Main Content

Information for Teachers

Around 50 language teachers are active at the Language Center each semester. In order to facilitate  collaboration with each other, this reference was created. Since the information presented here is subject to change, we ask you to check this page before each semester start.

1. Facilities: Availability and Use
2. Organization
3. Teaching Resources
4. The Self-Study Center as a supplement of classroom work
5. Possibilities for professional development

1. Facilities: Availability and Use 

All rooms at the Language Center are equipped with a pc connected to the internet, a projector and audio facilities. For course-preparation and other work around your classes, there are two computers in the staff room, including scanning and printing facilities. For classes taking place outside the Language Center, laptops, portable projectors, and CD/USB players may be rented. For recording presentation and other classroom work, there are also cameras and audio recording devices. Please reserve these in advance.

It is also possible to edit recorded footage and audio material.

Should you have any problems with the login or any other technology-related issues, our IT staff (room 00 016) will be able to assist you. When troubleshooting, a detailed description of the issue is helpful. For this, please refer to this guide detailing the most important elements.

Accessing the computers at the Language Center

In order to use the computer and other technology at the Language Center, you require a staff account and an AD account (also called workplace account). Please store your login data so that you can retrieve them easily.

What is the staff account?

Your staff account serves as your credential as a member of Philipps-University. It is created for all employees of the university by the University Computer Center, where it must be requested and renewed once per year. You can find the necessary request form on the download page or obtain it from the Language Center IT staff, Christian Schirmer.
The form will be confirmend and passed on to the Computer Center by him.

  • The staff account consists of a username, a password and an email address (e.g. mueller6@staff.uni-marburg.de)
  • This email address is published on the Language Center website. For professional online communication and in order to protect you private email address, we ask you to rely exclusively on the staff address in communication relating to your work at the Language Center.
  • You also need the staff account to access the computers at any of the university computer labs, the learning management system ILIAS, the virtual private network, as well as the campus wi-fi. Please refer to the information offered by the University Computer Center for further details.
  • Too many email addresses? Our IT staff will help you set up email forwarding.

What is the AD account?

The AD account is created by the IT staff at the Language Center.

  • The AD account is required for accessing the computers in the classrooms and in the Language Center's staff room as well as for the shared drive K:\ on the Language Center server.
  • It consists of a username and a password
  • The username is generally the same as that of the staff account (e.g. mueller6). If you are unsure about what your username is, please seek out your coordinator.
  • The password for initial login will also be provided by the IT staff at the Language Center, who can also assist you should you forget your password.
  • After initial login, you will be asked to change the password. Passwords at Philipps-University must have the following properties:
    • The password must have at least 8 allowed characters
    • Allowed characters are upper and lower case letters, numbers, and special characters (spaces, semicolons, accents ^`´& and $ are not allowed, any non-English letters should be avoided)
    • The password must include at least three allowed character types (e.g. upper case letter, lower case letter, and special character)
    • The password should be derived neither from your name nor from a dictionary word
    • Any new password must differ from the previous one by at least two characters
  • If you have forgotten your password, our IT staff can assist you

2. Organization

The course program, placement and registration times are published on the website in the Languages section.

  • Courses take place if there are at least 10 registrations
  • A course can have up to 16 or 20 participants, depending on the maximum capacity of the classroom.

In the first session:

Please check the participants’ identity using the list of participants.

  • You have to make sure that only students with a valid registration can participate; the 16 students present may not be the 16 individuals on the list.
  • Once the maximum number of students is reached, you must not accept any additional participants.
  • Please ask participants to check and if necessary correct their names and email addresses.
  • It is imperative that you collect a signed SEPA mandate from all participants. That being said, some participants may have taken classes with us before. In this case, we already have the mandate and no mandate is issued for these students. 

If there are newcomers to a course with open places

If their name is not on the list, their placement and registration must be checked with the Service Center.

  • Please never allow anyone to join “no questions asked” even though there may be places left or students have dropped out
  • For reference, please add the person’s information on the list of participants
  • There is no guarantee that newcomers may stay on the course until the Service Center has greenlighted them
  • If they can stay on the course, the Service Center will notify them by email

Immediately after the first session

Please hand the amended list of participants to the staff at the Service Center. They will update the data in our computer system and will place the updated/corrected lists in your pigeonhole. You can also download new lists from our computer system.

Course Regulations at the Language Center

Please communicate, with a maximum of clarity, these regulations on obtaining credit for the course to your students– ideally in a written form right in the first session.

  • At the end of the semester, students will receive a certificate of successful course completion stating the grade and the ECTS points (as per course description) as well as a list of the course contents. Students who are absent more than twice (in a course with one session per week) do not receive a certificate, unless the teacher is willing to set additional assignments in justified exceptions. These can compensate for the missed sessions beyond the allowed number. Also see General Course Information.
  • There are no certificates for mere attendance
  • There are no ‘partial certificates’ with reduced numbers of ECTS points in cases of only partial completion of assignment or too many absences
  • Failed exams cannot be re-taken

Just to be sure …

Please download and work your way through the checklist for course administration. This is the version for face-to-face classes. Since guidelines for teaching under Corona conditions may change from day to day, they are sent to teachers via email.

3. Teaching Resources

To teach your classes, you can use various materials provided by the Language Center.

  • Classroom materials can be obtained from your coordinator (course books, most CDs, dictionaries – except DVDs)
  • CDs are also at the Service Center
  • An extensive collection of didactic games and exercises for direct use in the classroom can be found in the Service Center
  • Newspapers and magazines (e.g. Spotlight, Deutsch Perfekt, Addesso, etc.) are available at the Self-Study Center
  • Photocopying facilities can be found in the staff room (00 021) and in the photocopying room on the first floor as well as in the main lecturing hall. You will need a copy card to use these facilities and can obtain it from Karin Dehnert to use it for the duration of your teaching at the Language Center.
  • Board markers, photocopying and OHP slides are available at the secretary’s office or at the Service Center. Please use only the Language Center’s markers on the whiteboards!
  • The language coordinators welcome any suggestions for acquiring new resources.

4. The Self-Study Center as a supplement for classroom work

… is an additional service offered to students by the Language Center (in room 00 009). Please make your students aware of these possibilities for out-of-classroom learning.

The Self-Study Center can also be booked by teachers at the Language Center if you would like to introduce your students to relevant resources kept here or if you would like to teach a lesson here. Please contact the academic assistant at the Center.

5. Possibilities for Professional Development

Technology workshops at the Language Center

Workshops and training courses on using technology for teaching and learning languages. These are generally reserved for teachers at the Language Center.

  • Excel

    How to make clever use of Excel?

    Using concrete examples, this workshop will explain how MS Excel can help facilitate working with small and large tables. The workshop is aimed at Language Center staff. You will learn how to

    • Use templates
    • Filter and organize tables
    • Create dropdown lists
    • Convert text into tables (using MS word)

    Please register with .

  • ILIAS

    Organize and Communicate: An Introduction to ILIAS

    The series of workshops on ILIAS is aimed at teachers who would like to use this platform to enhance their classroom work. The aim of the first workshop is to obtain fundamental knowledge of ILIAS. You will familiarize yourself with the platform and the three most important features. This includes: setting up a course, creating and uploading materials (sessions, folders, files, weblinks) as well as communication with participants (email, forum, chat).

    Pre-requisites: experience in using computers and a working staff account

    Dates and registration

    If you have any questions, please contact .

  • Camera and Video

    How to shoot and cut your own videos

    Here, you will learn how to use the video camera (AG DVC 15, XM 2, HC-SD 100) and the editing software Premiere Elements 9.0.

    Contact and registration:

  • PowerPoint

    How can I make effective use of PowerPoint in the foreign-language classroom?

    This workshop will familiarize you with the core features for designing slide shows using layouts and variable designs. A special focus is on using images and visuals. The workshop may be adapted to the needs and preferences of the participants. Among the goals are:

    how to create a presentation
    how to make slides using layouts and designs
    how to position and manipulate image and graphic objects

    Please register with .

  • Secure Passwords

    How to securely manage your passwords

    Secure passwords are one thing. But remembering on which page you are using which password is quite another. With the free service Dropbox and the open source program KeePass, you can create a database which is accessible from anywhere at any time. The workshop will explain initial setup and configuration. You must have your own USB stick. Among the goals are:

    Creating secure passwords
    Setting up a KeePass database
    Creating a Dropbox account and installation within the university account
    Making the result portable

  • Smartboard

    How does a smartboard work?

    How can it be used for foreign-language classes? This workshop is aimed at teachers at the Language Center who have no or very little prior knowledge, familiarizing them with the basic functionality of the interactive whiteboard, its main features and symbols. Furthermore, some specific tools useful for language teaching are presented (screen curtain, image gallery, cloner, and others). The participants will have an opportunity to try the features out for themselves. 

    Dates and registration

    If you have any questions, please contact .

  • Digital Language Lab

    The workshop is aimed at teachers wishing to work with the newly set up language lab at the Language Center. The main areas covered are:

    The user interface of the program and its core functionality
    Interaction with the student laptops
    How to guide internet research
    The folder system on the tutor drive
    Creating folders, copying, inserting, and converting files
    Managing files in the language lab software
    Distributing materials to the student pcs
    Session view and sending students to breakout groups
    Distributing and collecting worksheets in word format
    Homework area in the folder system of the study software

    Contact:

  • Technology in the classroom

    How do the technological devices in the classrooms work?

    You will receive initial instruction on how to use the devices in the classrooms: computers, projectors, DVD and CD players.

    Contact and registration:

  • Word

    How can I make more efficient use of MS Word?

    This workshop will explain the most important features of word. Furthermore, it will apply basic principles of text design. The course will cover the user interface (from the ruler to the ribbon bar), keyboard shortcuts as well as text formatting. It will give you an general understanding of the features, which will be developed further in the main course. Among the goals are:

    Basic features of the program
    Basic text editing
    Fonts and formatting

    Word for Advanced Users

    In this advanced workshop, you will learn how you can use templates to make multiple-page text consistent and attractive-looking using word templates. Specific elements such as tables, drawings, and illustrations can only looked at briefly. Among the goals are:

    Consistent text formatting
    Working efficiently
    Using fonts and formatting correctly
    Using automatic document features (directories, page numbers, date)

    Please register with .

AKS-FOBiCert®

The Language Center of Philipps-University Marburg is an accredited Center of the professional development program FOBiCert®. FOBiCert® is the professional development certificate of the Association of Language Centers in Germany (AKS).

The professional development certificate FOBiCert® documents participation in relevant and high-quality training courses for language teachers at universities. More details on the certificates and the pre-requisites can be found on the website of the AKS-FOBicert®.

Moreover, different providers of professional development courses across Germany present their offers on this website. Language teachers at universities can run specific searches for training courses, manage their own professional development profile completely through the platform, pin interesting seminars, set up alerts for interesting training courses, and much more.

For further information, please contact .

HDM – Network of University Pedagogy Mittelhessen

The Network of University Pedagogy Mittelhessen (HDM) is a joint project initiated in 2007 by Philipps-University Marburg (UMR), Justus-Liebig University Gießen (JLU) and the TH Mittelhessen University of Applied Sciences (THM). It seeks to provide teachers at these three schools with possibilities for training and counselling on university pedagogy.

The offer is open to all teachers and researchers with teaching responsibilities affiliated with one of the three participating schools. Free-lancing teachers are also welcome to benefit from the offer.
Terms | Seminars and Registration

Workshops at the University Computer Center

The University Computer Center offers training workshops for various target groups. Among the areas covered are:

Studiumdigitale Frankfurt

Studiumdigitale, the e-learning center at Goethe-University Frankfurt, offers training modules on the fundamentals of e-learning as well as numerous practice-oriented topics related to media production. By combining basic modules, elective modules, and creating your own e-learning plan, you can also obtain the e-learning certificate of Goethe-University.