BGA | BUSINESS IMPACT
A technology per se. You could implement virtual reality, but then the broadband doesn’t work. The experience is the whole thing. That is why I always suggest having a good IT department supporting you in terms of the learning approaches. Some technologies look quite good on paper; they look good if used for five minutes… But let’s be realistic with the technology aspect and ensure we create engagement. ‘Focus on human experience’ Jackie Bagnall, MBA Director, University of Exeter Business School ‘Like our students, many members of faculty are isolating and reliant on the wifi and technology in their homes – however much the university has invested, and it has invested considerable sums, the corporate response to education during Covid-19 is embodied through the people that deliver learning. One thing the pandemic brings to the fore time and again is the ‘human-to-human’ experience in all aspects of online engagement. I believe this is what creates the extra edge. ‘In a teaching meeting last week, we said our students want to be in a relationship with those teaching. The magic of any course is not the technology, it’s the professor. They’ve got the stories, the research and the understanding that students have bought into. It's important to know that about what we are going through right now. I am delighted that in these conversations we are focusing on the human experience. Because at the end of the day, it is the psychological wellbeing and safety of the people in the course, both student and teacher, that matters.’ ‘The momentum is building’ Julie Perrin-Halot, Associate Dean, Grenoble Ecole de Management ‘The risk with going completely virtual is that of losing or downgrading certain “human” elements that are an important part of the learning experience. These elements, like emotion for example, are essential to social interaction and are far more difficult to capture in a virtual setting.
‘We talk a lot about emotion and how to create space for it in an online setting. For example, at Grenoble Ecole de Management, we are using a “hyflex” approach [which allows students to follow the same classes, whether they are in a classroom or connected at distance]. Using aerial photography, we can better capture students’ expressions and get a much greater perspective on how they are reacting and feeling. It brings a closeness and atmosphere that more closely resembles what is achieved in a classroom. ‘We are now seeing that our students are placing the pandemic, climate change and broader environmental and societal concerns in the same basket. There is a growing conversation around these subjects and a growing demand by students to know how their School is integrating these concerns into the curriculum and into its own strategic and operational actions. ‘I think that the pandemic will serve as a catalyst for significant change. The pandemic has had diverse impacts and among them is the question of the internationalisation of our programmes and our Schools in the future. This is something in our landscape that is going to be very different.’ ‘In my view, it is also crucial to bring together representatives from all of the different activities in an institution – the pedagogical teams, tech teams, professional services teams - so there is a concerted and multidimensional discussion and not one solely focused on the pedagogical aspects. This then implies that we have to be thinking about how we are supporting staff in all of these different activities so they are comfortable with this new situation and are also moving along with this curve. We must make sure that, from the receptionists to the librarians through to all the different types of support services, they are all a part of the movement. Communication and inclusion are key. ‘Higher education has been supply driven for a long time, and we – the higher education institutions – have in many ways controlled the market by deciding what we are offering, and
what that looks like in terms of content, delivery, format, and the time that is spent in a programme, and so on. I think what we are going to see going forward is that this is going to become more demand driven. ‘Microcredentials are one area where these elements are going to come into play. This will become a more widely sought approach to education for many reasons, among them: human longevity and the cycles of skilling or reskilling; climate change and the urgency to live differently; and the question of what international travel will look like in the future. ‘Organisations are going to look at things differently as well. They will increasingly focus on very specific competencies that they will want their staff to acquire in a packaged form at different moments in their careers and according to different organisational needs. This is not new, but it is gaining momentum and driving a change that will be revolutionary for us. The momentum is building and the disruption is going to continue as we move forward.' ‘The impossible is possible’ Catriona Burke, Assistant Dean, Kemmy Business School, University of Limerick ‘In hindsight, one of the biggest lessons for me is that the impossible is possible. ‘I think that [the pandemic] is pushing a challenge of our assumptions, our perceptions and our expectations of learning, teaching and pedagogy and as a consequence, the institution itself.’ ‘The innovation I have seen in our university has been phenomenal. The only thing that has held it back has been not enough time, and sometimes not enough money, for what was needed. But I do think it is unbelievable what has happened across the globe. ‘We have all these stakeholders – students, staff, faculty and professors, and we need to ensure [innovations are] sustainable in a measured way, so that people don’t get burnt out. We’ve talked about student wellbeing, but the wellbeing of staff and faculty is also important.
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