Experts discuss how Business Schools can best embrace online learning

Business Schools need to keep up with the rapid pace of technology to offer students the best learning experience.

This was the view of industry experts speaking at a recent Business School conference about educational technology and the future of business education. The conference, the first of its kind to be hosted by Imperial, brought together leading figures in the educational technology industry to share views on how they should respond to the rise of edtech to meet the demands of students.

Earlier this year, Imperial launched its first series of online MOOCs (massive open online courses) as part of a partnership with Edx, a global online learning platform that offers free courses to learners all over the world. The first courses were a series of pre-MBA ‘taster courses’ for people considering doing an MBA degree.

The future of business education

In the first panel discussion, chaired by Jonathan Moules, Business Education Correspondent at the Financial Times, panellists were asked to give their views on how edtech will impact on the future of business education.  Mark Lester, Director of Partnerships Development at FutureLearn, the first UK-based social learning platform said: “Sustainability has always been the key to investing in educational technology that makes a real difference.  There’s been a lot of hype surrounding MOOCs, opening up demand and creating the space for it. Financial investment has never really been an issue as the commercial potential have always been evident.”

Discussing the need for business schools to get better clarity on the need for educational technology, Jonathan Wareham, Dean of Faculty and Research of ESADE Business & Law Schools, said: “Business schools are experimenting with technology all the time but many don’t understand why they’re doing it. The main challenge is not just investment but also employing people with the right skills to make the most of the technology.”

He added: “There’s also the challenge of encouraging academics to embrace the technology and learn new skills. To get the best results you need to have academics working closely with technologists to come up with a clear vision. If you’re going to replace traditional teaching with a virtual classroom, everyone needs to be clear on the reasons for this.”

The panel later explored how educational technology teams can help academics to understand how the technology works and how it can be best integrated into teaching methods.  Jonathan Wareham said: “Even across disciplines the teaching style and technology will be different. Some of the best teachers will never use anything and just stick to traditional teaching methods.”

Mark Lester said: “There are rapidly growing student and employee markets whose needs will only be met with technology and you need to be able to react to it. Unless you feel this pressure and start to experiment you won’t be able to keep up.”

Dr David Lefevre, Head of Imperial's Edtech Lab addresses delegates

The conversation later moved onto the impact of MOOCs on more traditional courses. Mark Lester said: “MOOCs appeal to particular market segments and have a real benefit in providing education to people who wouldn’t ordinarily be able to study for a full qualification at a leading business school. However, while they aren’t yet a substitute for a traditional MBA they could challenge Executive Education. MOOCs are a great example of how technology underpinned by a proven pedagogical approach can provide a great learning experience.”

Jolanta Golanowska, Director of Learning Innovation at IE Business School said: “Prices make us focus on what value for money we need to be offering students. Students come to study at business school for many different reasons including the personal experience of studying at a prestigious institution and looking to get a qualification that will get them a job afterwards.”

Focus on online versus blended learning

Experts later discussed the benefits of online learning versus blended programmes. They talked about why blended learning is useful in certain contexts but not in others.

Nigel Banister, Strategic International Projects Director, Manchester Metropolitan University, explained how cultural differences can influence whether a student is likely to choose an online or blended programme. He said: “Students from countries in the Gulf and China will have very different expectations from a student in the West. As a general rule, students in Eastern countries are less likely to opt for a pure online course as opposed to students from countries such as the US. Therefore, it’s important that you create the best model for the market you want to attract.”

Rebecca Hartnup, Learning Technologies Consultant and Global Online MBA student at Imperial said: “The challenge is matching existing technology with a learning infrastructure that supports students’ needs – for example, allowing people to study seven days a week and still receive the support they need. Online learning still allows people to interact with other students and tools such as Skype are enabling people to feel more connected and less isolated.”