News

In a fairly short period of adaptation to the online format, the Stockholm School of Economics in Russia has come to several important conclusions on the value of the main components of executive education: the necessity of practical application of theory, as well as creating an environment for reflection and dialogue, being especially important for managers. So a simple remote format, which provides only a passive source of information, is not suitable for executive education. Therefore, the Executive MBA program of the Stockholm School of Economics in Russia has not been simply transferred online. Instead, the participants were offered a hybrid training format. What does it mean?

Firstly, participants get together in a classroom, while and when it is permitted by the current restrictions. They are accompanied by a moderator in the classroom, who provides support for international teachers teaching via Zoom.

Secondly, a lot of work has been done to transform the content of lections: some of the lectures have been replaced by individual reading, the saved time is allocated to practical exercises in teams. Thus, the practical orientation of the learning process and live communication still dominate.

"We at SSE believe that technology only improves functional knowledge and integration, and connects participants with the international faculty and speakers around the world. You can learn finance or marketing remotely, but many things, including leadership, are learned through face-to-face communication, collaboration, and experience sharing," says Anders Paalzow, President of the Stockholm School of Economics in Russia.

Hybrid learning, being by definition a high-tech format, reserves the opportunities for individual approach. This isn’t just a set of pre-recorded online courses, with no exchange of opinions, nor is this a platform for webinars, where communication is limited to chat messaging. The hybrid approach involves participants in the process of learning as actively as face-to-face classes: participants can ask the instructor all the necessary questions, exchange opinions, do case studies in teams, and present them to the group for discussion. The most important thing about this combined approach concept is that program trainees, in addition to absorbing new information, may still adapt it to their personal needs and sharpen their group interaction skills.