German Online Access Law – 2nd Thematic Conference

Using the example of student mobility, PIM presented how the Online Access Act can be implemented in practice and which challenges have to be mastered. A live demo showed how a module tree from the FlexNow campus management system was imported into PIM in order to make this digital module information available for students and employees. This import is based on a standardisation of the module data using the EDCI and XHochschule formats.

Practical experience has shown that an export of the module data is possible without any problems, but the import often causes problems, since the XML formats can have different characteristics despite standardisation. The same challenge arises when importing student examination data.

This practical input was used to formulate what is required for the next steps. At the political level, important questions about an overarching ID for Germany and the EU must be clarified. For example, do you want to use the European Student Identifier or a citizen ID? Who authenticates in each scenario? In terms of data standards, it is important to think about how this should work at European level, which exchange formats should exist and how data transformation should be organised. But the universities can also make their contribution to preparing for the upcoming implementation of the Online Access Act. Here it is important to organise the data management in the module handbooks to such an extent that structured digital module handbooks with university-wide harmonised data structures are available.