Pedagogical innovation, inclusion and digital accessibility at the heart of Rennes SB’s mission
To meet the challenges of pedagogical innovation and digital technology, the Instructional and Learning Innovation (ILI) team at Rennes School of Business supports teachers and students in their teaching and learning strategies. The development of new practices, inclusion and digital accessibility are all challenges for the team, which has just launched a series of innovative training courses.
The pedagogical vision and objectives of the ILI department
Echoing the Unframed values of Rennes SB and the School’s strategic plan, the ILI department aims to support and facilitate an open, active and innovative pedagogy. More than ever, and in partnership with the Learning Center, the ILI department’s objectives are to:
- develop meaningful teaching practices that encourage student involvement and interaction
- legitimise all learning perspectives for inspiring and inclusive teaching;
- test, share and promote pedagogical innovations through new technologies and tools.
The 5 main actions of the ILI service
1. Constructing a dedicated plan for the development of professors’ skills
This first action involves the implementation of a training system that integrates e-learning modules, hybrid training, individual or collective support, assistance in finding information such as consulting articles (Learning Center) or writing memoirs and creating communities of practice. The ILI team also advocates “test & learn” for teachers and “learning by doing” for students.
2. Supporting the Areas of Expertise in the development and implementation of educational projects
This action integrates the development of the skills of the Faculty‘s professors and the Human Resources Department as well as the implementation of the skills-based approach piloted by the Programme Department. Also, large-scale projects are coordinated with the Career Centre & Well Being division, such as the “Career Passport“, a tool developed to help students build their personal branding, question their practices and support their professional integration. In addition to promoting virtual collaboration and hybrid teaching, the ILI team participates in the pedagogical engineering of calls for projects.
3. Enhancing the value of educational initiatives
This involves the creation of communities of practice with the aim of facilitating peer mentoring. In 2021, the co-creation of serious games was set up in partnership with academic experts. The positive results have made it possible to consider experimenting with teachers in the Programme Grande École. The idea is to work as closely as possible with the teaching staff, to experiment with new practices, encourage feedback and innovate through the development of new methods such as gamified learning.
4. Supporting students in their learning
This takes the form of providing advice on learning strategies, the dissemination of information (notably via student newsletters) and the creation of workshops offered by the Career Centre & Well Being. More than ever, digital accessibility and inclusion are at the heart of the ILI department’s challenges. To this end, the team is working with other departments to prioritise these issues and to raise awareness among the teaching staff at Rennes SB through training modules.
5. Facilitating the search for openness and innovation
The aim is to set up an experimental research laboratory to anticipate, support and analyse the teaching practices of the future. By relying on research in educational sciences, ILI aims to enhance the innovative teaching practices of professors at the School. This is done in particular through the publication of scientific articles focusing on the evolution of pedagogical approaches and teaching activities.
A unique and innovative internal training offer
In order to meet the needs identified within the School, and to anticipate new teaching practices, the educational engineering team recently launched an internal training programme on the design, delivery and evaluation of innovative courses. The demonstrable success of gamification, serious games and virtual collaboration shows that these new pedagogical approaches are becoming increasingly established in the minds and methods of our professors.
The ILI team members, all of whom are educational engineers, have developed several training modules. Among the topics covered: digital inclusion and accessibility, collaborative work tools, changes in teaching practices, peer evaluation, etc. External guests, such as the Rennes-based start-up Klaxoon, are also invited to take part in workshops and present their solutions.
This is a good opportunity to discover new tools, to become familiar with different learning platforms, exchange ideas with peers and enrich both the teaching practices and thought processes of the School community.
Collaborative work as a lever for educational innovation
Jose Parra, a pedagogical engineer at Rennes SB, explains: “innovation work is not only done at our level, but we also go beyond the framework and work in close collaboration with other areas of expertise.” The pedagogical engineering team and the IT department work together to deploy innovative pedagogical projects. This involves, for example, the choice of suitable technological equipment for hybrid teaching.
In parallel with the strengthening of pedagogical innovation and the actions carried out in favour of inclusion and digital accessibility, Rennes SB is strengthening its academic excellence with the recruitment of 40 new professor-researchers by 2023.
