For Vera Cabral, Director of Educational Development at Microsoft Brazil & Latin America, the key lesson learned from the period of remote learning during the pandemic is that education can be facilitated by technology, and that the use of technological tools in the sector has indeed changed processes. Vera Cabral moderated the panel “Innovation in Higher Education” on the second day of theBett Brazil2022 Administrators’ Forum. 

“It’s very clear that the experience we’ve had throughout the pandemic has made us realize that there are other possibilities, and that this leads to a reorganization of what we understand as the teaching and learning process. That, though it’s long overdue, we’ve managed to systematize this way of innovating and working across different dimensions. No one has a formula; the environments are diverse, and the possibilities are diverse,” said Vera Cabral.

The executive from the multinational technology company Microsoft—a global partner of the Bett events—hosted a discussion on the topic with educator Celso Niskier, CEO of ABMES (Brazilian Association of Higher Education Institutions) and president of Unicarioca, and Flavio Murilo Gouvêa, national director of education at Yduqs. The speakers shared their experiences with the administrators in attendance, and the common thread in their remarks was that the pandemic served as a catalyst for technological and methodological evolution in higher education.

“A manager’s mindset should be to fail fast. Test things out. Visit the startup arena at Bett, learn about the tech products developed for the sector, and test what might work for your students. Only then will institutions be able to adopt new models—and develop their own,” advised Niskier, who presented thehybrid quadrant modelcreated by ABMES, which has been successfully implemented at Unicarioca.

“It’s no longer feasible for students who attended remote classes during the pandemic to commute back to campus to attend the same class that could still be held remotely,” the educator emphasized, noting that the university’s role now is to re-engage students during the time slots defined by the quadrant model as “synchronous in-person,” which is reserved for classroom instruction.

Flavio Murilo highlighted the “overwhelming” growth in demand for health-related courses. The executive also shared some insights on the migration of Yduqs’ portfolio, stating that a technological and methodological revolution is more than necessary in higher education, given its close connection to the job market and the current need to prepare new professionals for the new world we are seeing emerge.

“We have been trying to offer a vision that aligns with this shift toward more complex courses. We have increasingly been bringing what we call ‘future-oriented events’ into the university setting. For example, we have a health clinic on campus. We have what are known as experimental agencies for the creative economy and the legal practice center. These are elements that help students envision their future, and when we talk about innovation, we also offer digital literacy that will enable them to pursue lifelong learning. And in that regard, it doesn’t matter what career or role they pursue,” said Flavio Murilo Gouvêa.