MBA | Teaching in hybrid mode takes hold

MBA teaching evolves at the same pace as the world of work: even if face-to-face is still relevant, the hybrid is popular as everyone has become accustomed to making videoconferences in the comfort of their living room saving transport time.

Martine Letarte
special collaboration

HEC Montréal is preparing to move into its new downtown building for the start of the school year, where its MBA programs will be offered (Master of Business Administration). The one offered part-time in hybrid mode is currently creating a craze in terms of registrations, notes Kevin Johnson, director of MBA programs at HEC Montreal. The new classes are equipped to deliver the course both to people face-to-face and to others online at the same time, thanks to Zoom Room.

“The flexibility of being able to do the courses in class and remotely makes it possible to seek out new candidate profiles because not everyone can afford to spend several evenings a week on the school benches. We are going to look for more women, when we know that they do even more than men at home with the children, and we are also going to look for more fathers, ”adds Kevin Johnson.

Pedagogy and class design have also been reviewed by experts to provide an experience that meets expectations for people in class and online.

At Laval University, the mix of teaching methods arrived long before the pandemic. All faculties combined, in 2019, more than 35% of students had already adopted a formula that integrated face-to-face and distance learning.

The establishment has also invested in technology, in particular in cameras that follow the teacher as he moves around the classroom and in interactive whiteboards.

Laval University also has the particularity of offering completely distance learning MBAs that allow students to be reached outside the city and the Quebec region.

Opt for 100% face-to-face

This flexibility does not, however, prevent some students from still wishing to enroll in a 100% face-to-face MBA. “It’s important that these people continue to be able to live the experience on campus,” says Serge Kablan.

The 100% face-to-face option is also offered at HEC Montréal for the part-time MBA. For the full-time program, everything takes place in person.

At Concordia University, we opted to return to an MBA completely face-to-face, except for people who have medical restrictions. They can then use Zoom. But the experience gained online during the pandemic will still have left its mark. For example, Li Yao, director of the full-time and part-time MBA at Concordia University, now asks his students to watch videos before arriving in class that explain certain basics he has recorded. when classes were all remote.

“So, in class, we can have discussions on the subject, and I think it’s a better way to use this time when we are all together,” he explains. So yes, we are back in class, but the teaching staff has the latitude to be creative, to find the best ways to communicate their knowledge using technology. »