The Executive Education service at HEC Lausanne (UNIL), one of the first teaching institutions in the world to have embraced this type of technology, has recently unveiled its new Horizon room, which replicates the experience of in-person teaching. The main advantages of the new set-up are a six-metre wide screen, where up to 49 participants can be displayed side by side, and the option to bring students who are present on-site together with participants who are logged in all over the world.
Although the process was accelerated by the health crisis, the idea of creating an immersive-style teaching environment had been under consideration for several years in HEC Lausanne’s Executive Education service. One of the main reasons for it has been the growing demand for continuing education, as well as the fact that it is a sustainable project that aligns with the service's internationalisation strategy. The health crisis meant that the project became a reality on the UNIL campus in less than three months.
Specially designed to reproduce the dynamism and interactivity of in-person teaching, the room – one of the first in the world in the education sector – gives teachers the impression of being immersed as they would be in a lecture theatre or auditorium.
It means they can deliver their lecture standing up, facing a six-metre wide screen, and see up to 49 people at the same time. The audio feed that starts as soon as they enter the room, combined with the system of cameras that tracks their movements, means teachers can now concentrate solely on their lectures, without having to worry about the technical and audio-visual aspects. “It’s a really striking experience! Because you can now see everyone’s who’s attending, you can replicate certain aspects that until now have relied solely on people being present in person, such as non-verbal communication or the group dynamic,” comments Prof. Olivier Gallay at HEC Lausanne.
The benefits of the experience will also be felt by the participants, who will get much livelier, more natural and spontaneous online teaching, as communications and marketing consultant Delphine Clavel confirms. “The technology used helped ensure continuity in the course without any adverse effect on the quality of the discussion or the personal interactions between teachers and students.”
A hybrid solution for institutions with an international reach
In addition to 49 participants online it is possible to include around 20 in-person places (once the health situation allows it), creating an opportunity for teaching in hybrid mode. “Imagine an international organisation, a federation or a multinational with its headquarters in French-speaking Switzerland, which wants to train executives all over the world. Thanks to this new infrastructure, it is now possible to provide in-person teaching for participants based in western Switzerland, with executives from other parts of the world attending in virtual mode. The advantages in terms of sustainability and travel costs are significant,” explains Thomas Rouaud, Head of this project and Marketing manager of the Executive education service.
The solution will be used for HEC Lausanne’s executive education programs as well as a number of Master’s programs.