Just as technology is transforming the world of business, it is changing the world of business education.
Some people maintain students get the most from an MBA experience when they spend time with experts in the same classroom, or when working with other students to solve problems and tackle case studies. But Peter Carr, director, Centre for Innovative Management at Athabasca University in Edmonton, says these precepts are dated.
Students can learn just as much, and collaborate just as effectively, sitting beside one another in cyberspace as they can sitting beside each other at the same desk. Indeed, the success of the Athabasca program would suggest a growing number of people agree with Carr.
One out of every four people taking an executive MBA in Canada is taking it online through Athabasca University. All together, 1,100 students from every province and territory and 25 other countries are taking an MBA from Athabasca University.
Last year, Canadian Business magazine’s executive MBA program rankings placed Athabasca third in Canada, close behind second-place Ivey. The average salary for graduates from the class of 99 was more than $106,000. “Can we compete? Certainly,” says Carr.
The claim about the effectiveness of online learning mirrors the debate that continues in many workplaces about effectiveness of virtual work and the importance of face time over remote interaction. But the Athabasca program seems to refute this.
“The most important difference (of the Athabasca program) is there is more interaction than any other school,” says Carr.
Just like other executive MBA programs, students do case study work in groups. The big difference is that the group work is asynchronous. Through threaded discussions, students collaborate with other students to solve problems. Typically, each student puts in about 20 hours a week and a group of eight to 10 people will produce up to 100 contributions.
The online model also helps students learn to communicate electronically, a skill which is almost certain to become more valuable in the future. The program is intended for experienced business people and most of them can communicate face to face, says Carr.
“I think the business education market is going to change very quickly in the next few years, especially as people want international business education,” he says. “Internationalization is going to be the big thing.”
If schools aren’t already using technology to reach out to students from around the world, or access faculty from other countries (about 10 per cent of the Athabasca faculty are American based) they soon will be faced with other schools using those strategies to tap into the Canadian market. Already there is more marketing into Canada from non-Canadian schools and as Canadians want more international education they’ll be more receptive to those offers.
Some people maintain students get the most from an MBA experience when they spend time with experts in the same classroom, or when working with other students to solve problems and tackle case studies. But Peter Carr, director, Centre for Innovative Management at Athabasca University in Edmonton, says these precepts are dated.
Students can learn just as much, and collaborate just as effectively, sitting beside one another in cyberspace as they can sitting beside each other at the same desk. Indeed, the success of the Athabasca program would suggest a growing number of people agree with Carr.
One out of every four people taking an executive MBA in Canada is taking it online through Athabasca University. All together, 1,100 students from every province and territory and 25 other countries are taking an MBA from Athabasca University.
Last year, Canadian Business magazine’s executive MBA program rankings placed Athabasca third in Canada, close behind second-place Ivey. The average salary for graduates from the class of 99 was more than $106,000. “Can we compete? Certainly,” says Carr.
The claim about the effectiveness of online learning mirrors the debate that continues in many workplaces about effectiveness of virtual work and the importance of face time over remote interaction. But the Athabasca program seems to refute this.
“The most important difference (of the Athabasca program) is there is more interaction than any other school,” says Carr.
Just like other executive MBA programs, students do case study work in groups. The big difference is that the group work is asynchronous. Through threaded discussions, students collaborate with other students to solve problems. Typically, each student puts in about 20 hours a week and a group of eight to 10 people will produce up to 100 contributions.
The online model also helps students learn to communicate electronically, a skill which is almost certain to become more valuable in the future. The program is intended for experienced business people and most of them can communicate face to face, says Carr.
“I think the business education market is going to change very quickly in the next few years, especially as people want international business education,” he says. “Internationalization is going to be the big thing.”
If schools aren’t already using technology to reach out to students from around the world, or access faculty from other countries (about 10 per cent of the Athabasca faculty are American based) they soon will be faced with other schools using those strategies to tap into the Canadian market. Already there is more marketing into Canada from non-Canadian schools and as Canadians want more international education they’ll be more receptive to those offers.
