New ways of learning: eLive innovation at Rennes School of Business

Rennes School of Business was the first French business school to announce the transition of 100% of its courses to distance learning on 10 March 2020.
ELive mode means that a certain number of students can be present on-site in a dedicated and specially equipped room, while respecting health rules and guidelines. Meanwhile, any students that are not present in the classroom are able to access the lesson remotely and can interact and participate as easily as those present in the room. The lessons are also recorded and remain accessible on replay for 6 months. Rennes SB was able to implement its new eLive mode thanks to significant financial investments, allowing the School to ensure educational continuity and equip its classrooms, particularly concentrating on the improvement of sound and video quality.
This exclusive system (Hi-Flex), created by and for Rennes SB, consists of 7 elements that are combined to create an omnichannel educational experience:

• 2 screens
• 1 whiteboard
• 2 cameras
• 1 Microsoft “Teams room” tool
• 1 high-quality sound system

According to François Arbelet, CIO at Rennes SB: “Agility, use and moderation are the key factors for the success of this project.”

Key figures:

•  50 rooms equipped in the short term
• A €1,000,000 investment
• €15,000 – €20,000 invested per room
• €50,000 on software licencing
• 1,400 students that have attended an eLive lesson
• Recruitment of 75 paid moderators
• 300 specially trained teachers

What do they think?

Claire-Lise Ackermann, Professor of Marketing at Rennes School of Business, emphasises the importance of eLive moderators, which she considers “essential.” According to Claire-Lise: “attending 100% of classes remotely isn’t complicated: students can use the chat and raise their hands… We can see and interact with them directly. When there are students both online and present in the room, it’s a bit more complicated. In the summer of 2020, when we were told that trained moderators would be present to facilitate our eLive classes, it was a real relief and meant that I was able to start the year feeling reassured… The moderator starts the video recording, downloads the list of online students, raises his or her hand to give an answer on behalf of online students… It’s every teacher’s dream to have a teaching assistant!”

Pierre Petit de Bantel, one of the students to be trained as an “eLive moderator”, helps make sure that the voices of his fellow students are heard: “I am responsible for facilitating the interaction between students that are present online and those that are in the room,” he explains. “I am also responsible for making sure that the class is recorded, and I am able to assist the teacher or students if they encounter technical problems.”

“This has changed the mindset at school: people are proud to have made this decision before being forced to do so. We don’t want to endure; we want to make our own decisions. It has been a pleasure to innovate, experiment with new possibilities, and bring the implementation of this new equipment forward by three years,” says Thomas Froehlicher, Dean and Director General of Rennes School of Business