“Fortunately, the initial concern that my students would see the Chinese characters on their screens mirror-inverted like me was quickly dispelled. As I am used to writing and explaining the characters on the blackboard with the radicals, the stroke order and phonetics, I set up the flipchart at home. Desk and flipchart were close to each other, in between I stood and wrote. In the beginning it worked well, then came the time when the students couldn’t read it so well anymore, so I switched to PowerPoint. The whole phonetics is much more difficult to explain and especially to hear online. My summary: It worked, but teaching is much more strenuous and especially for the freshmen it was a great challenge. I miss the direct contact with my students, which enables me to work more efficiently because I can correct pronunciation better. I am looking forward to the time when this is possible again.”
Hilgedard Heindl, Lecturer for Chinese at MBS
"I started my MBA studies in March and after the Intensive Week in attendance at MBS, we also switched to online teaching. I completely understand the dissatisfaction of many that digital classes are not the ones everyone thought of, but even Corona was not what we all imagined! That's why I'm glad that MBS gives us the approach to make the best out of even the most unexpected and worst situations of life. Most of us have taken a tough decision of investing money, leaving our families, giving up our career in oder to start the MBA at MBS, but with all the efforts that MBS is putting in during this challenging time, it confirms me each day of having taken the right decision!
Shweta Dua, MBA General Management student at MBS
“I am positively surprised at how well working in the home office functions and how even fairs can take place virtually. At my last virtual fair, which was organized by an Indian agency, every school or university got its own meeting room on the Zoom platform, which was moderated by a member of the agency’s staff. The virtual meeting room was then always visited by a potential student, who usually introduced himself or herself briefly and then asked questions about the respective study programs. Afterwards they left their e-mail addresses in the chatbox and it was the next one’s turn. The format is new and different than before: I no longer go to a trade fair and set up the stand there, but I sit in my kitchen, which my roommates already lovingly call a “conference room”, and set up the MBS banners behind me to make it look professional. But the content is the same as always, except that the personal touch is missing, of course.”
Doris Hohmann, International Student Recruiter
"I have been involved with digitalisation for a long time in my professional life and I think that online teaching was a great chance for everyone involved. It's incredible how quickly things can be realized once the barriers in the head are removed. The fact that everyone took the change so well shows that a close community, good exchange and the feeling of MBS as a home base are essential success factors for change processes". Heiko Seif, MBS Professor
“At first I was not enthusiastic about the idea of continuing my studies at MBS from home. Aspects that were important to me when I decided to take the Master’s program include in particular an intensive exchange with fellow students and lecturers and the practical approach of the university. In my opinion, this was hardly compatible with studying from home. But now I am really positively surprised how the university and the lecturers have managed to convey their contents virtually. We didn’t have to do without guest lectures, workshops and presentations and we were even able to bring our practical project with Sport1 to a successful conclusion. I also think that the virtual lectures were in part significantly loosened up, as everyone took part from home in a relaxed atmosphere. You could have a wonderful breakfast at the same time and when the weather was good I liked to join in from the terrace.”
Jakob von der Wense, Master student in Sports Business and Communication at MBS
"Working from home office has both advantages and disadvantages. On the one hand, I save myself the stress in the morning and the commute to work and am therefore finished earlier in the afternoon. On the other hand, childcare is of course also not entirely unexhausting and little breaks, such as reading a book on the way to work, are missing. While I really enjoy spending more time with my son, on the other hand I miss the colleagues around me. Especially colleagues with whom one otherwise does not have so much to do, you rarely see, which is a pity."
Alexandra Marx, Marketing Manager
The changeover to the online format has “thrown” us all into a situation that we have never experienced before. However, I feel that this in essence is a valuable challenge, which we encounter again and again in life: something is changing, we have to readjust, learn new things and are challenged to change or adapt our behaviour. Especially in such situations we often learn important things. Even though it was not always easy to focus the students’ attention on the topic of the lecture – Corona was a strong competitor here – and to keep their attention for a longer period of time, in the end I knew how to use methods that made this possible. That’s how I also made progress in my role as a lecturer.”
Heike Anne Dietzel, Lecturer for Presentation Skills at MBS
As an MBS alumnus, I co-founded the Buffalo Bill company a few years ago, which is dedicated to ethical and sustainable meat consumption. We have lost two of our three biggest sources of income because of the Corona crisis: firstly the restaurateurs and secondly the whole street food events, where we are usually represented several times each weekend and sell our burgers. In order to get through the crisis reasonably well anyway, we have focused on more advertising and especially our online shop. Here, the entire Buffalo Bill Team is currently helping to cope with the large flood of packages."
Manuel Ruess, MBS Alumnus and Co-Founder of Büffel Bill
“In March I returned to my home country Morocco because of the Corona crisis and from there I took part in the online courses. To be honest, it was the first time that I experienced and tried online teaching, and I would like to thank all the professors who tried to keep the classes fun and enjoyable, especially for the students with time differences. I really hope that one day, for example at the graduation ceremony in fall, we will all be able to meet again in a safe and healthy way!”
Chaimae Benboubaddi, Master student in International Marketing and Brand Management at MBS
