Besteduonline
Programs
Virtual learning is
giving millions of people across the globe a new way to further their
education. Students who are not in a position to study full-time due to work
commitments, family priorities or financial reasons are able to consider
studying from home. The distance
learning MBA is gaining popularity, with many of the world’s top business
schools developing virtual learning courses that can match up to their existing
full-time programs. IE and Warwick
Business School are the top two business schools in the world offering
distance learning MBAs, but how do they measure up to their full-time
counterparts in reality? Read on to discover more about the benefits of
distance learning as well as its downsides.
Besteduonline
and new technologies
Webinars and virtual learning
environments are relatively new phenomena in the distance learning world. It’s
only in the last decade or so that new video and interactive technologies have
become readily available worldwide and our bandwidth speeds are able to keep
up. Unfortunately because of its relative newness, there are the obvious
teething problems with distance learning courses. Out of the wide range of
people that sit in on these webinars there will always be one, certainly in the
initial weeks, who cannot get their microphone or speakers to work and you’re
likely be distracted by the regular sound effects from local emergency services
from around the globe, which will probably begin to lose its novelty at some
point in week three.
To
find out whether these problems affected even the most prestigious of
universities, the author of this piece sat in on a webinar for distance
learning MBA applicants of the Warwick Business School in the UK where it was
clear that the majority of people were newcomers to the web chat environment.
This led to people talking on top of each other and numerous recitations of the
phrase ‘can you hear me now?’ Not exactly
the slick, professional atmosphere you would expect from a leading business
school.
Despite these initial problems it is
extremely clear from the outset that these classes operate precisely as a real
seminar would, with just as much interaction and equal amounts of support from
faculty members. There are obvious advantages too; pause, rewind and fast
forward are just three of the best examples of how technology makes life so
much easier for the conscientious modern student. At a top business school such
as WBS there will be just as high a level of intellectual discussion as on a
face-to-face full-time MBA course, but it may take a little bit of getting used
to the quirks of web based learning. Nigel Pye, assistant dean for the
executive and distant learning MBA programs from besteduonline at Warwick
Business School asserts that “teaching methods must inevitably be adapted to
cater for the online environment, but this can be a benefit since students can
choose the methods that best suit them. They can listen to lectures while
driving, watch lectures on their computer or download material for reading.”
Lack
of face-to-face time in virtual learning from Besteduonline:
The comforting notions of being able
to train for your MBA at home in your pajamas is very alluring but there are
disadvantages to this comfort, as you do not have much face-to-face training
which will help develop your business skills in a real environment where verbal
communication is one of the most important skills to master.
This does not mean however that
distance learning programs ignore the value of face-to-face interaction. “By
the very nature of the delivery method we do not have the same degree of
face-to-face contact as with full-time students, but there is the opportunity
for regular interaction between the student, WBS and other students. All
DL program related staff – faculty and administrators – receive a daily digest
of items raised on the discussion boards so that they can respond quickly to
any issues or questions,” Pye explains.
The main thing to realize when
researching possible courses, is that a distance learning MBA is very much
distinct from an online MBA or a MOOC (Massive Open Online Course) and because
this is the case, your place of study may well require you to be present at a
number of learning events. Pye discusses this; “There are three key points in
the course where students must attend Warwick Business School; twice in the
first year, for four or five days, and once in the second year for one to three
days, depending on elective modules chosen. In addition, a five-day face-to-face
module is included in the price of the course. This module may be taken
at Warwick or one of our many worldwide partner universities in places such as
Dubai, Singapore, Germany or China.”
So if the main selling point of
taking a distance learning MBA for you is the ability to remain alone and
anonymous, then it’s likely that Warwick’s program may sound daunting. Despite
this, the alternative options of studying a MOOC or a solely online MBA
wouldn’t nurture growth in these areas as much as a full-time or even a
distance MBA would. Both WBS courses make face-to-face learning a compulsory
factor in order to develop solid communication and interpersonal skills which
are essential in business.
Home
distractions and the virtual learning workload in Besteduonline
Even the most dedicated of students
will struggle to stay alert throughout a two-hour long virtual learning
session, especially when you’re just one click away from your emails or
Facebook or the entirety of the internet. If you’re not using a webcam, the
temptation to sneak away to make a killer five-tier sandwich is somewhat
powerful, and something you wouldn’t be able to do in a real life seminar –
even if you were still tempted to. This is just one reason why distance
learners must have a great deal of self-motivation and discipline in the long
term in order to keep up a regular routine of studying. And, as you are not
required to view lectures at specific times, keeping up with the workload can
get hard, especially if you have the added stress of another job.
Pye says, ‘For some students a
sudden spike in their job’s workload or family issues may mean they start to
fall behind; we have a very flexible program of modules that allows students to
defer individual modules or even temporarily withdraw from the program.
It can be done in 34 months but we allow up to 60 months to complete the
course.”
Employability
in distance learning MBA graduates with Besteduonline
It seems that many prospective
students question the legitimacy and the employability power of studying a
distance learning course even if it is from a reputed school. Principal
teaching fellow at Warwick Business School, Dr Derek Condon tackles this doubt
by stating that “if you come to Warwick you'll get a Warwick MBA, no matter how
you choose to study." Statistics also prove that employers are similarly
as keen to hire distance learning MBA graduates as they are for those having
studied a full-time MBA.
Virtual learning is expanding at a
healthy pace and according to AMBA’s Intake and Graduation 2012 survey almost a
third of all MBA enrollments in the UK are now for distance learning courses.
And because of this substantial participation in the MBA student market,
distance learning courses are continuing to gain recognition and accreditation within
the MBA world and outside of it. Pie concludes with his view on the main
advantage of studying a distance learning MBA with Besteduonline. “Perhaps the
strongest aspect of the course is the flexibility and the ability for students
to advance at their own pace. One of the great strengths of a part-time course
is the ability for students to put theory into practice as they apply their
learning in their day jobs. They can then use this experience to write their
assignments.”
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