“Virtual Blue Chain”, the new educational metaverse designed by Excelia to raise students’ awareness of responsible resource management in supply chains
Immersing students in a virtual logistics warehouse to discover its activities, track down wasted resources, particularly water, and find more economical solutions, such is the educational purpose of the new immersive learning experience (ILE-Immersive Learning Experience®) which will be offered this quarter to students in the 3rd year of the Bachelor Business at Excelia Business School. Called Virtual Blue Chain and entirely designed by Excelia, this educational metaverse was co-constructed by Excelia’s professors and educational and technological experts. It is part of the educational course, Blue Education Experience, which aims to explore the ecological and social transition through the prism of water. Virtual Blue Chain also illustrates the continued deployment of Excelia’s digital transformation plan, XL Vision, one of the objectives of which is to reinvent the group’s teaching model thanks to innovative and immersive teaching methods.
Preserving the “Water” resource at the heart of Virtual Blue Chain
Immersed in the reality of a virtual logistics warehouse, students slip into the shoes of supply chain managers responsible for auditing the efficiency of a logistics chain’s processes, considering its water footprint. Their mission: to uncover the invisible footprint, called “Virtual Water” (quantity of water consumed for the manufacture of a product) and to propose solutions that reduce the pressure on this resource. Fun and immersive, the objective of this scenario is to raise students’ awareness of the impact of supply chain activities on water consumption, and more generally of the responsible management of natural resources.
Immerse students in the reality of the supply chain
The Virtual Blue Chain immersive educational sequence is a unique opportunity to confront students with the reality of logistics warehouses in a professional situation. For the first time, it integrates advanced haptic glove technology, which allows students to physically feel the virtual environment in which they operate.
Acquire a combination of key skills for the ecological transition of businesses
The innovative learning offered by Virtual Blue Chain responds to the growing demand from companies for management skills combined with a strong sensitivity to the Ecological and Social Transition (TES). From this perspective, the experience developed by Excelia allows students:
– to identify the key activities of a logistics warehouse,
– to develop their ability to analyze their environment and identify critical points,
– to experiment with the implementation of concrete strategies to limit excessive use of water,
– and, ultimately, to cultivate the reflex of integrating responsible resource management into management.
“Responsible management of natural resources, particularly water, is becoming a key skill for future managers. For example, according to the FAO report (2021), the supply chain is responsible for 13% of food waste. Many experts affirm that this dual skill is essential to respond to environmental challenges, mitigate extra-financial risks and ensure the sustainability of companies in the future. »
Benyamin Shajari, Excelia Business School teacher-researcher who proposed the Virtual Blue Chain scenario.
An innovative educational resource for the Blue Education Experience
An educational journey which aims to explore the ecological and social transition through the prism of water, the Blue Education Experience was implemented in the teaching of Excelia Business School in 2023. It aims to acquire a base of knowledge expanded on the theme of water and transitions by the students. It integrates a set of dedicated courses and offers digital devices to strengthen students’ awareness. Virtual Blue Chain thus enriches the resources of the Blue Education Experience, like the immersive learning experience Ecosphere United Nations already integrated into the courses, Digital Learning capsules on ecological transition issues and scientific content of the AXA Climate platform.
An achievement as part of the XL Vision digital transformation plan
Immersive learning, including educational metaverses, is at the heart of the digital transformation led by Excelia, via its XL Vision plan. The latter aims to reinvent the group’s teaching model thanks to innovative and immersive teaching methods and to improve the experience of each of its stakeholders (learners, partners, staff, companies and territories). Holistic and multi-campus, XL Vision has been deployed since 2022. A budget of €5.6M is allocated to the resulting achievements.
“The design of the Virtual Blue Chain immersive learning experience mobilized a team of 8 people: teachers, educational and technological experts from Excelia. Co-constructing these educational experiences internally allows us to guarantee the quality of learning offered to students, like the choice we made to integrate the innovative technology of haptic gloves which maximizes the students’ feeling of immersion and reinforces the knowledge anchoring. »
Anthony Hié, Director of Innovation and Digital Transformation Excelia
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