在线MBA项目日趋成熟

    巴布森学院在2007年首次开设快车道（Fast Track）MBA班，公开招生26名，新近毕业的一个网络MBA班有将近140名学员。任何一个招生时间段内，该校在线MBA课程的学员人数都多达350人。

    今年七月，凯南-弗拉格勒商学院送走首批在线MBA教育毕业班的18位学员后，将计划招收超过80名学员，是目前为止该校在线MBA项目MBA@UNC招收人数最多的一届。

    对于想通过在职学习获得MBA学位来提升自己事业的学员来说，在线MBA教育项目是一个不错的选择。不仅仅是因为它比利用晚上或者周末学习更方便，更重要的是它远比全日制MBA课程要经济划算的多。全日制学生要将近脱产两年，增加了他们的机会成本。而且对于一个需要经常出差或者搬迁到新地方的学员来说，继续进行网络学习也不存在问题。大部分在线课程一年至少招生两次，甚至更频繁。以凯南-弗拉格勒商学院为例，这所学院在每年的一月、四月、七月和十月都会招生。

在线教育焕然一新

    随着重要性的不断提升，在线教育再也不像过去那样，只是教育界一个形象不讨喜的粗笨拖油瓶。许多商学院正在启用能使学员真正紧张起来的高标准、高端视频会议技术和高仿真网络模拟课堂，比早期通过拨号连接的网络课程要先进的多。

    早期的大多数网络课程都是通过在教室安装一台摄像机对老师的课堂进行录制。“它给学生传递的信号是，这是一个真实的课堂，但我却并不置身其中。所以这并不是最好的在线教育模式，”凯特补充道。“我们现在正在通过技术手段来使在线课堂达到与真实课堂一样的效果：富有挑战性的课堂讨论、小组项目、团队咨询任务以及模拟实践。”

    Babson College, which opened its Fast Track MBA program to the public in 2007 with 26 students, recently graduated a class of close to 140 online students. At any given time, the school has an online enrollment of up to 350 MBA candidates.

    This July, when the Kenan-Flagler Business School graduates its first online MBA class of 18 students, the school also expects to enroll its largest MBA@UNC online class ever, with more than 80 people.

    For students who intend to stay in their organizations and use the MBA to enhance their careers, an online MBA is an attractive option. Not only is it more convenient than an evening or weekend program, it's vastly less expensive than the full-time MBA because students can forego the opportunity costs of being unemployed for nearly two years. If a student is either a road warrior or transferred to a new location, there's also no problem in continuing their studies. And most online programs enroll students at least twice, if not more often, a year. Kenan-Flagler, for example, has start dates in January, April, July, and October.

Online education gets a face-lift

    Just as crucial, online learning is no longer a clunky and ill-defined stepchild of the educational world. Many business schools are employing high production values, high-end video conferencing technology, and Internet simulations that keep students on their toes. They go far beyond the early Internet courses first available on dial-up connections.

    In the vast majority of earlier courses, professors put a camera in a classroom to do lecture capture. "The message is, 'There was a real class and I wasn't there. So this is second best,'" adds Cates. "We're using the technology to help us do the same things that we do in the face-to-face program: challenging class discussions, group projects, team consulting assignments, and simulations."