TEACHING HOSPITALITY THROUGH TURBULENT TIMES

New Delhi: While face to face teaching is not possible during the global sanitary crisis, Sommet Education has developed virtual access to its campuses and implemented cutting-edge digital content and tools enabling its students continued access to education whilst maintaining the high level excellence for two of its renowned hospitality schools – Glion Institute of Higher Education and Les Roches.
Artificial intelligence for education continuity
Following announcements by public authorities worldwide, Glion and Les Roches campus operations have been temporarily closed just providing accommodation and support to students not able to return to their families.
To maintain a highly personalised approach for students while switching to remote studies, a dedicated task force has been created at the Group level comprising faculty and IT members including Pierre Ihmle, Ph.D., Chief Academic Officer and Eric Wyttynck, Chief Information, Innovation & Digital Officer.
Glion Institute of Higher Education and Les Roches study programs have been adapted to online distance learning since 17 March 2020 with the use of digital textbooks accessible 24/7, videoconferences and online assessments. Academic content of 100 new videos is made available daily and until now, more than 2 000 videos have been created for students to access via Moodle, a Learning Management System.  Online Q&A sessions for small groups accessible several times a day to all students in various time zones have been implemented so as to support the theoretical teaching.
Artificial Intelligence systems analysing user behaviour during the written exams have also been applied in the assessment processes to maintain a high level of control against plagiarism.
Within this context, digital technology has been a mean to create a more horizontal method of teaching. Digital learning imparts some of the essential knowledge, which faculty can then discuss, reinforce and validate in a more open and collaborative classroom environment allowing additional focus on mentoring and nurturing the students. This has led to a daily student engagement rate of 95 percent connecting to the system from 90 countries. 
Benoit-Etienne Domenget, Chief Executive Officer at Sommet Education, highlights: “Our teams have been striving tirelessly over the past weeks to enable our students to continue their studies with the same level of excellence. Our faculty members have once again proven their incredible commitment to our students who are now connected to us from everywhere in the world.”