STRATEGY
social experience. We have to accommodate all these needs in the classroom and that is a challenge because it requires technology. We learned how to integrate students from abroad into the hybrid learning setting, but this was quite a journey because students need to understand everybody in the room, so you require the technology to make this possible. This demand has grown extremely quickly during the past 15 months. Before [the pandemic] we were able to say ‘no’ to such demands. This is now our offering, and I don’t think [saying ‘no’] will be possible in the future so this [hybrid] flexibility will be required by all institutions moving forward. Mindsets [in Business Schools] need to change to draw on possibilities and flexibilities, but students themselves need to be flexible as this is the new normal. Hybrid extends to other areas. No one thought hybrid meetings and learning [would replace] physical meetings, but this format will be around in the future. Céline Davesne, Associate Dean, NEOMA Business School We are currently working on hybrid and online learning with new pedagogy and a task force – including students, faculty, and other stakeholders. We are looking at ways we can manage networking experiences, and social aspects for students. We do feel, at NEOMA, that our virtual campus will be able to answer all these elements. Our virtual campus is a campus just like the others at the School: it has a library, amphitheatres, and student clubs. Everything is there, so students just use their avatars within that campus. We strongly believe in it and the high satisfaction rate from students means we are able to meet [their expectations]. The students were able to discuss things together, play football together, they could attend concerts together, and so on. We managed to recreate a social environment via virtual reality. This is something we want to keep and even to extend and I want to apply all these innovations to our executive MBA cohorts in Iran or China, for example. The virtual campus will be the place where our
to make sure that we are using them in a way that equips us to serve our population base now, and also creates a platform for the future. In the global online MBA, the advantage for students is that they’re going to be learning in – and from – a programme that has virtual collaboration at its heart. This means students are using technology for learning, and are learning from technology. The first module in the Global Online MBA focuses on managing in a connected world. It provides students with hands-on insights around how to work with, and within, virtual teams. At our Business School, we have invested approximately €500,000 to upgrade our auditoriums. We have microphones at every seat and cameras that focus on who is speaking. This helps us to create an engaging environment. We also assign what we call a ‘co-pilot’ to each of our faculty members. In pure online, the co-pilot manages the chat and the technology; in hybrid scenarios, the co-pilot is the bridge between the online and in-person attendees. By having someone focused specifically on students who are not physically present, we ensure their voices are heard. We want to remove any sense of physical separation, so that virtual participants are equal contributors to the classroom. In a hybrid session, all students are required to connect via Zoom, including those who are physically present. It has contributed to a richer classroom experience as students share observations, insights, and related resources through the chat function. This not only helps students who are shy or don’t have English as their first language, but also nudges students to share things they may not think are worth interrupting faculty for, and yet which will support learning.
MODERATOR David Woods-Hale, Director of Marketing and Communications, AMBA & BGA PANELLISTS Céline Davesne, Associate Dean, NEOMA Business School Gunther Friedl, Dean, TUM School of Management Antonio Giangreco, Director of Graduate Programmes, IESEG Simone Hammer, Global Head of Marketing Teaching and Training, Barco Rebecca Loades, Director, Career Accelerator Programs, ESMT Berlin Preben Schack, VP of Sales, Learning Experience Division, Barco Terri Simpkin, Director, Executive MBA, Nottingham University Business School
Gunther Friedl, Dean, TUM School of Management
We are still offering a classroom experience. If students have time, then they can come here; if they don’t, they basically tell us they cannot travel. Some students would like remote access [to learning] and others say they want to have the
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