Spain’s IE University has announced that it will reopen its campus in July one permitted by the Spanish authorities, and that it will launch a ‘liquid education’ model in all undergraduate, postgraduate, and executive education programs this September.
During a virtual event on June 4, the university’s top management presented its strategic commitment to liquid learning, a unique training model that represents a transformation in the education landscape.
“Our hybrid methodology will allow students to expand their training through synchronous and asynchronous online classes”
More than 1,000 university professors and staff took part in the event, connecting from 32 countries to the WOW Room, the university’s “classroom of the future”.
With the new liquid learning model, programs will have an innovative design that integrates classes on campus for all of IE University’s students, who currently hail from 140 countries.
Hybrid sessions will simultaneously connect face-to-face students with online students, while asynchronous sessions will allow the development of individual work with the support of faculty.
The university said this new format will provide “flexibility to students and reinforce active and personalized learning, and focuses on solving real-world problems”.
The institution is also redesigning its facilities and equipping classrooms with technological solutions that enhance interaction.
At the start of the crisis, the university anticipated the need to train students exclusively online and, since March, 12,000 online sessions have been delivered across all programs.
“I believe that we have shown ourselves to be innovative, entrepreneurial, and people of meaning who are able to find new paths,” said Diego del Alcázar Silvela, founder of IE University.
This world has changed our habits, our systems of relationships, and it has affirmed our willingness to study any question and to actively seek answers.”
“The world needs leaders who are capable of navigating this new reality, and education must be more liquid every day in order to push and prepare us for this new environment,” added Diego del Alcázar Benjumea, vice president of IE University,
Santiago Iñiguez de Onzoño, President of IE University said that students will attend face-to-face classes, work on projects, expand their network, and enjoy life in Madrid and Segovia.
“In addition, our hybrid methodology will allow students to expand and enrich their training through synchronous and asynchronous online classes, as well as individual training that boosts both their critical thinking and capacity for reflection and personal discovery.”
More than 75% of the university’s students come from outside of Spain.
