![Landing page of the module "Digital teaching" on avldigital.de](/fileadmin/_processed_/c/9/csm_Digitale_Lehre_Komparatistik_ffe63f6a1e.png "Module "Digital Teaching" on avldigital.de")
The impact of the Covid-19 pandemia does not stop at academic teaching: University teaching staff in Germany is confronted with the challenge to switch to digital teaching methods on very short notice, the summer term beginning in Mid-April. Most institutions for higher education offer platforms and tools to this end, university libraries are preparing digitisation and media delivery services to supply their local teaching staff with books, texts and teaching material. Publishing houses temporarily put large quantities of e-books open access, and numerous research networks and initiatives offer general information on how to organise a course or seminar digitally.
Even though there is no lack of local and online support for the teaching staff of universities, everybody is confronted with the same questions: How to get started in digital teaching? With what tools and material do I organise my course, and where do I find these? What guidelines do I need to follow, methodically, but also in terms of copyright and data protection? What situations of my students need I to be prepared for, who may be in a difficult situation, be it financial, familial, psychological or healthwise, due to the global crisis?
Some of these questions are relevant for all disciplines alike, others need answers tailored to a specific field. On avldigital.de, the Specialised Information service Comparative Literature supports teaching scholars in Comparative Literature in finding answers to these questions.
With the new module Digital Teaching we supply you with information and orientation on digital teaching in Comparative Literature. A substantial portion of this is made possible by a cooperation with the initiative Digitale Lehre Germanistik. Comparative Literature is a separate, individual scholarly discipline and has requirements beyond German literature studies, in research as well as teaching. Nevertheless, the information gathered by the initiative offers useful insights to all philological disciplines.
![Landing page of the platform "Digitale Lehre Germanistik"](/fileadmin/_processed_/e/f/csm_Digitale_Lehre_Germanistik_Screenshot_2010290861.png "Landing page of the platform "Digitale Lehre Germanistik"")
The initiative's platform, publicliy available since 9 April 2020, is edited by teaching scholars in German Studies. Here, numerous tools, methods, best practice examples and further resources are collected.
The platform is the result of a spontaneous cooperative collaboration of more than two dozen scholars in German Studies from Germany, England and Belgium. The aim was to find a solidaric, pragmatic answer to the sudden challenges of moving at least significant parts of the 2020 summer term to the digital realm. The portal is a 'work in progress'. It is vitally dependend on the active contribution of its users (cf. this Call for Collabortation). On avldigital.de, we offer a concise overview on the content available and are explicitly inviting to contribute to the platform.
Additionally, we are welcoming hints to tools and resources related to Comparative Literature itself, as well as the neighbouring fields of philology and cultural studies. Please submit these using our "submit announcements" form on websites.
