Online commencement of academic year at Grenoble Business School
Grenoble School of Management Kicks Off Virtual Back-to-School Challenge for 2020
In a bid to harness the potential of virtual reality (VR) in education, the Grenoble School of Management (GEM) has partnered with a digital platform to host a unique "Virtual Reality 2020 Back-to-School Challenge" for its Masters in Management students. The event, scheduled for September 14th, is part of GEM's innovative approach to learning, aiming to provide an immersive, interactive educational experience.
On the designated day, approximately 700 first-year students will gather in the main auditorium of GEM's new Virbela campus. Here, they will engage in meetings, team building activities, and the commencement of the 2020 back-to-school challenge. The event will take place in a 3D virtual environment, allowing students to interact with their custom avatars, an alternative digital representation of themselves.
The back-to-school challenge involves an escape game designed to unveil the challenge's theme: "New Deals to think and impact the world." Participants will then have nine days to attend lessons and virtual workshops, focusing on the use of controversy in negotiations. They are tasked with proposing a "new deal" project seeking to address one of six societal and environmental challenges identified by GEM in response to the ongoing health crisis.
Final presentations will be showcased in an exhibition on September 24th, featuring 144 virtual stands where students will present their projects to a panel of professionals, visitors, and corporate partners.
Throughout the event, students and GEM teams will have the opportunity to interact with each other, fostering networking and collaboration. The choice of avatars raises intriguing questions about self-perception and authenticity in the digital world. To help students navigate this nuance, the initiative is being managed in collaboration with the 'Fabrique de l'Inestimable', an organization focused on leveraging artistic experiences to enrich the learning experience for students.
With the integration of advanced technologies like VR into its pedagogy, GEM strives to offer an innovative, adaptive learning experience for its management students. By creating a collaborative virtual learning space using platforms like Virbela, the school aligns with modern educational trends, facilitating synchronous interaction and active participation in digitally-mediated environments.
Grenoble Ecole de Management (GEM) is more than just a school. It operates as an open-ended laboratory, a Business Lab for Society, where over 8,000 students and 500 employees work together to tackle complex problems and overcome major challenges in business and society. The school, founded in Grenoble—a city of science and technology, boasts a solid foundation in the management of technology and innovation. This expertise extends to meet challenges in the digital world, healthcare, energy, entrepreneurship, territorial ecosystems in transition, and geopolitics. By developing its own educational model, GEM has become a center for experimentation, study, and creation. The school offers 50 educational programs in French and English across various levels, ranging from undergraduate to graduate, doctoral, and continuing education, delivered in Grenoble, Paris, Berlin, Singapore, Moscow, or Casablanca.
Source: Press release from GEM
- By participating in the "Virtual Reality 2020 Back-to-School Challenge," students at Grenoble School of Management will experience a blend of modern education, lifestyle, and technology, as they collaborate and create innovative solutions within a 3D virtual environment.
- In pursuit of education-and-self-development, the partnership between Grenoble School of Management and 'Fabrique de l'Inestimable' emphasizes the importance of integrating artistic experiences with digital learning, fostering a profound understanding of self-perception and authenticity in the contemporary digital world.
