Staying connected while studying at home

Staying connected while studying at home

Working from home and studying online have slowly become the new normal. But how do you keep it fun and how do you stay productive? As colleagues we share our so-called ‘working-from-home-tips’ with each other, through which we give each other a little peek in how we work from home, how we manage to do this in a pleasurable and comfortable way and how we stay connected and work together with our colleagues. Think for example of keeping up with your exercise regimen, the scheduling of eureka moments and organizing fun online coffee breaks with colleagues. But how do we stay connected with you as a student and/or participant?

From the faculty, a lot has already been written about work pleasure, online teamwork, and teaching. Also, within program management of the various education programs great initiatives have kick-started. Below we like to highlight five of those initiatives:

From online to outdoors
An online program can be fun and educational but can be even more fun with plenty of variation. For example, by enjoying the outdoors through walking. Exercise is fun and enhances the productivity by up to 60%. We have selected beautiful routes for a good stroll and invite you to select one of those routes to enjoy the fresh air, look for birds and have a good conversation with one of your fellow-students / -participants in your area.

Welcome!
Finally, the first day of your online Nyenrode Experience has arrived. To give you a warm welcome despite the challenging circumstances, we like to present you a welcome package with a personalized note pad, a welcome card, and some tasty snacks to wish you a great start of your education program. As Aristotle said: “Well begun is half done!”

#nyenrodeontour
For many students it is difficult to choose their subsequent education program due to the current corona pandemic. Before, you were able to physically visit Open Days of colleges and universities, but nowadays you can only join Open Days and tours digitally. So, at Nyenrode we decided to do things differently. If you cannot come to us, we will come to you! In a special ‘Nyenrode-on-tour-car’ we bring a personal visit to potential students and surprise them with a well-stuffed goody bag and a good conversation. 

Group apps and community
“Not another group app”, is something we hear and often think these days. But besides the overload of apps, the advantage of a group app is that you can easily share knowledge and tips with each other, whether during or outside class. It is accessible and it also makes it easy to retrace shared information later. In addition, it will help you develop a network for a lifetime within the Nyenrode community. Each education program gives their own spin on it with monthly online happy hours being a great example.

Online intervision
Intervision helps you to learn from and with each other. Within various education programs there is plenty of opportunity to set up an online intervision group with your fellow-participants and -students. This enables you to leverage the know-how and experience of your peers for the benefit of your own questions and retrieve useful tips in a fun, dynamic and interactive way.

It also helps program managers and coordinators to stay involved and have 1-on-1 conversations about topics such as: how do you experience the education program, what obstacles do you run in to and how can we continue to improve our programs?

The Van Gogh bike route
Especially for the international students in Amsterdam, a ‘Van Gogh’ bike route was organized. Typically Dutch and a great way to get to know the surroundings and each other.

Entrepreneurial Nyenrode Podcast
The central theme of the podcasts of Entrepreneurial Nyenrode is ‘entrepreneurship’. Managers from the business community tell us about their experiences, what they have learned and where they stand now. Also from various programs within the organization podcasts are being shared with participants and students in which sleep and meditation tips are shared.

Online challenges
Challenge your fellow-students / -participants in an online challenge with for example a music assignment, a cooking or a picture contest. Share your inspiration on social media and tag Nyenrode.

Games to the max
Besides studying, there is plenty of opportunity for relaxation by participating in the many bingos and pub quizzes that are being organized. The matching snack & drinks box will give you a head start for sure!