iMooX

Scope and Responsibility

These Conditions of Use apply to the iMooX teaching and learning platform provided by the Graz University of Technology (TU Graz), the related technical infrastructure, and all contents, materials, and services therein (collectively, the “iMooX platform”, the “platform”, or the “system”). These Conditions of Use apply regardless of the place from which the platform is accessed. They comply with current legal requirements. These Conditions of Use support for the responsible use of the system and its contents. They contribute to the protection of personal rights. The TU Graz is responsible for the system and its technical support.

Purpose

The purpose of iMooX is to support the dissemination of teaching and learning content. Each responsible for the course is free to contribute his or her teaching content digitally. For example, teaching materials can be made available in various formats, discussion forums can be organised, and other individually-created teaching materials may be offered. Users who have the appropriate access authorization can use these contents exclusively for teaching and learning purposes. The iMooX content has been developed with care taken to ensure its accuracy and the state-of-the-art nature of the technology.

Definitions of terms

Users are all user profiles registered on the iMooX teaching and learning platform.

Courses or MOOCs are individual areas on the teaching and learning platform iMooX. A MOOC (Massive Open Online Course) is a special form of online course that combines traditional forms of knowledge such as videos, reading material and problem-solving with forum discussions between teachers and students and quizzes which allow participants to monitor the acquisition of knowledge. MOOCs are optimal to convey knowledge to a large number of people wherever and whenever. There is no limit concerning the number of participants.

The responsibles for the course are teachers or their educational institutions. They supervise the respective course and are responsible for the content and legal conformity of the course. The names of those responsible for the course (teachers and educational institutions) can be found in each course.

Certified course creators are persons who create courses on the iMooX platform on behalf of the responsibles for the course (teacher or educational institution). They create course areas, enter content, course materials and activities and support the responsibles for the course in the administration and use of the course.

Course participants are learners who register for and participate in a course. They can enter content (e.g. forum entries) and participate in activities (e.g. quizzes) within the specifications of the responsible for the course. Upon successful completion of the course, course participants receive a certificate.

Course viewers are users who have access to a course or MOOC regardless of time restrictions. The rights correspond to those of a course participant.

Providers are not users, but entities providing any content, materials, and/or services to the iMooX platform

Registration

The iMooX platform is freely accessible. The TU Graz reserves the right to restrict access to selected persons. Users are obliged to treat their access information as confidential, thus, preventing unauthorized access by third parties. Completing the registration procedures and protecting the confidentiality thereof are the responsibility of the user. If the user suspects that his or her account is being used by a third party (or parties), they are required to report this immediately.

Termination

The TU Graz reserves the right to terminate user accounts immediately if these Conditions of Use are violated. TU Graz is under no obligation either to notify the user of the reason for termination or to inform the user of the termination.

Disclaimer and Warranty

The TU Graz and its Providers cannot be held responsible for the content created by the users. The user is fully liable for the content that he or she disseminates. He or she agrees to comply with all applicable laws and particularly – but not exclusively – agrees not to disseminate or make available in any way content that is unconstitutional, criminal, immoral, pornographic, or glorifies violence. Furthermore, content that is detrimental to the reputation of the medium, natural persons, or even the organisation should not be disseminated. The user is also liable for all data, texts, information, names, graphics, photos, audio and video files, as well as hyperlinks that are disseminated using the system. It is forbidden to disseminate games or software which are not directly related to teaching purposes via the system. The TU Graz reserves the right to delete any or all activities (contributions or registered content) at any time without providing a reason (or reasons) and to take legal action against users if they are found to be in violation of the guidelines mentioned above. With respect to course materials, the TU Graz can oblige the responsibles for the course to remove content that appears to be in violation of these guidelines without stating its reasons. TU Graz and its Providers accept no legal liability for claimed damages that arise through use of the system, nor does it accept liability for its contents. Furthermore, TU Graz and its Providers accept no liability for the loss of data; no legal claim can be made against TU Graz nor its Providers in the event of such a loss. In no event shall TU Graz or its Providers be liable to users for any direct, indirect, incidental, special, punitive or consequential damages whatsoever resulting from user’s use of the iMooX platform, whether or not TU Graz or its Providers are advised of the possibility of such damages. The foregoing limitation of liability shall apply to the fullest extent permitted by law in the applicable jurisdiction. In no event shall TU Graz’s or its Providers’ aggregate liability arising out of or related to these Conditions of Use exceed 100 Euro. TU Graz reserves the right to modify or deactivate the iMooX platform at any time without providing reasons. TU Graz and its Providers accept no liability for damages that are claimed to have been caused by user contributions or contents; no legal claim can be made against TU Graz nor its Providers in the event of such inferred damages. This also applies to prosecution costs.

The user agrees that his/her use of the iMooX platform shall be at his/her sole risk. The iMooX platform is provided “as is” and “as available”. To the fullest extent permitted by law, TU Graz and its Providers disclaim all warranties, express or implied, including without limitation, implied warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose or non-infringement, in connection with the iMooX platform and the user’s use thereof. The user agrees to indemnify and hold harmless TU Graz and its Providers to the fullest extent allowed by law from and against any and all claims, damages, obligations, losses, liabilities, costs or debt, and expenses (including without limitation attorneys’ fees) arising from: (i) his/her use of and access to the iMooX platform; (ii) his/her violation of these Conditions of Use; (iii) his/her violation of any third party right, including without limitation copyright, other intellectual property, or privacy right; (iv) his/her violation of any applicable law. This indemnification obligation shall survive any expiration or termination of these Conditions of Use and/or the user’s use of the iMooX platform.

Copyright

The responsibles for the course must ensure that the dissemination of content does not result in copyright infringements that are punishable under §91 of the Austrian Copyright Act (Urheberrechtsgesetz). It is forbidden to the users to intentionally search for, copy, manipulate, or otherwise use any private information or information that is the intellectual property of others without having received the explicit permission of the person(s) concerned. It is expressly stated that the responsibles for the course are only allowed to disseminate teaching and learning content via the system, if such dissemination does not violate the copyright law(s). All rights in the iMooX platform, including its contents and pages, are reserved by their respective owners.

The responsibles for the course are obliged to release any content they choose to upload to the iMooX platform under an open license within the meaning of open educational resource. For this reason, the license must be selected when the course is created. In return, users are obliged to comply with the basic conditions of this license.

Advertising and Commercial Use

The iMooX platform is intended for personal use in compliance with the scope of the Conditions of Use and may not be used for commercial purposes. The dissemination of advertising or other, similar materials is not permitted.

Alteration of the Conditions of Use

The TU Graz reserves the right to alter its Conditions of Use. These alterations will be clearly marked in the text. The user is obligated to regularly refer to the Conditions of Use and be aware of them.

Jurisdiction for Applicable Law

Place of jurisdiction is Graz; Austrian law applies.

This English-language version of the Conditions of Use of the iMooX platform is intended as a guide to the contents of the original German-language version. Although all due care has been used in the translation, it is not a certified legal translation and may not represent the original precisely in every detail. Readers are advised that only the German version is binding, under Austrian law.