Welcome address by the Rector

Professor Rothen, digitalisation has brought about enormous progress in the concept of studying without the constraints of location or timetable. However, UniDistance Suisse has been offering the opportunity to study at university via distance learning since 1992. How did this idea, which was innovative at the time, come about?

I myself only joined the UniDistance Suisse team in 2018, but I know that in the 1990s, the management rode the emerging wave of the internet and began to engage external lecturers for their teaching programmes. They wanted to create an alternative to face-to-face university studies. As you can imagine, the technical possibilities were modest compared to today. Today’s digital tools are a cornerstone of the UniDistance Suisse model: all you need is a laptop and an internet connection. At the same time, society’s mindset is much more flexible, which also works in our favour.

To what extent is our mindset more flexible today?

Digitalisation has made our communication more asynchronous. We are now accustomed to communicating at a later time via emails, WhatsApp messages and social media. The answer to a question is not immediate; it only comes when the other person has found the time to respond to our query. This shift has not spared higher education: at our university, a large proportion of communication takes place asynchronously, even though we ensure that opportunities for live communication are regularly available. This approach has proven its worth and is perfectly suited to the range of disciplines we offer: computer science, mathematics, history, economics, law and psychology lend themselves perfectly to the asynchronous transfer of knowledge. On the other hand, distance learning in medicine is more difficult to implement, as it requires face-to-face interaction.

UniDistance Suisse is based on blended learning. What does this involve, and what are the benefits for students?

Put simply, blended learning combines online learning with traditional teaching methods. This means we place great emphasis on self-directed learning, for which our web-based platform is ideally suited. It allows students to plan their own learning journey with a high degree of autonomy. We also rely on recognised textbooks, and the standard of course content and the assignments our students are required to complete are comparable to those at traditional universities. And although we place great emphasis on individual responsibility, we schedule regular discussion sessions: every Saturday, students and teachers meet on Zoom to address questions, discuss the application of course content and share their impressions. In this way, we create a genuine dialogue, a far cry from traditional lecture-style teaching. This is what is known as the ‘flipped classroom’.

Could you tell us more about this? What does it actually look like in practice?

At most universities and colleges, students gather in a lecture theatre, go through the material with the lecturer, and are then given homework to do at home. Here, it’s the opposite: students are expected to have studied the material before the lesson. The online session is a time dedicated to discussion and deepening their understanding. Every question asked is discussed until there are no remaining uncertainties. By doing this, we have succeeded in creating a remarkable culture of discussion. I would add, however, that our students are 37 years old on average and already have some initial training and/or a profession, which is a real luxury. These people are taking our courses of their own accord and are therefore motivated to make the most of their studies whilst working.

Balancing work, studies and sometimes even family life is a huge organisational challenge. How do you help your students cope with this?

We place great importance on ensuring that our students always feel well supported by our team. This is made possible in particular because our modules are led by pairs, each consisting of a lecturer and a teaching assistant. These assistants are research staff who are undertaking their doctoral training with us, in partnership with other universities. Thanks to this structure, we can respond to each individual’s needs in a relatively personalised manner. Our university institute also has Student Services, a department that acts as a single point of contact for all administrative queries and requests.

When studying remotely, don’t we sometimes miss out on the social aspect of university life?

No, this isn’t a problem for our students, as they are already at a completely different stage in their lives.

UniDistance Suisse offers a wide range of university courses, but it also provides continuing education programmes. What is your philosophy in this area?

That’s right; we offer practice-oriented continuing education programmes in various disciplines. The range extends from a CAS in Data Protection to courses in economic psychology, as well as programmes related to agile business transformation. We also offer courses for older adults through Uni60+, where we start by teaching them how to use Zoom on various devices before moving on to the actual course content, such as optimising memory performance. In this way, we aim to help people from all walks of life acquire new knowledge.

Is it specifically out of a concern for inclusion that you offer university courses in different languages?

We do indeed believe that our programmes should be accessible to as many people as possible, which is why we prioritise multilingualism wherever possible and appropriate. The Bachelor’s degree in Mathematics, for example, is taught in English, as this is the standard language in this field. By contrast, the Bachelor’s degree in Law is offered in both German and French, as this is a field in which linguistic nuances are crucial. We are the only university institute in Switzerland to offer such a programme.

Society and technology are constantly evolving. How is UniDistance Suisse responding to this?

At first glance, the current trend is very beneficial to us: digital technologies are now well established, and their use is increasing acceptance of our distance learning programmes. Naturally, we are monitoring developments closely, particularly in the field of artificial intelligence. The fact that many of our lecturers are quite tech-savvy and therefore open to innovation is an asset. Generally speaking, as academics, we should always maintain a certain open-mindedness.

You’ve raised an important point: UniDistance Suisse is not only a place for study and continuing professional development, but also for research.

That’s correct. As we are a university institute, research and teaching are closely linked here. We also teach our students the scientific approach, which means we encourage them to think critically and to question things. The research we conduct is relatively conventional and is linked to our educational programmes. At UniDistance Suisse’s headquarters in Brig, we study environmental and energy economics, work on solving differential equations and have opened a virtual reality laboratory.