Page 22 - StudyTravel Magazine August 2018 Issue

S SpECIAl REpORTpECIAl REpORT StUdytrAvel mAgAZIne AUgUSt 2018

qualifi cations, each of one year’s duration, divided Istituto Europeo di Design (IED) www.ied.edu, will be
into six six-week terms. With the skills taught, says introducing four new semester programmes in 2019 at
Director of Sales & Marketing, Sylvain Lolley, students its Florence campus, two in the spring: Introduction to
can learn to operate, manage or start up a business. A Design and Furniture Design; and two in the autumn:
feature of the new college is that all learning materials Interior Design – Focus on Retail and Commercial
are online and there are no paper-based assessments. Spaces; and Innovation Processes for Interior and
Students are provided with an app that gives access Furniture Design. These will capitalise on the strong
to all content, he explains. cultural, artistic, architectural and handicrafts heritage
In today’s world, Sylvain says that “the pace in of the city, and will build on the institute’s existing
class must be faster than the conservative lecture, popular semester programmes in Interior and Spatial
[and the course] must include experiences that Design (run in the autumn) and Italian Contemporary
learners can relate to”. The college has responded Design and Trends (run in the spring).
“by recruiting trainers who want to innovate and stay Such short courses represent a valuable opportu-
away from the traditional teaching methods. In class, nity for students to ascertain whether the subject is
the trainer is almost a friend that supports, trains and right for them to pursue as a career. In addition, after
encourages students to be successful. Our students’ an autumn semester, explains Veronica Biondi from
success is our success,” he declares. the institute, students may be able to join the fi rst year
At Bridge, which, Greg says, prides itself on being of an IED undergraduate programme (subject to ad-
“one of Australia’s largest and most culturally and missions procedures and requirements). “IED semes-
ethnically diverse providers of international education,” ter and academic year [programmes] are an excellent
Business Management is the enduringly most popular way to start the education experience in the fi eld of
programme. Its graduates perform well above average design/fashion as a transition to the undergraduate
at career interviews, he highlights, particularly in their programme,” she says.
ability to hold in-depth conversations with recruiters
about the details of business operations.
Here, too, Greg observes that technological ad-
vances are having a strong impact on the way courses
are delivered, with a move to a more strongly blended “In class, the trainer is
learning environment. “Our model [of blended learn- almost a friend that
ing] ensures that the personal interaction in the class- supports, trains and
room is used to develop the soft skills necessary for encourages students to
success, with online delivery of content and tasks.” be successful. Our
With strong growth in numbers from South students’ success is our
America in recent years, the college has been see- success”
ing increasing interest over the past 12 months from Sylvain Lolley, IH
the UK, USA and Canada. Sydney’s lifestyle and the Business College
affordability of high-quality vocational qualifi cations are
driving the rise, he observes.
Refl ecting comments above about the increas-
ing popularity of Art and Design programmes, Italy’s

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