Under the press release and the Ministry of National Education, Vocational Training, Higher Education and Scientific Research circular dated March 13th and 14th, 2020, respectively, and to prevent the spread of coronavirus “COVID-19”, Groupe ISCAE took immediately the necessary measures to ensure the distance courses continuity.
In fact, considering that digital transformation is a key strategic axis and a performance lever both in regard to “ISCAE 2020” strategy and the “CAP 2023” reshaping plan, Groupe ISCAE, as of 2017-2018 invested in an ERP software for school management “E-Charlemagne / Konosys” and a digital educational platform “Blackboard”. A pilot unit made up of teacher-researchers and engineers had initiated the implementation of the online learning tool, with a view to integrating blended-learning into the pedagogical approach, as it is the case of the ‘English Path’ program. Since then, the pilot cell has ensured the supervision of users, in this case teachers, national and international students and staff members. As a result, teachers are getting used to the e-learning process. Professors who wish so can present themselves on site and benefit from personalized technical support, in compliance with the barrier measures in force, or get the support remotely through online tutorials.
Currently, all courses are introduced into the “Blackboard plateform”. Each teacher has his own access code to the platform and the lists of faculty, students and schedules are up to date. Hence, the “Blackboard” tool is fully operational. For any request or technical support, teachers have an e-mail address dedicated to that purpose. In addition, groupiscae.ma messaging remains the focal point of communication, with email addresses grouped by categories. Furthermore, the digital library Cyberlibris is available online.
In parallel, an awareness campaign was rolled out to support and empower each stakeholder of the ISCAE community.
Regarding administrative and technical services, they are maintained. The members of the management committee, the managers and the staff whose physical presence is necessary, continue to work face to face. However, to take into account the constraints of some staff members in view of the current situation (young children, fragile health) or simply to reduce mobility, they are allowed to distance work, subject to immediate responsiveness at all times.
In addition, the adapted measures for students residing in the ISCAE campus have been taken for each category:
- For National students were asked to leave the campus to join their families in Morocco.
- For international students, who cannot leave Moroccan territory, they are authorized to stay accommodated; this by observing the same national preventive measures, and the additional conditions, namely: the strict ban on receiving visitors and other students, or to go to each other’s rooms, with no possible the access after 8h 00 pm.
Finally, for Incoming students, personalized support is provided by our international relations services.