Students of RUC (a public school) are essentially forced to patronize Microsoft and support surveillance capitalism as a consequence. Students have always been forced to use MS email services through Outlook, and there has been peer pressure on students to use MS Office products for collaboration which could be fought and avoided. But now students are being excluded from lectures – the most essential component of education – if they do not execute non-free Microsoft software on their own computers.

Updates about Coronavirus are being sent to students using Facebook.

This letter was sent to RUC students:

All of the information below can also be found on https://intra.ruc.dk/nc/en/students/student-hub/ and https://ruc.dk/en/corona-virus-covid19

Dear students, Roskilde University has decided to carry out (almost) all teaching activities as distance learning. In this email, you can read about why we have chosen the distance learning solution, how the practical aspects of getting access to it works, and where you can get support. Why distance learning? Distance learning has been assessed as being the best alternative to face-to-face teaching, which will not be possible during the shutdown. Distance learning is an emergency solution, which we are only using due to the very extraordinary situation we find ourselves in. We have assessed that distance learning is a better alternative than cancellation - even if it is not an optimal solution. The other universities have come to the same conclusion. When does distance learning start? The distance learning will start on Monday 16 March and will continue until campus is no longer shut down. All teaching will be carried out as online teaching (though with a few exceptions - see below). The teaching is classified as standard teaching. In other words, the distance learning will take place within the same time slots scheduled for the regular teaching activities. Live distance learning will generally be in the same time slots as the originally scheduled classes, etc., as we realise that you and your lecturers have organised your schedules based on the original time slots. The technical setup: Teams Roskilde University has chosen to use Teams as the platform for distance learning. Unfortunately, other platforms are not supported, but they can be used if your lecturers can manage the platform in question themselves and provide support to those of you who might have issues getting access, etc. In order to use Teams, you must have the following:

Your teaching activities: Link to Teams You will be invited via a link in Moodle. Each new teaching activity will have its own link. It is important that you check Moodle daily for updates. Before the first distance learning activity, we will give you a thorough introduction to the technical aspects. Guides and support At intra.ruc.dk/fjernundervisninghttps://intra.ruc.dk/fjernundervisning (remember to log in) you can find:

  •      Guidelines for distance learning in Teams - for both lecturers and students

  •      Introduction

  •      If you are having audio, video, or other technical problems, you must first look for a solution on serviceportal.ruc.dk<https://serviceportal.ruc.dk/> before contacting servicedesk@ruc.dk<mailto:servicedesk@ruc.dk> or calling 4674 3600.

Project supervision Project supervision interactions have been arranged between your supervisor and your group and can be via Skype, Teams meetings that you set up yourselves, Messenger, Face Time, Zoom or whatever you think best.

Exceptions: Teaching activities unsuited for distance learning Some teaching activities are not suited for distance learning due to the need to be physically present - for example, lab work, certain workshops, workshop courses, etc. Impacted students will be notified directly by Education & Students if such types of teaching activities need to be postponed.

Showing up and actively participating in the teaching

Showing up for educational activities, etc. is a requirement for being permitted to take the subsequent exam for several courses. However, the rector has decided that as of today’s date such requirements will be suspended - initially, between now and 29 March 2020. This means that if you fail to participate in classes, etc. during this period you will not be excluded from taking the exam.

A number of courses at Roskilde University have the active, satisfactory and/or regular participation evaluation types. For such courses, Roskilde University’s shutdown may mean that you will not have the opportunity to pass the course. The University will try to accommodate those of you who are impacted by this to the greatest extent possible. That is why the rector has also decided that if you are in this situation, you will not lose an examination attempt. If the course offers re-examination, you will instead be given direct access to the re-examination. If the course does not offer re-examination, the cancelled activities will be arranged once the University is open to physical visits. Based on this, we expect that you will still be able to complete the course in question in the current semester. If the shutdown continues further into the semester, we will be looking at what this means for both the teaching activities and examinations, and we will keep you updated. Scheduled examinations Even though only a relatively small number of examinations are impacted, Roskilde University has considered how these can be arranged or, if relevant, cancelled/rescheduled.

· Written take-home examinations (for example, 48-hour deadline exams) will be carried out as planned.

· Oral examinations: cancelled and rescheduled

· Examinations taken at the University: cancelled and rescheduled

· Thesis examinations with oral assessment - here you can either:

o - defend your thesis via Skype

o - cancel/reschedule the assessment for later in the semester

o - if relevant, receive a written assessment. If the study regulation does not include the possibility of solely written assessment, the rector will grant a dispensation from that part of the study regulation.

Those of you who are impacted by the above must contact Education & Students - see https://intra.ruc.dk/nc/en/students/student-hub/ Student cases that are to be settled by the study boards Cases involving dispensation, credit transfers, complaints, etc. will be processed as normal. An unfamiliar situation This is an unfamiliar situation for all of us, and therefore we expect that challenges will appear, we will, however, try to handle them in the best possible way.

Best regards, Maria Volf Lindhardt Deputy Director, Education & Students