Practice Enterprises in Times of Distance Learning: The Impact and Consequences of the COVID-19 Pandemic to the Collaboration of Practice Enterprises

The aim of this paper is to outline the consequences which arise from the digital transformation of the multidimensional teaching and learning setting of practice enterprises and to discuss how digital collaboration of students can be supported during the COVID-19 pandemic. As an evolutionary moment also in the field of education, one can consider the experiences of COVID-19 as a catalyst for digital transformation and distance learning in education. How digital collaboration can be fostered in times of distance learning is shown by using the example of business simulations such as practice enterprises (PE). While previously this multidimensional teaching and learning setting was organized to a large extent onsite in a special classroom, a new learning and working environment had to be created with the transition to distance learning. By presenting two specific PE-activities (the Erasmus+ Project HEIPNET and the Online Trading Day at the University of Graz) a better insight is gained into how practice enterprises work and how the digitalization of teaching and learning settings is achieved in this context. It is concluded that COVID-19 has led to an accelerated need for teachers to rethink their didactical settings, with the role of the teacher as a designer of an adequate learning and working environment getting even more relevant than before. In addition, the article aims to identify opportunities to promote digital collaboration and contribute to learners' employability.