Distance learning at Business School Lausanne: technically simple and holistically student-centered
As of Friday March 13, 2020, Business School Lausanne began offering all of its courses online.
Ranking #2 for its Master in International Business and #4 for its MBA according to the QS Global Business Masters and MBA Rankings 2019, Business School Lausanne offers business programs for Bachelor, Master, E/MBA and Doctoral candidates and students of over 60 nationalities.
Anxious to get through this period while remaining fully operational, all while scrupulously following the rules enforced by the Swiss Confederation, Business School Lausanne harvested all its energy to focus on a series of objectives, placing its students at the forefront by:
- Maintaining all classes through distance learning tools
- Facilitating close contact between teachers and students
- Allowing all students to follow lessons, including those who returned to their families abroad
- Ensuring all students can progress through the programs
- Guaranteeing the follow-up of all official deadlines, in order to maximize each students’ chance of obtaining their diplomas within the stipulated deadlines
- Continuing to welcome and onboard new students
To enable the smooth transition to distance learning, Business School Lausanne relied on technologies that it was already using and with which students were familiar with.
Preliminary feedback has been very positive and first observations have emphasized the importance of centering humanity in the design of online work environments:
- Proper etiquette is vital when getting the most out of video conferencing. Informing students when to connect their microphones and cameras, how and when to ask questions, etc. The presence of each student is checked at the start of the lesson by a short exchange with the teacher and students are challenged during the lesson to ensure that the learning dynamic remains effective.
- Videoconferencing can be used to bring rhythm to the classroom, without it being necessary for all of the class to be devoted solely to videoconferencing. Distance learning must give way to individual work, group activities as well as face-to-face exchanges with teachers.
- A moment of benevolence at the start of the videoconference sessions has a positive impact on the progression of the entire session. Distance learning deserves to make room for interpersonal relationships between students who find themselves in confinement at this time.
Efficient systems will gradually be introduced in order to promote the organization of students over time. A constant dialogue between teachers, students and parents ensures that the pace of implementation respects the needs of both the teachers and students.
Dr. David Claivaz, Acting Dean, Business School Lausanne
