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"Edutainment": A New Era for Training in 2025?

Writer's picture: 5Discovery5Discovery

Updated: Jan 16

Interview with Anthony Hié, Director of Innovation & Digital Transformation at Excelia



In this interview, Anthony Hié shares his experience leading innovation at Excelia and his strategic vision to bring a fresh and impactful dynamic to pedagogy with bold ideas.


Excelia is a rapidly growing group of international schools that includes a prestigious Management School, a School of Communication, and a Tourism School with a strong presence across France.


5Discovery, with its immersive VR training solutions, has been collaborating with Excelia for several years, contributing to a more engaging and dynamic learning experience for students, heralding a new era of edutainment!


Anthony, could you tell us about Excelia's immersive pedagogy and why you integrated Virtual Reality modules into your programs?


We refer to it as "immersive learning experiences" because the experiential aspect is central to our pedagogy. Why? Because we integrate neuroscience principles into our immersive approaches, particularly in virtual reality, with the goal of enhancing students' knowledge retention.


Through immersive experiences, students embody specific situations. Research shows they retain knowledge better in these contexts than through traditional 2D e-learning.

Additionally, these experiences allow students to immerse themselves in potentially risky scenarios while remaining completely safe. This is something that neither a campus nor an internship can offer. These safe simulations provide an ideal learning environment.



How long have these immersive experiences been in place, and what feedback have you received from students?


These experiences have been fully integrated into our programs for about two years. We’ve developed several experiences with 5Discovery, such as public speaking modules integrated into communication courses within our management programs.

To date, more than 5,000 students have participated in these experiences. For instance, we worked with 5Discovery to create a module called Red Alert, which focuses on acting responsibly and managing a crisis in a tourism context—though it can be applied to other fields.


Student feedback has been overwhelmingly positive. These experiences enable a learning by doing approach, where students can apply and practically experiment with processes learned in class, making their learning both motivating and immersive.


Why did you choose to implement 5Discovery’s VR program on Disability Awareness?


At Excelia, corporate social responsibility (CSR) is central to our DNA. We place particular emphasis on inclusion, especially during the European Week for the Employment of Persons with Disabilities.


We wanted to share these experiences with all staff and students on a voluntary basis. These modules allow participants to step into the shoes of individuals with disabilities, particularly invisible disabilities, which are often the hardest to perceive. Immersion makes this awareness particularly impactful.


These experiences also activate key areas of the brain, according to neuroscience. The limbic system, responsible for emotions, is strongly engaged, facilitating memory retention. Then, the neocortex, linked to reasoning, allows participants to reflect and deepen their understanding of the issues surrounding disability. This makes these experiences powerful tools for promoting inclusion.



What advice would you give to an institution looking to adopt this approach but with little prior experience?


Several recommendations can help ensure a successful start:

  1. Define Your Educational Objectives

    • Immediate Integration: Develop immersive experiences directly integrated into your programs, then add a research component to analyze data and optimize the approach.

    • Pilot Projects: Start with a pilot project, create a framework for research and experimentation, and then use the results to define how to integrate these tools into your curriculum.


  2. Provide Comprehensive Support

Implementing immersive experiences differs from traditional classes or 2D e-learning modules:

  • Collaborate with instructional designers to center the experiential aspect in your solutions.

  • Focus on onboarding—familiarizing students with the tools (e.g., VR headsets). This is an integral part of the educational experience.


  • Organize Logistically

Cohorts should be smaller than in traditional classes, requiring specific arrangements. This individualized approach, however, is highly effective and rewarding for students.


  • Leverage a Diversity of Experiences

Incorporate various immersive experiences aligned with your educational goals. At Excelia, for instance:

  • Public speaking modules

  • Crisis management simulations (Red Alert)

  • Professional interviews

  • Consumer behavior studies


  • Evaluate Student Satisfaction and Engagement

Feedback from students consistently shows these solutions maximize satisfaction and engagement, justifying the technological and organizational investment required.



Could you share your strategy regarding artificial intelligence?

Certainly. Our AI strategy has been part of our XL Vision digital transformation plan for about two and a half years.


One significant aspect involves generative AI, which we are gradually integrating across all programs. We’ve adopted a flipped classroom model supported by our new edutainment platform, Exceliaprime.


Currently, we are preparing the AI for Value season, the second in a series that began with a focus on data. This season consists of seven immersive episodes where students follow a storyline involving AI. The episodes are complemented by online courses covering topics like AI history and generative AI applications.


The goal is to demonstrate AI’s value by starting with foundational concepts. Students then participate in courses and practical sessions on prompt engineering and large language models (LLMs).


What stood out to you most about working with 5Discovery?

What impressed us most about 5Discovery was their attentiveness to our needs, their agility in co-creating and deploying solutions, and their advisory role in optimizing immersive experiences.



Would you like to add anything about Excelia’s positioning?

The main goal of our XL Vision plan is to place innovation at the heart of Excelia’s strategy. Innovation is a key lever for reinventing pedagogy, and it’s evident in all our initiatives.


For example:

  • Our Immersive Learning Experiences (ILE) are a registered trademark at Excelia.

  • Our platform Exceliaprime embodies a new vision of education, merging pedagogy and entertainment, adopting the format of streaming series for education. Its official launch is scheduled for January 15.


Our ambition is to offer innovative, engaging educational experiences tailored to the expectations of today’s students while leveraging the most advanced technologies.


A big thank you to Anthony Hié for sharing his strategic vision and insights on Excelia’s initiatives!

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