The term hybrid semester refers to a mixture of face-to-face and online teaching, which is equally distributed. OPAL is available to us as part of the online courses. The entire teaching and learning offer of our university can be found on the learning platform. Lecture notes, useful links, literature recommendations, forums and much more that students need for a good understanding of the subject matter can be found there.

Big Blue Button is also there for us to make it possible to conduct the learning events online. Online teaching is completely new for all of us, but we are still managing to continue our usual learning activities as usual. The experience of the last few weeks of study has shown that students remain engaged and are happy to ask their questions often, even though they are taking part from home. In addition, the software allows lectures and seminars to be recorded and saved, which our students find particularly practical and rate positively.

Class / course attendance is also not a problem. Of course, compliance with hygiene measures is particularly important - everyone on campus is obliged to wear face masks and keep their distance. However, face masks are not compulsory in lecture and seminar rooms as long as the prescribed number of people is not exceeded. This is indicated on the doors of the respective lecture halls, but there are no other differences.

Both our lecturers and students have had some time to form their own opinions about the hybrid semester.

Prof. Dr. phil. Ph. Dr. (MU Brno) Annette Muschner, Dean of Studies and Professor of Czech Linguistics and Translation Studies, is of a positive opinion:

'The hybrid semester is a good way to consciously use the advantages of both forms of teaching, face-to-face and online teaching. I understand the necessity of online teaching and enjoy every class / course in presence. The hybrid semester is good for me.
The big advantage over the summer semester is the uniform use of BBB and OPAL. This restriction gives lecturers and students the opportunity to gradually try out all the functions and possibilities of both systems.
It's fun to introduce new forms of teaching and learning along the way.

Dr. phil. Ewa Wieszczeczynska, who specializes in Polish linguistics and translation studies, says the following:

I had a very good experience with the online semester in SoSe 2020. Although I had to adapt many of my previous teaching materials to the needs of online teaching and develop new interactive teaching units and apply new teaching methods, I was very satisfied with my students' results. Autonomous learning and internal differentiation in the language-heterogeneous groups should be emphasized. I can apply many didactic solutions from last semester this semester. However, it is a new challenge to plan the teaching process in winter semester 2020/21 because you have to combine online phases with face-to-face phases and design new teaching formats again. So far, I'm coping well with this.

Prof. Dr. phil. Matthias Dopleb, our Professor of English Language and Translation Studies and Head of the Department of Languages at the ZfL since the start of the semester, told us what his teaching looks like during the hybrid semester:

When I took over as Head of the Language Center in the winter semester, I offered practical language exercises in English in Zittau and Görlitz for the newly enrolled 1st semester students as face-to-face courses (8 semester hours per week), so that they can settle in better to their studies on campus and get to know each other through communication in class.
This semester, I am running the classes / courses on the Business and Languages degree course (8 SWS) in general language translation and specialist language translation (Business English) digitally. This is primarily due to the fact that I can no longer comment on and correct translations in class right next to the students - as was usual before Corona - because the distance regulations do not allow this. I will therefore be correcting the finished translations, which students send me as Word files every week, online, as I did last semester. The fact that I only make the corrections in writing and send them back to the students promptly means that they are more sustainable than if they were mainly made orally as in the past. At the end of the semester, I would like to take stock in a video conference and give specific advice in preparation for the written exams.
Of course, I hope that there will be a possibility of vaccination against corona next year so that the next academic year can largely return to normal.

On the other hand, Mgr. Sylva Potucková, who teaches Czech to our students, has informed us:

Based on the feedback from students, I know that the hybrid semester in our degree program is exhausting because both face-to-face and online classes take place on the same day. Especially for students who commute, it's much more complicated to organize everything if they have to switch in one day. The online phase or attendance phase in a block would be more efficient. I don't think both forms are good in one day. Of course, students in different groups can also have different opinions.

Our students have given us a variety of feedback. Some of us even prefer pure online teaching:

"Well, I definitely think pure online teaching is better than hybrid teaching and also than face-to-face teaching. If our degree course was available as a distance learning course, I would do it. So for me, pure online teaching is definitely the best"

The next interviewee expressed the opposite view:

"I have to honestly say that I miss face-to-face teaching - just the atmosphere, the crowded lecture halls, the overcrowded canteen and all the people... It's not at all comparable to how it is now. Sure, it's a small step back towards normality, as we weren't there at all last semester. I can also understand that people think it's good - hybrid teaching or only online teaching - e.g. people who don't live here, who have to travel a long way to the university...But as I said, I just miss the atmosphere, the feeling of really being on site and all the people..."

But in principle, our students are happy with the current situation and are satisfied with hybrid teaching:

"So I like the hybrid semester better than having everything exclusively online. Online teaching is more practical for translation modules, but for modules such as marketing, I think it's good to have the seminars in person and the lectures, where you only listen to them anyway, as online events that are recorded so that you can access them again and again."

It is worth mentioning that the doors of the HSZG are open to foreign students despite Corona. For the Erasmus students, studying here is a double challenge, as they are not only getting to know a new university, but also a completely new form of study. Nevertheless, they are positive about it.

"I think the introduction of the hybrid semester is a very good solution. From the experience of the last semester, I can see that the students don't lose as much as with online teaching. I think that personal contact with both lecturers and other students is very important. Besides, there are still many difficulties with online teaching. I think that the hybrid semester has a better impact on our education. As an Erasmus student, I think this experience is very interesting"

Says Aleksandra Panek, Erasmus student from the University of Gdansk, Poland

Our research shows that most teachers and students are currently getting to grips with the new study concept. Only later will we all find out how effective hybrid teaching is and how good the course content can be taught under such special circumstances. The crisis can also be viewed positively, as it helps us to be flexible and implement new learning concepts.