transparent. The implementation of open science represents a cultural shift in research and teaching. To take account of this change, BFH has developed an open science strategy. The Open Science specialist service coordinates measures for the implementation of open science at BFH and serves as a point of contact for BFH researchers and lecturers if they have any questions.

Good practice examples for OER

What does good practice in the area of open educational resources (OER) look like? On this page, we collect examples of creative OER made by BFH teaching staff.

BeLEARN grant

With its practice-oriented degree programmes, BFH is ideally suited to researching or stimulating the development of the BeLEARN thematic areas (digital tools, digital skills and data science for education) in collaboration with training companies and partner universities. Researchers and lecturers can submit projects in these three thematic areas to BeLEARN once each year.

BFH additional grants for teaching

Would you like to advance your e-learning project, offer a university-wide optional module yourself or conduct an innovative project in the area of continuing education? Here, you can find a range of suitable grants to support you.

Support for topics related to teaching at BFH

Are you involved in teaching? Here, lecturers, associate lecturers and other people interested in education can find support in the form of courses, advice and information sheets. Centrally in the Virtual Academy or locally in their own department.

DigiNugget, a series of short films from the School of Social Work

Nuggets of wisdom for digital and analogue teaching and learning.

Digibasics.ch: Develop basic digital media skills in eight learning modules

digibasics is a support programme designed to enhance the digital skills of students and teaching staff in the context of their studies and their (future) careers as lecturers. Seven universities of teacher education are collaborating on this project to create an interactive online learning programme and develop measures for integrating it into teaching.

Moodle course on Turnitin

This Moodle course provides information about Turnitin, a tool used at BFH to prevent plagiarism and provide training on academic integrity.

Digital teaching and learning: from idea to product (School of Social Work)

A complete and informative product cycle in interactive Prezi format.

Skills wheel for students and continuing education participants

A self-reflection tool for students and continuing education participants to review their own digital skills. It can also be used by teaching staff to enhance their students’ digital skills.

Moodle self-study course: Moodle at BFH (Virtual Academy)

The best way to get ideas for using Moodle in your teaching is to try Moodle for yourself as a participant. You can do so on this course, in which we present Moodle activities step by step (with teaching tips), which you can then try out first-hand. You can take this course as a guided self-study course and/or whenever you are seeking ideas for incorporating Moodle into your teaching.

Self-study course on using Moodle

The Moodle Academy offers various learning modules on the Moodle learning management system. Find out everything you need to know about the tool and how to use it.

Self-study course on using Miro

In this self-study course, you will learn the basics of the online whiteboard Miro. You will find out how to create an account for lecturers, navigate the Miro environment, create, arrange and edit a board yourself, and share your board with others, including integration with MS Teams or Miro.

Self-study course on Wooclap

On this self-study course, you will learn everything about Wooclap. Wooclap is a tool that allows you to interact with learners by using various questions.

Security awareness platform

A platform dedicated to cyber security awareness training and human risk management, where you can learn about safe behaviour in the digital space to mitigate security risks associated with human behaviour. Fully automated, entertaining, and based on learning psychology. BFH employees can practise all things related to cyber security awareness on the platform.

Moodle course on cyber security awareness for BFH students

In this Moodle course, students can practise safe behaviour in the digital space to mitigate risks associated with human behaviour.

Webinar recording: AI for everyone – generating images with AI

Webinar recording from 01.11.2023:

In this webinar, Atavinthan Chellappah, Digital Officer at the Business School, demonstrates some simple functions of Adobe Firefly that allow you to easily generate and edit images. The second half of the webinar includes a discussion about the images used to train Firefly and the question of copyright in relation to AI-generated images.

Webinar recording: Video annotation with Annoto

Webinar recording from 10.11.2022:

How do you use Annoto in teaching? In this webinar, we show you what video annotation is, how to use the tool, and what possibilities it offers. The webinar is in English.

Webinar recording: Using Miro in teaching

Webinar recording from 03.10.2023:

Miro is an infinitely large whiteboard that offers numerous possibilities for (a)synchronous collaboration from anywhere. In this webinar, we discuss and explore different ways to use Miro in teaching.

Webinar recording: Appearing professional online

Webinar recording from 27.09.2023:

Teaching online is commonplace today. But how can you ensure you come across well in front of the webcam during lectures and meetings? Find out in this webinar.

Webinar recording: Online teaching with rhythm

Webinar recording from 10.05.2021:

Do you find yourself speaking to black squares during online lessons and feeling slightly unfulfilled and unhappy afterwards? It doesn’t have to be that way. In this webinar, we show you how to use rhythm and tempo to add momentum to your online teaching.

Webinar recording: Online networking: how to do it right!

Webinar recording from 01.03.2021:

Organising online events and getting everyone to contribute can be challenging. How do you ensure that participants at a networking event are not just passive observers but actively involved?

Webinar recording: Blended learning: 6 tailored concepts

Webinar recording from 26.02.2021:

How can you create meaningful blended learning sequences from existing classroom lessons? In this webinar, we introduce you to six concepts and transform your own examples into tailored blended learning sequences.

Webinar recording: Blended learning, Covid-style – so what?

Webinar recording from 09.12.2020:

Combining online and on-site teaching (both synchronous and asynchronous) offers numerous possibilities. Each has its strengths and weaknesses. In this webinar, we look at the four phases of blended learning and how they are organised.

Webinar recording: Smart use of tools in teaching

Webinar recording from 17.11.2020:

Tools like MS Teams, Moodle and Eule alone do not guarantee effective teaching. When and how should you use them to support your teaching? “A fool with a tool is still a fool.” This saying suggests that tools do not automatically make everything better. In this webinar, we therefore consider when and how we should use MS Teams, Moodle, Eule and others. When are they useful? How can they enhance teaching, if at all?

Webinar recording: Gamification in teaching

Webinar recording from 28.09.2020:

Motivating students with a playful approach? A good idea, because fun and games can be helpful for developing skills and remembering learning content. In this one-hour workshop with Ioana Gatzka, you will learn which games can be used for this and how to incorporate them into your teaching.

Webinar recording: Making synchronous online phases highly active

Webinar recording from 23.09.2020:

Students should actively participate in lessons. This is an important prerequisite for effective learning but is often difficult to achieve, especially online. In this webinar, you will learn how to encourage students to actively participate in synchronous online phases. Using a practical example, you will learn about the virtual whiteboard Miro and see how versatile it is. For example, it can be used for brainstorming, planning, agile work, mapping and small learning games.

Webinar recording: Creating effective presentations

Webinar recording from 15.09.2020:

Basics, tips & tricks: a good presentation is crucial for conveying content, ideas and messages. In this webinar, you will learn how to create one.

Webinar recording: Blended learning – basics and first steps

Webinar recording from 17.05.2020:

Classroom teaching and online phases each have their advantages. In this webinar, you will learn how to cleverly combine them to enjoy the benefits of both. What exactly is blended learning, and how can I incorporate it into my lessons? Which aspects of my teaching can and should be conducted online, and for which parts do I need to be present in person? In this webinar, you will learn the basics and first steps so that you can successfully adapt your lessons for the next semester.

Webinar recording: Wikis, Moodle and Teams

Webinar recording from 25.05.2020:

Wikis in teaching: Cornelius Palmbach (HKB, Conservation and Restoration) shows us how over 50 students have collaborated to create a reference work. An example of good practice.

​Creating a wiki as a complex, interactive reference work? Students at the Swiss Conservation-Restoration Campus did exactly that in the module “Research skills for conservation-restoration”. Instead of a simple report as evidence of academic achievement, they created a wiki, which can also be used as an ePub, eBook or PDF.  

“Didaktisch Aktiv” podcast, episode 1

In the first episode of our teaching-related podcast with Ioana Gatzka, Evelyn Kraft and Adrian Rufener, we address the topic of closeness to students. We discuss why there is a greater sense of distance when interacting digitally, how this can be bridged, and what challenges and opportunities it presents.

“Didaktisch Aktiv” podcast, episode 2

In the second podcast episode with Ioana Gatzka and Evelyn Kraft, we have invited Natalie Raeber (HAFL) along as our guest. We take a look back on the Covid semester and talk about her experiences at HAFL. From this, we draw insights for the upcoming semester and for distance learning strategies. What should we consider in future for online teaching? How can we handle the greater workload? What broader aspects should we consider when developing online teaching strategies?

“Didaktisch Aktiv” podcast, episode 3

In the third podcast episode with Ioana Gatzka and Evelyn Kraft, we are joined by Judith Studer from the School of Social Work. We take a look back at the Covid semester there and discuss various questions with Judith, including: how was it ensured that teaching quality took precedence over technology? Why did the students feel a greater sense of freedom? What were the students’ experiences, and what does it mean for teaching in future? How can we preserve the diversity, creativity and openness that we gained, and what can we do even better going forward?

“Didaktisch Aktiv” podcast, episode 4

In the fourth podcast episode with Ioana Gatzka and Evelyn Kraft, we discuss our experiences with hybrid teaching. What challenges have we faced and what mistakes have we made in hybrid teaching as participants or organisers? What insights have we gained from them? And how can we all do it better?

“Didaktisch Aktiv” podcast, episode 5

In the fifth podcast episode with Ioana Gatzka, Evelyn Kraft and Dominique Herren, we discuss the organisation of online teaching based on our own experiences. What worked well? What was challenging? What tips and tricks could we derive from it?

“Didaktisch Aktiv” podcast, episode 6

In the sixth podcast episode with Ioana Gatzka, Evelyn Kraft and Patrick Lachenmeier, we brainstorm some ideas for organising online teaching as poorly as possible. From planning, to implementation, through to communication, follow-up and assessment, we try to come up with as many ways as possible to really ruin online teaching for both lecturers and students. Disclaimer: may contain traces of irony, sarcasm and dark humour.

“Didaktisch Aktiv” podcast, episode 7

In the seventh podcast episode with Ioana Gatzka, Evelyn Kraft, Karen Torben-Nielsen and Regula Blaser, we discuss student groups with heterogeneous digital skills. Different levels of digital proficiency among learners can have a marked impact on online teaching, which has become more prevalent during the COVID-19 pandemic. What can be done in teaching to help bridge this disparity in digital competence? How can online teaching be structured in a way that also caters for people with limited digital skills? And what makes teaching as a whole more pleasant, less intimidating and more accessible?

“Didaktisch Aktiv” podcast, episode 8

In this podcast episode with Ioana Gatzka, Evelyn Kraft, Reto Jud and Reinhard Riedl, we discuss assessments in distance learning on the basis of their article in SocietyByte. What concerns do lecturers have about conducting exams remotely? How can we stamp out cheating by students? What tips do we have for exams that need to be conducted remotely in emergency situations?

“Didaktisch Aktiv” podcast, episode 9

In this podcast episode with Ioana Gatzka and Evelyn Kraft, we discuss learning technologies. Learning technologies at BFH are now located at the University Teaching and E-Learning Office. What are the benefits? How are tools selected? How do the tools relate to teaching? How can you use tools to support teaching, and what if you feel overwhelmed by the sheer number of tools available?

Webinar recording: AI for everyone – generating text with AI

In this webinar, Lena Tichy, Community Manager of the Virtual Academy, demonstrates a few simple functions of a large language model, in this case Microsoft’s BingChat. BFH employees can use all the functions of BingChat via their login and actually benefit from Chat GPT4 in the process, as this is the model behind BingChat. In the webinar, we will discuss matters such as using applications in everyday working life, data protection and the use of large language models in teaching.

Workshop recording: The Moodle database activity and the possibilities it offers

Workshop content:

• Get to know the database activity.
• Presentation of several examples of how the database activity can be used.
• Understand and modify the templates, including basic HTML knowledge.
• Create your own database activity in a course.

Webinar recording: AI for everyone – software development with AI

In this webinar, Michael Röthlin, Head of the Computer Science Division at the School of Engineering and Computer Science (TI), shows how we can use GitHub Copilot and ChatGPT to assist us in the development of software. In addition to practical application examples, this webinar also contains information on the potential opportunities and challenges associated with AI-based tools in software development and beyond.

Future of Exams: Malte Persike on examination scenarios

The keynote speech by Dr Malte Persike (RWTH Aachen University) presents various exam scenarios, including those involving AI, and explains what needs to be considered in each case.

Webinar recording: AI for everyone – producing videos with AI

In the fourth edition of “AI for everyone”, Almin Prosic, a specialist in digital learning technologies at AHB, shows how we can use AI-supported tools (e.g. VEED, Invideo AI, etc.) to easily create informative educational videos that students can use for their self-study. The possibilities of text-to-video functions, including automatic generation of subtitles, avatars and editing of the videos created are demonstrated in this webinar.

Webinar recording: Lunch & Learn AI – creative thinking and artificial intelligence

Prof. Lonneke van der Plas was the guest expert for the first edition of “Lunch & Learn AI”. Her input focuses on the question of how we can model creative thinking with the aid of computers. Prof. van der Plas heads the Computation, Cognition & Language Group at the Idiap Research Institute in Martigny. In her work, she focuses on the development of advanced AI technologies that improve communication between humans and machines. The webinar was held in English.

Future of Exams: Robin Schmidt – Boundaries

Dr Robin Schmidt, lecturer in Ethics | Religions | Community and Philosophy at the FHNW School of Education, talks about ethics in exams. He highlights the interplay between individual freedom and development, which should be made possible through education, and social equality, which should be created through education.

Webinar recording: How do I find good OERs

In this webinar, Lena Tichy from the Virtual Academy shows you how to find open educational resources for your teaching in a targeted manner with the help of OER search platforms and a few tricks. For more information on the use of open educational resources in teaching and at BFH, visit the Virtual Academy’s Knowledge Base.