Global Nomad Track: Managing the impact of COVID-19 while maintaining our international program
Education has been hit particularly hard by the COVID-19 pandemic especially when it comes to international mobility. With the progressive closing of borders around the world, the sanitary crisis has dramatically impacted student mobility in a variety of ways.
Like many international mobility projects elsewhere, our International Programs were affected by the health crisis that began in March 2020 and made it sometimes difficult to carry out physical mobility: closed borders, cancelled flights, instructions to work from home, expansion of distance learning, etc. Despite these hurdles, Epitech was able to adapt and continue to encourage and promote mobility through the implementation of “Global Nomad Track” an alternative learning pathway.
Global Nomad Track, is Epitech’s academic alternative in response to the impact of the health situation on international outgoing mobility (for students in the 4th year of study).
The programme provides 100% English courses via distance learning modules (or on-site at our European campuses, depending on the health situation). The courses are taught by international professors from our partner universities and business professionals within our European campuses.
Global Nomad Track is accessible to all students who are interested or whose partner study programme undergoes a format change such as: programme cancellation, physical mobility not possible, introduction of online courses for all or part of the programme etc.
What our students say about the Global Nomad Track program:
“Being unable to go to Malaysia due to Covid, I opted for the Global Nomad Track programme. The choice of the programme being very wide, it was totally suited for my future professional career. This allowed me to choose projects that interested me the most and which will be of great help in my future career. What I have liked as well is that we worked on group projects of 3 to 4 colleagues and we’ve developped strong teamworking skills.”
Adam Cyffka, 4th year student in Epitech, France
“Being unable to go to Malaysia due to Covid, I opted for the Global Nomad Track programme. The choice of the programme being very wide, it was totally suited for my future professional career. This allowed me to choose projects that interested me the most and which will be of great help in my future career. What I have liked as well is that we worked on group projects of 3 to 4 colleagues and we’ve developped strong teamworking skills.”“I chose to follow the GNT programme this year
Adrien Héros 4th year student in Epitech, France”
because Epitech offers us great freedom of learning through this programme. Thanks to the great diversity of courses available to us, we can choose the path we wish to take, so that we can orient ourselves in the field of computer science that we like the most. During this program I particularly appreciated the passion, the level of knowledge of different teachers as well as the quality of courses they offered us. I also appreciated the various group projects that I had to do, because through them I was able to meet other students who were just as passionate as me about the world of computing.”
Clara Hottier, 4th year student in Epitech, Barcelone”
“I chose to follow the Global Nomad Track program because we had a large choice: 80 destinations. I could choose to study in one of the partner universities or on our European campuses (Berlin, Brussels, Barcelona etc.). Since a variety of modules were offered, I decided to continue to study the fields I most like, hoping this will help me decide my future career pathway. I was very apprehensive about this year abroad because it was the first time for me living alone in another country where everything was different: the language, the culture, the climate, the way of life etc.. But once I arrived, I genuinely enjoyed every moment. I’ve met great people form all around the world and I visited amazing places. It was a wonderful experience that made me grow every day.”What our teachers say about Global Nomad Trak program:
Dr. Jean-Claude Junqua, CEO of CE2Innovate,
teaching “Innovating Like A Startup, Executing Like A Corporation” GNT module“
“I taught the module “Innovating Like A Startup, Executing Like A Corporation” within The Global Nomad Track programme at Epitech; this allowed me to teach groups of motivated students via distance learning who adapted well to the new conditions linked to the pandemic. I really appreciated the fact that students accepted this challenge, and put into practice the concepts they have learned during the courses. From my side, this experience allowed me to adapt the module in order to allow students to engage remotely while keeping the course content.”“I had the pleasure of teaching digital marketing modules to students within Epitech’s Global
Alizée Baudez, SEO consultant”
Nomad Track program. Despite the distance, I was able to build real connections with the students. Students adapted quickly to the instructions, and they have willingly participated in the exchanges during the course sessions. I was particularly impressed by the quality of their projects. Some of them have had a real impact for local companies we have worked with. Others showed an inventiveness and curiosity that made the module as exciting for them as it was for me!”
Guillaume Munsch, Full Stack Developer, Module “React Native Development”
“I was a React Native teacher for Epitech for 4th year students, and I really enjoyed the experience. On one hand, it allowed me to keep in touch with my school and see how things evolve. From a personal point of view, I liked the fact that I was able to take part in the teaching process, mentor students and share knowledge, which was very enriching. I also appreciated that, despite being a distance learning course, thanks to the format of the module, I had the feeling that I was teaching a real class of students, not just “a group of people online.”- Share
