The ‘Grow with HSE University!’ Forum: ‘A Platform for Communication and Reinvigorating Ideas’

In late October, the ‘Grow with HSE University!’ forum was held in Moscow. The forum aimed at encouraging an exchange of best academic practices and cultivating cooperation between the University and various schools. Teachers and administrators from 76 regions of Russia and 16 countries took part. Over 3,500 people signed up for the forum, and even more people joined the events online. The plenary discussion alone was watched online by over 15,000 people.

Vice Rector Vyacheslav Bashev spoke at the forum’s opening ceremony, which was held at HSE University’s Centre for Cultures. He talked about the special features of learning at the University, as well as the various general educational activities it implements.  

Vyacheslav Bashev

© HSE University

Furthermore, Vyacheslav Bashev noted that a decision was made in 2015 to form the University Educational District. Schools within this district can receive one of the three statuses: partner school, base school, or distributed lyceum school.

Graduates of partner schools tend to continue their education, e.g., in 2023, more than 4,000 people applied to HSE University. ‘Contributing to quality education is a priority task in our cooperation with schools,’ noted Vyacheslav Bashev, adding that one way to achieve this goal is through the ‘Grow with HSE University!’ forum, which he called a platform for communication and reinvigorating ideas.

Why HSE University Needs to Cooperate with Schools

The first event of the forum was a plenary discussion - ‘Development of cooperation between schools and universities,’ moderated by Irina Rezanova, Deputy Director for Strategic Work with Applicants and Director of HSE University’s Regional Partnerships Centre.

In addition, the First Deputy Head of the Moscow Department of Education and Science, Olesya Lukashuk, emphasised that cooperation between schools and HSE University is not just the presence of the latter’s teachers at schools, but also building a common system of values, developing educational programmes, research, and testing solutions built based on their results.

© HSE University

The Director of HSE Lyceum, Valery Pazynin, spoke about his institution’s new project to create interschool subject-based departments, which will be open to schools in Moscow and other regions.  

The feasibility of participating in this project was confirmed by Alla Volchkova, Director of the Samara Medical Technical Lyceum, a base school for HSE University. ‘I would like to thank HSE University - we have developed a partnership, from online events to direct participation of teachers, children, and parents in activities in both Samara and Moscow,’ she said.

Smartphones and Studying: Friend or Foe?

Among the issues raised during the plenary discussion was the use of digital tools, including smartphones, in educational processes.

Alla Volchkova noted that students’ use of smartphones at her lyceum is not encouraged, but using gadgets for projects and other activities aimed at gaining knowledge, on the contrary, is actually welcomed.

In turn, Anatoly Kasprzhak, Chief Expert at HSE University’s Institute of Education, stated that the idea of banning smartphones in the classroom is controversial. They can also be used for educational purposes, he stressed, adding that a university school is a place where a variety of experiments can and should be carried out, as this setting allows school educators to work together with university teachers and authors of textbooks, as well as apply other teaching aids.

© HSE University

AI Helping Teachers

Prior to one of the workshops, Pavel Sergomanov, Head of the Academic Laboratory at SberObrazovanie LLC, explained how their new Teacher Assistant product, which was developed relying on special machine-learning models, can help to analyse educational processes in a particular class almost in a real-time mode.

So, for example, it is now possible to upload a recording of your lesson and generate various types of reports using AI.

Furthermore, a discussion was held as to what should be considered and in what volume during lessons, how speech speeds are distributed, how the emotional modality of lessons can be measured, and much more.

After the plenary discussion, the forum’s participants attended sections where the experience of the HSE Lyceum was presented. Topics such as digital transformation and the lyceum’s own electronic platform, the use of its online courses for schools to present curriculum, socially useful activities, tools for developing critical thinking in high schools, and student conferences were discussed.

Experience Exchange

Workshops from HSE University experts and forum partners were devoted to gaming technologies in financial literacy, opportunities for interaction between creative industries and school education, research activities at schools, Chinese studies in today’s educational landscape, etc. SberObrazovanie, the ‘Vklad v Budushchee’ Charitable Foundation and Yandex Textbook were among the partners who organised individual workshops.

© HSE University

On day two, the forum participants continued their work at partner schools and, for the first time, an online platform dedicated to ecology and sustainable development was operated.

‘Memorable discussions, original views on current topics, and a rare selection of brilliant speakers never cease to amaze! Over the course of two days, you get a charge of inspiration for the entire year. Detailed workshops are used as ready-made models, which we can replicate in Russia’s regions. You can turn the ordinary into the unusual, make the complex simple, or turn boring into interesting, incomprehensible into understandable, mundane to unique, etc. Also, we are better integrating with HSE University itself,’ commented Anna Leontyeva, Director of the INTEGRAL Lyceum Education Centre in Novosibirsk, at the close of the forum.