Fraunhofer Institute for Manufacturing Technology and Advanced Materials IFAMContact restrictions, distance regulations and home office - we are all trying to implement the new circumstances brought about by the Corona crisis in the best possible way. For us too, this situation means: rethinking, remaining creative and finding new solutions! With a specially developed hygiene and room concept as well as various digital solutions, we ensure that our further training offers continue to be available to you in full and in the same quality. Prof. Dr. Andreas Groß, head of the department for further education and technology transfer at the Fraunhofer IFAM, will give an insight into current challenges and approaches to solutions.
Prof. Groß, contact restrictions and distance rules still apply. What challenges do you currently face in the various continuing education courses and how do you meet them?
Of course, we too must and want to implement the current corona protection measures. We have developed a comprehensive hygiene and room concept which was approved by the crisis management team of the Fraunhofer IFAM. The core element is that from now on and until further notice, the theoretical knowledge transfer will be moved to the digital space. The practical exercises will continue to be carried out at the Fraunhofer IFAM, but in reduced group sizes adapted to the premises, so that there is sufficient distance between those present. The final exams will also continue to take place at our premises in Bremen, but only the examinee and the course instructor will be present as supervisors. The examiners are connected via video. So I am pleased that all courses will continue to take place. As a result, some of the second quarter's share prices did not fail to materialise, they were merely shifted to the second half of the year. Courses are now also starting up again with our cooperation partners.
Two things were particularly important to us when developing this safety concept: Namely, that we offer the same quality of training that our participants are used to from us! And that the value of the final documents remains unchanged.
Digital solutions still allow for the transfer of knowledge, but what about networking? Are there any ideas how the personal exchange between teachers, experts, industry representatives and course participants can continue despite the protective measures?
When selecting our digital tools, we took care on the one hand to ensure that they are easy to use and operate. Therefore, for example, we rely exclusively on browser-based solutions for which the participant does not need to download an app. At the same time, we have decided on a tool that will continue to enable the above-mentioned exchange - which is a core element of our further training offers. This way, chats and conversations can also be held in smaller groups.
Both training centres already rely in part on blended learning offerings, which are very popular. Will digital learning play an even greater role in the future?
Blended learning knowledge transfer naturally has numerous advantages: Learning is decentralised, independent of time and place. This saves the participants time and also money. Nevertheless, one must not forget that learning is also a personal-social event. Face-to-face exchange plays an important role in this process. But I believe that we too can learn a great deal from the current situation and that in the long term we will make even greater use of the advantages from both worlds. Such blended learning concepts - i.e. the combination of decentralized e-learning and attendance phases - are of course particularly interesting for our international participants.
Thank you very much for the interview!