Another ZHAW online course is dedicated to the many connections between business and human rights in a globalized world. Participants will learn how companies can become more aware of the human rights risks of their business activities. Once they have identified these risks, they can manage and improve their influence using various approaches and instruments. "All over the world, issues such as working conditions, occupational safety and the fight against child labor are increasingly becoming the focus of corporate responsibility," says Jörg Schmidt, who is leading the course together with his colleague Ina-Maria Walthert. "This is especially true for the internationally widespread supply chains of companies". The ZHAW School of Management and Law's bachelor's program has long offered an elective module on these topics.

The ZHAW’s comprehensive e-learning offering is set out in the university’s “Education and Digital Transformation” sub-strategy adopted in 2018. The goals of the strategy include promoting individual learning processes and flexible learning modalities (such as learning times and locations). The ZHAW’s lifelong learning strategy also aims to promote an innovative and diverse learning environment to enable lifelong learning.

“The edX collaboration and the courses produced at ZHAW offer an accessible opportunity to study versatile and high-quality courses. Correspondingly, the students have the opportunity to expand their own knowledge into global networks, where intercultural interaction and digital literacies develop alongside substance knowledge,” says Minna Koponen from the Center for Innovative Teaching and Learning at the ZHAW School of Management and Law. She leads the edX Production Process Project and is the contact person for edX. The ZHAW online courses are aimed at students at Bachelor’s level and working professionals, for example as part of continuing education programmes.

During the current COVID-19 pandemic, the added value of digital educational offerings was highly noticeable. As the first university of applied sciences worldwide to be represented on edX, the ZHAW is thus doing important pioneering work in digital transformation. This means that the ZHAW’s application-oriented teaching and learning content can be made available to a large audience not only in times of crisis.

The first two ZHAW online courses are in English and therefore suitable for international audiences. Further ZHAW online courses from various departments are already in planning or in production. These will be offered in German or English. So far, there are only a few German-language courses on edX. The ZHAW would like to reach these audiences with its offering. There will be a specially tailored programmes for participants in Switzerland, which will be available in 2021 on the Swiss MOOC Services platform.