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For years, AGBU Armenian Virtual College (AVC) has been a pioneering force in advancing Armenian education worldwide through its Hybrid Education program.
As UNR was the first university in Latin America to incorporate AGBU AVC’s courses into its curriculum in 2021, we looked back with Professor Sabrina Demirdjian, Director of the Armenian Chair at UNR, to see how the program has impacted students’ learning over the last four years.
Why choose a hybrid learning model?
The idea of adopting the AGBU AVC Hybrid Education program emerged from the personal experience of a member of the UNR Armenian Chair, who shared that the combination of an engaging methodology, continuous assessment, approachable instructors, and support in Spanish made learning the Armenian language so enriching that it inspired the completion of several courses, including Modern Armenian History.
The collaboration began with the signing of a cooperation agreement on March 20, 2021. Within this framework, the Armenian Language Chair was launched under the Department of Modern Languages of the Language School, Faculty of Humanities and Arts at UNR. The course is accredited for undergraduate programs, is free of charge, and open to the public.
What impact has the program had?
The integration of the AGBU AVC Western Armenian course, taught in Spanish, has greatly enriched the learning process. This resource is particularly valuable since most students are not of Armenian origin. The multimedia materials — combining audio, video, and images — enhance the classes, making them more dynamic and promoting a more interactive, motivating, and effective learning experience.
Because the program is virtual, it enables students to overcome geographical and cultural barriers, fostering interaction among people from different parts of the world. Participants have joined from countries such as Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Spain, Mexico, and Venezuela, as well as from numerous Argentine provinces including Córdoba, Chubut, Entre Ríos, Mendoza, Santiago del Estero, Santa Cruz, Río Negro, Tucumán, Tierra del Fuego, and various cities in the Buenos Aires and Santa Fe provinces.
How is AVC’s program different and what to expect?
AGBU AVC’s thematic social events and virtual tours have sparked great interest among students at UNR. Therefore, one of the goals for the coming year is to organize more frequent gatherings and expand the academic offerings, further consolidating a learning space that is increasingly diverse and inclusive.
The AGBU AVC Hybrid Education Program is a mix of online and traditional education, combining the flexibility of an online self-study program with the support of on-site instructors, as well as offering various cultural gatherings and social events organized by online instructors. More than 80 schools and universities worldwide have already benefited from the Hybrid Program, which is available in eight languages of instruction.
