News Articles

Flex Learning in the New Normal

MarkMa4

Marketing Management Class of Prof. Leveric Ng on March 28, 2022

“Excited!”

“Ecstatic!”

“Overly excited ”

It wasn’t difficult to guess the overriding emotion felt by AGSB students as they attended the first pilot “flex” sessions held in the Rockwell campus. After one-and-a-half years of purely online learning, the students were eager to try the new learning mode – with some students onsite and some online, in the same class. As of this first week of April, there have been eight pilot sessions.

Meeting the students in a focus group discussion afterwards, we asked them to describe the experience. They were generous with their positive comments, which I share verbatim:

  • I felt safe
  • I felt warm and welcomed
  • The campus felt so alive
  • Fun to mingle, social interaction was a plus
  • Much better listening to the lecture face to face, easier to ask [questions}
  • Felt that this (Flex) was a big value given by the school
  • The school prepared well for the classes to be inclusive for those on or off site
  • It was a pleasant experience and I look forward to the next time
  • Happy to know that there will be more

The professors also shared their positive experiences.

“My class, which was supposed to end at 8 p.m., was extended to 9 p.m.!” said Prof. Ralph Ante. “In general, for me and the onsite students, the experience was definitely well worth the birth pains.”

“[We just need to] get used to it, teacher, offsite, and online students. With more practice by all users, it will be a cinch,” said Prof. Leveric Ng.

The first sessions did not go entirely smoothly, as we expected. There were minor challenges in audio, video, and ventilation. With each session we are learning how we could get better in setting up the classrooms and in interacting in this new mode.

Concluded one student: “It felt like Ateneo Graduate School of Business is really making great efforts to be a leader in flexible learning and it is making the MBA experience more engaging.”

We continue to invite faculty members and students to try out the new learning modes. Allow me to clarify that it’s not mandatory, it’s completely the choice of the faculty members and students to agree to come to the campus and try the new modes.                    For students, that means that your faculty would discuss the option with you in your online classes. The Rockwell campus will be open for pilot sessions until May 7, 2022, before we shift the pilots to the Salcedo campus and Ortigas campus. I will make an announcement about those campuses when they are ready.

So, we have a full month in our home campus to experience a glimpse of how we will be flexing in the new normal. See you here!

-Dean Jet Magsaysay, MBA, PhD

ApMath

Applied Mathematics Class of Prof. Rose Tubeo on March 28, 2022

FAQs

What is “flex” learning mode?

Flex refers to a session where some students are onsite while some are online, in the same synchronous session. Therefore, the professor and students onsite will be interacting, live, with the rest of the students who are online in Zoom.

Will the subject I am enrolled in be held onsite?

Not the subject itself, but just one or two synchronous sessions within the subject.

Is going back onsite mandatory for the pilot sessions?

No, it is not mandatory. It’s completely optional.

How do I sign up for going onsite?

Your professor will be asking if the class is willing to try the flex mode and if some students would want to be onsite for that mode.

What is the schedule for the pilot sessions?

  • Up to May 7, we will continue to experiment with pilot sessions in the Rockwell campus.
  • The renovation of the building starts after May 7 and is estimated to end on December 15. During that time, we will not be able to use the Rockwell campus.
  • While the Rockwell building is undergoing renovation, we will explore continuing with pilot sessions in three locations. And it would be a choice for the professor and students that depends on their proximity to: the Salcedo campus for those in or nearer to Makati, the ASMPH campus, located, for those in or nearer to Ortigas Center; and the Loyola campus for those in or nearer to Loyola Heights.
  • When the Rockwell building renovation is completed, we would transfer the pilot sessions to our home campus in Rockwell.
  • In January 2023, we aim to be ready to accommodate all learning modes.

 

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