The mailboxes of university employees are ringing off the hook, students' heads are buzzing with lessons from past lectures, but the university corridors are yawning with emptiness.
This is all part of the reality that millions of students in Germany find themselves in due to the currently imposed online semester. One thing is clear, exams will be written despite all this, even if creative alternative forms have been pulled from their fingers at short notice.
The organizational and administrative burden facing the university and students since March has been enormous. With impressive speed, measures have been taken to make a semester of study possible - different, but at least possible.
However, one elementary part of the study was forgotten
The premises of the university and often its library is for many students not only the first place to go for literature research, but also a place to deepen knowledge and to work in a concentrated manner. Unfortunately, especially the latter is no longer possible in the current situation. The premises of the universities are closed. Many students complain that they lack the necessary peace and quiet in their home offices. The reduction to online resources also makes it difficult to work on homework and theses. The next exam period in summer 2020 is already just around the corner.
While business, museums, and swimming beaches reopen under restrictions, college learning spaces seem to have been forgotten.
Book the learning place online
There is not much standing in the way of opening up learning spaces and university libraries. Through a system that makes each individual learning space bookable for a specific time slot. Students can choose their type of visit online via an intuitive booking platform, e.g. learning at the learning space or browsing the library shelves. At the same time, they can also see the occupancy rate of the respective rooms and "crowding" is avoided. The contact details of the students are recorded at the time of booking GDPD.
In the event of a Covid 19 case, all visitors of the same time window can thus be traced. However, due to the prior limitation of access tickets, this risk is also minimal. If a visitor does not show up, the ticket expires and it can be booked again online - all completely automatically.
A secure opening of learning spaces at universities is possible! The young team of anny (formerly Bookingbuddy) from the DigiHub in Aachen has developed a system that meets all the above requirements. For individual wishes the development team always has an open ear. The innovative booking platform is already in use and is being used by outdoor pools and coworking spaces.
A case study on "Opening up university libraries with the booking system anny (formerly Bookingbuddy)" can be found here.
A solution with future potential
"Digitization" is not just a trendy word during the Corona pandemic. The first steps into a digital world have already been ventured for years. It's time to take the next significant direction at universities.
Do appointments for consultation hours still have to be made in a cumbersome way via multiple e-mail exchanges? Rental equipment has to be coordinated via a confusing paper jungle? The occupied rooms are rarely equipped with the technology needed for the event? All these problems can be solved more efficiently and already today by anny (formerly Bookingbuddy)!
Best Practice
The ESCP Berlin will use the anny app starting next semester to offer learning spaces and office hours during the Corona pandemic.
