How was EAE’s transition from the offline to the online format during the lockdown? Which las measures were most effective in terms of providing support for the students. Most importantly, how did the students feel during this process and how do they rate the School’s response?
The lockdown caused by the Covid-19 pandemic generated a huge number of questions and doubts with respect to business schools all over the world. With this in mind, with the aim of shining some light on this complex period, the highly respected US journal Bloomberg Businessweek has prepared a ranking based on a series of surveys with students at different schools. The results have recently been published and we are proud to say that they show how well we have risen to the challenge.
Let’s find out what our students think of EAE Business School’s actions during the lockdown.
According to the Bloomberg Businessweek ranking, our students support EAE’s response to the pandemic, with a particular emphasis on the following:
- Student safety
- The accessibility of lecturers in the online classes.
- Effective communication from the School throughout the pandemic and the ease with which students can communicate with each other.
- The way EAE lecturers communicated during the online classes and the effective use of online tools.
- Support for finding a job or internship.
- Extracurricular activities for keeping connected with the program.
Student safety
Student safety has always been a priority for EAE Business School. Therefore, since the start of the lockdown, a range of measures have been taken to ensure the continuity of the programs and that all the courses are run safely, always prioritizing the health of the whole EAE community.
By adapting the classes 100% to the digital format, as well as comprehensive academic, psychological and even legal support, the School successfully managed to deal with the lockdown and continue its activities safely.
Still now, before the start of the new academic year, EAE remains committed to ensuring safety as the top priority. To achieve this, with the guidance of experts, the School has designed a comprehensive plan, ranging from detailed signage through to implementing cleaning protocols and promoting a new hygiene.
Click here to find out more about our plan to guarantee the safe operability of the campuses.
The accessibility of lecturers in the online classes.
For EAE Business School, adapting to a digital format was no great challenge because, for many years now, the School has been running hybrid and 100% digital programs that meant that we were already equipped with the tools required to work remotely. However, well aware of the challenges posed by the lockdown, this support was not just limited to technological matters. Throughout these months, the entire team at the School, and particularly the lecturers, have gone to great lengths to provide support and accompaniment at a professional and human level, rather than just academically.
EAE’s lecturers that do not form part of the faculty on the School’s hybrid programs received training and guidance for adapting their courses to the online format and using the Blackboard Collaborate platform. The School also provided tools to enable them to adapt the course evaluation systems and give individual and group feedback.
Some lecturers even went a step further and offered their service outside of the academic sphere: Click here to find out the story of the lecturer Merche Aranda and her free psychology sessions for tackling the challenges of coronavirus.
Effective communication from the School throughout the pandemic and the ease with which students can communicate with each other.
In times of uncertainty, communication takes on a key role in the effective running of activities. With this in mind, as mentioned above, EAE Business School expanded its communication channels and gave students access to a range of tools and resources to ensure effective, fluid communication.
“During the pandemic, I felt supported by the School through the emails they sent every day, as well as the other legal and psychological support services given to all the students”, explained Verónica Poveda, a student on the Master in International Business.
The way EAE lecturers communicated during the online classes and the effective use of online tools.
EAE Business School gave over 5,000 online classes, which an average of over 85% of the students attended using the Virtual Campus Blackboard and its Collaborate Ultra extension for online teaching. This tool was automatically installed in all the virtual classrooms of all the courses on the Bachelor and Master programs run by EAE.
Support for finding a job or internship.
Being one of our School’s key strengths, employability remained a key focus throughout the lockdown. Therefore, we designed a range of different services to continue supporting the students in terms of their professional prospects. One of the most popular services was EAE Te Ayuda: a virtual internship program that ran throughout the months of May, June and July, which not only gave participants the chance to gain top quality professional experience but also enabled them to pass the curricular internship course and make their mark within the context of Covid-19.
Extracurricular activities for keeping connected with the program #makeithappenathome
Moreover, alongside its academic programs, EAE Business School ran, a number of activities and digital conferences designed to provide support to the EAE community and anybody else who was interested.Focusing on issues ranging from employability and digital transformation right through to the key competences in periods of crisis and decision-making in times of uncertainty, the sessions covered the most important areas of the professional and economic worlds.
Another activity highlighted in the responses to the open questions on the survey was the Hackathon employability event held in an online format, with the participation of several multinational companies.
What about you?
What do you think of EAE Business School’s response during the lockdown?