在线MBA项目日趋成熟

    巴特农集团最近的一份在线教育市场调查研究显示，有进修意向的学员更喜欢选择将在线授课与校园面授和课题项目相结合的“嫁接项目”。这份研究还显示，与全日制学位项目相比，纯在线项目更受学员青睐。

来点个性

    到目前为止，有关在线学位教育的现有数据仍然非常有限。凯茨说，北卡罗来纳大学对其在线MBA学员每季度两次的调查显示，学生的满意度非常高。她说：“学员们觉得彼此更加熟悉，能很好地与老师交流，并且在求学上得到激励。”

    对于在网上授课的教授而言，刚开始可能会有点不安。“在真实的课堂上，我可以看看学生的身体语言和面部表情，”巴布森学院的康明斯说。“我可以看出他们时候没有听明白，而现在我没法与学生眼神交流了。”

    另一方面，BBS讨论往往比真正课堂上的对话更具实质性。“作为一名教授，”康明斯补充说。“在普通的课堂上，你可以围绕一些问题肤浅地侃侃而谈，你的话音落下，言论也随之逝去，但书面意见会留在那很长一段时间。”

    许多提供在线教育的顶级学校都要求师生之间进行面对面的会晤。为期一周的浸入式引导培训、周末游学和为期多天的现场咨询项目等都是更高端的混合式教学项目的组成部分。校园开课周结束后，巴布森学院为期21个月的快车道MBA项目要求学生在每个七周模块内学习两门课程。每个教学模块包括4周在线学习，然后是两天半的在校学习，最后三个星期的在线学习。总而言之，60％的师生接触时间是通过互联网，其余40％的时间是面授。

    “现在对网络教育的定义仍然比较模糊，”巴特农集团的拉德说。

    虽然一般在线课程大体上都会有视频、播客、动漫、BBS和聊天功能，每个学校还是会为校内教学部分想出与众不同的教学方法。佛罗里达大学（University of Florida）要求在线学生在为期27个月的MBA项目学习期间每隔四个月前往佛罗里达州盖恩斯维尔分校上周末课、做项目。第一个周末的迎新活动包括绳索挑战课程。卡耐基梅隆大学为期32个月的MBA项目包括15个“面授周末”（Access Weekends），师生从周五到周日在匹兹堡、纽约和硅谷三地任选一地聚在一起互动学习。

    凯利商学院的凯利直通MBA项目除了最初在印第安纳州布卢明顿校区长达一周的“直通周”（Connect Week）活动，在第二学年伊始还有一个“直通周”。而且，凯莱直通MBA项目将于今年夏季首次派驻20个学生到非洲博茨瓦纳，分成五组分别为五家小企业提供全球咨询。每队4名学生首先会飞抵华盛顿特区与客户会面，这些客户包括服装公司和汽修厂等。然后，他们将飞回家，在接下来的7周与客户通过网络密切联系。最后，到8月份，他们将花一个星期在现场与非洲客户进一步沟通，最后向客户提出最终提案。

    在线商业课程中最常见的障碍是如何营造像传统商学院那样引导学生针对研究案例进行动态互动的热烈课堂氛围。北卡罗来纳大学认为，该校的在线合作伙伴2U为它带来了一个很好的解决方案。2U是一家由风险投资资金支持的新创教育企业。2U通过其与华盛顿大学（Washington University）法学院合作伙伴关系为克南-弗拉格勒商学院带来了一种案例研究学习的新方式。目前华盛顿大学法学院为海外执业律师提供美国法律硕士学位在线课程。

    A recent study of the online educational market by Parthenon showed that potential applicants prefer hybrid programs that combine Internet-based classes with on-campus study sessions and projects. Pure online programs were favored in the study over on-campus degrees.

Giving it the (somewhat) personal touch

    So far, the scant data available on online degree learning is limited. Cates says UNC's twice-a-quarter surveys of its online MBA candidates show that student satisfaction is extremely high. "Students feel they know each other well, that they have great access to the faculty, and that they are being intellectually challenged," adds Cates.

    For the professors who teach in online settings, it can be a little disconcerting at first. "In a classroom, I can look at a student's body language and facial expressions," says Cummings of Babson. "I can tell when they're not getting it. Now I am deprived of that."

    On the other hand, bulletin board discussions can often seem more substantive than the real dialogue in a classroom. "As a professor," adds Cummings, "You can skate around things in a regular classroom. Your voice evaporates into thin air, but your written comments are there for a long time."

    Many of the best schools offering online education require face-to-face meetings between fellow students and faculty. Week-long orientation immersions, weekend retreats, and multi-day consulting projects onsite are all part of the more sophisticated blended programs. After a kickoff week on-campus, Babson's Fast Track program has students studying two courses over each seven-week module in a 21-month program. In each module, there are four weeks online, then two and one-half days of on-campus class, and finally three weeks of online study. All told, 60% of the contact hours are via the Internet, with the remaining 40% in person.

    "You are seeing a blurring of the definitions of online education," says Lytle of The Parthenon Group.

    While videos, podcasts, animations, bulletin board discussions, and chat features are largely a given in online programs, each school has come up with a different approach to its on-campus segments. The University of Florida requires online MBA students to come to its Gainesville, Fla., campus for weekend classes and projects every four months during the 27-month-long program. A weekend orientation program at the beginning includes a ropes and challenge course. In Carnegie Mellon's 32-month program, there will be 15 "Access Weekends" where students get together with faculty from Friday through Sunday in one of three locations in Pittsburgh, New York, or Silicon Valley.

    Aside from the week-long "connect week" on Indiana's Bloomington campus at the start of the Kelley Direct program, there is a second "connect week" at the start of the second year. And, for the first time this summer, Kelly Direct is bringing 20 of its students to Botswana, Africa for a global consulting project with one of five small businesses. Teams of four students each will first fly to meet their clients, which range from a garment business to an auto body shop, in Washington, D.C., for a weekend. They will then fly back home and for the next seven weeks to work closely with their clients virtually. Finally, in August, they will spend a week on site with the business in Africa before making final presentations to the client.

    The most common hurdle in an online business program is how to recreate the kind of dynamic class interaction that occurs when a business school professor leads a case study discussion. UNC believes it has discovered a very good solution from its online partner, 2U, an educational startup backed by venture funding. 2U has brought to Kenan-Flagler a way to do case studies from its partnership with the law school at Washington University, which now offers an online master's degree in United States law for attorneys practicing overseas.