Points of viewDeans from twotop US businessschools look at achanging landscapePage 2

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Social mediaaids teachingFacebook, Twitterand YouTube earnplace in academia

Degree of qualityThe stigma ofonline businessdegrees has allbut been erased

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FT SPECIAL REPORT

Business Education OnlineMonday March 11 2013 www.ft.com/reports | twitter.com/ftreports

Although Kevin Werbach hasmade his name teachingabout games, there are somethings that the Whartonbusiness school professor

takes very seriously. One of those isthe latest generation of online courses– Moocs, or massive open onlinecourses – and just how his Ivy Leagueinstitution, the University of Pennsyl-vania, can take advantage of them.

“They are an extraordinary opportu-nity for us,” says Professor Werbach.“For me it’s a platform to experimenton . . . I think these online resourcesfree us up to do in the classroom thethings that can only be done in theclassroom.”

Though Moocs have been around forless than a year, they are one of thetrendiest topics in education, says JeffSeamen, co-director of the Babson

Survey Research Group, which pub-lishes an annual report on onlinelearning. “What we see at the momentis a genuine excitement that this rep-resents a fundamental change in theway we can deliver education.”

On campus, business schools haveoften been quick off the mark to adoptthe latest technologies. From Kindlesto iPads, and from videoconferencingto the latest online networking, MBAprogramme directors have beenenthusiastic adopters.

Just as technology has advanced, sohas the perception of online pro-grammes. In the early days, they wereseen as local alternatives to classroomprogrammes, says Idie Kesner,interim dean of the Kelley School atIndiana university. “What’s changedtoday is that, unlike residential pro-grammes that tend to compete in a

specific geographical sphere, onlineeducation is competitive worldwide.”

This gives established businessschools access to students in inhospi-table regions. Kelley is launching adegree with the American Universityof Mongolia in September, says ProfKesner. “We will do courses com-pletely online – particularly in thewinter months. As you can imagine, itis very cold in Ulan Bator.”

Increased bandwidth and the latestinternet technology are giving a sec-ond lease of life to more traditionaltechnologies such as videoconferenc-ing.

Soumitra Dutta, dean of the John-son school at Cornell University, saysthere are plans to extend the video-conferencing executive MBA it runswith Queen’s university in Canada. Inthe past year the programme has beenrun in Mexico and Colombia usingboardrooms, where students partici-pate in broadcast lectures. In the com-ing year the schools plan to expandfurther in South America.

“This is an interesting hybrid mar-ket,” says Prof Dutta. “It is runningand it is successful.”

The Wharton school has recentlyinvested in this kind of point-to-pointvideo through agreement with compu-

ter giant Cisco to link classes on itstwo campuses, in Philadelphia andSan Francisco. It is still in trial phase,says Wharton dean Tom Robertson. “Idon’t know what percentage [of pro-grammes] we would deliver [in thisway].”

Online technology permeates all lev-els of business education, from under-graduate degrees to executive courses.

In the UK, Nicola Adamson hasbeen studying for a Masters degree inmanagement from Ashridge, the UKbusiness school, while working full-time in senior management at ahealthcare trust and looking afterthree children under the age of nine.

She began studying online in 2010and has taken breaks as family andjob required. As with many onlinestudents, flexibility has been the key,

Continued on Page 3

Academicfreedomgoes global

It is possible to teachmore students in onemassive online class than any single institutionhas ever taught, discoversDella Bradshaw

Strategic studyAustralia’s RMIThas an executiveMBA that can bedone in as littleas one yearwww.ft.com/reports

On FT.com »

Video Special »Ray Carvey, HarvardBusiness Publishinglooks at radical changeswww.ft.com/bized-video

2 ★ FINANCIAL TIMES MONDAY MARCH 11 2013

Business Education Online

To complement this reporton developments in onlineeducation, the FinancialTimes has compiled itseighth annual listing ofMBA degree programmesthat are taught at distance.

Of the 46 business schoolswhose distance learningMBAs are featured in ourtable (see page three), thoseaccredited by either AACSBor Equis are listed sepa-rately to those that are not.Accreditation by either ofthese bodies is a pre-requi-site for participation in theFT’s Global MBA Ranking.

The contrast in tuitionfees between listed coursesoffered by accredited andnon-accredited institutionsis striking, with the formercosting an average of$49,200 compared with$19,500 for the latter. Thisyear, fees of programmeslisted in 2012 have risen byan average of 3 per cent.For accredited and non-ac-credited courses alike, thoseoffered by North Americanschools cost 70 per centmore than their Europeancounterparts.

The majority of courseslisted are generalistdegrees. However, many ofthese allow students vary-ing levels of specialisationwithin the programme. Onein six listed degrees is spe-cialised, ranging from anMBA in Oil and Gas Man-agement at the AberdeenBusiness School to aHealthcare MBA pro-gramme offered by GeorgeWashington University’sSchool of Business.

The latter, a course tar-geted at medical doctorsand hospital administra-tors, is to be joined at theWashington DC-basedschool by the ProfessionalOnline MBA. The dean,Doug Guthrie, says the newdegree, unlike many onlineofferings historically, is notintended for mass marketappeal but is insteadfocused on delivering cus-tomised tuition. “The greatopportunity with online[learning] is that you canbuild in data analyt-ics . . . and monitor how fasta student is learning.”

By following the progressof individual students, addi-tional learning resourcescan be provided whereneeded to improve theirperformance. “You simplycannot do this on face-to-face courses,” Prof Guthrienotes.

The three annual studentintakes will have class sizesof up to 40. They are toremain small to ensure an“intimate classroom feel” inonline seminars that formthe degree’s live compo-nent, conducted via a dedi-cated platform provided byPearson, the global educa-tion group that owns theFinancial Times.

With fees of more than$83,000, the degree entersthe increasingly competi-tive market for premium

distance MBAs, with incum-bents including theMBA@UNC at the Univer-sity of North Carolina’sKenan-Flagler BusinessSchool. The MBA@UNC,launched in 2011, and withfees of more than $91,000,has been at the vanguard ofintegrating advanced class-room technology into dis-tance MBAs through itspartnership with 2U, thetechnology company.

Another renowned USinstitution that runs asmall, cohort-based struc-ture is Babson College’sOlin Graduate School ofBusiness. Its Fast TrackMBA, which follows thesame core curriculum as itson-campus counterpart,blends web-based teachingand collaboration with 14face-to-face classroom ses-sions across the 21-monthprogramme. Through theseintensive campus visits,“[students] arguably get toknow each other bet-ter . . . and develop astronger bond than full-time MBAs”, says DennisHanno, the school’s dean.

The requirement toattend courses on campus isshared by more than two-thirds of courses offered byAACSB or Equis accreditedinstitutions, compared withonly one in four non-accred-ited courses.

Though campus studyremains compulsory onTemple University’s FoxOnline MBA, its structurehas changed from a cohortto a “carousel model” thatallows students to “hop in

and out of the programme”,says Darin Kapanjie, theacademic director. “Stu-dents initially want themost flexibility whenthey’re applying [for a dis-tance MBA] but whenthey’re in the programme,they want interaction andstructure.”

Of MBAs listed, 85 percent are supported for studyanywhere in the world. Toensure that studentsremain connected to theirdegrees, more than two-fifths of listed institutionshave off-campus study cen-tres located in regionswhere their degrees are sup-ported.

Richard McBain, directorof the Henley MBA by Flex-ible Learning, says work-shops held at the school’sinternational offices by itsfaculty play a pivotal rolein developing its studentcommunity of more than1,800.

Students’ commitment totheir distance programmesappears to be broadly pro-portional to their financialoutlay. Some 88 per cent ofthose enrolled on MBAscosting more than $30,000complete their degreeswithin five years of havingenrolled. The figure is only75 per cent among studentstaking less expensivedegrees included in thisyear’s listing.

Customisedtuition provesa winnerAnalysis

Of the MBAs listed,85 per cent supportstudy anywhere inthe world, reportsAdam Palin

‘You can build indata analytics. . . and monitor

how fast a studentis learning’

A MacBook, or any laptop,is usually the default educa-tional tool of choice for stu-dents but there are signsthat our latter-day elec-tronic versions of slates aremaking serious inroads inmodern education.

Apple disclosed in Febru-ary that it had sold morethan 8m iPads directly toeducational institutionsworldwide, quite apart fromthe unquantified numbersold to individual students.

With Android and Win-dows devices benefiting

from updated operating sys-tems and software, as wellas student-friendly accesso-ries such as digital pens,tablets are set to storm thebastions of education.

In terms of screen size,Apple recognised the popu-larity of the 7in categorywhen it launched the iPadmini in October.

This size is easier to holdin one hand and makes fora better eReading experi-ence of textbooks and otherpublications. Apple empha-sised this with an update toits iBooks app for thelaunch.

The mini differentiatesitself from the competitionwith a wider 7.9in screenthat gives a noticeableexpansion of the view ofweb pages and text on apage.

Such has been itspopularity that Appleexpects to sell 55m minis

this year compared with33m of its 9.7in iPads,according to the Display-Search research firm.

Samsung may feel Applehas been trespassing on itsterritory after it popular-ised the 7in size three yearsago with its first tablet –the Galaxy Tab – and it hitback at the Mobile WorldCongress in Barcelona lastmonth with an 8in versionof its Galaxy Note.

The Note 8.0 has the sameintelligent S Pen as otherNote sizes and offers fea-tures such as “readingmode” technology, whichoptimises the resolution foreBooks.

The pen allows note-taking in the S Note appand there are features suchas recognition of mathemat-ical formulas, as well ashandwriting.

If you draw an imperfecttriangle, the software recog-

nises it and will straightenthe edges.

The pen adds a “hover”ability to a tablet that wasonly available with a mousebefore.

With this Air View fea-ture, holding the pen justabove the screen can givepreviews of emails, photos,videos and appointmentswithout opening theirrespective apps, althoughthis is still largely depend-ent on using Samsung’s ver-sions of such apps.

Samsung is targeting theeducation market with itstablets. Its Note 10.1,announced in January, isbundled with Kno e-text-book software, givingaccess to hundreds of thou-sands of titles.

Kno once had ambitiousplans for large-screen anddual-screen tablets forhigher education butswitched to a software-only

operation two years ago asit realised it lacked thescale to achieve its ambi-tions.

Its latest software is KnoMe, a dashboard that showsstudents their progress andengagement with theirinteractive e-textbooks.

It allows them to comparehow they are doing by shar-ing their results with class-mates.

Handstand has justlaunched the Nota Reader,a website and Android appthat gives students accessto textbooks they can anno-tate with videos, links andimages; sharing them withother students.

The textbooks are part ofa free catalogue providedby the open educationalresources (OER) commu-nity.

There are more freeresources at iTunes U,which offers online courses

and lectures. Appledescribes it as the world’slargest online catalogue offree educational contentand announced the mile-stone last month of 1bncontent downloads.

Although Apple has yetto embrace pens for itstablets, there are plenty ofthird-party versions thatcan be used on an iPad andnumerous apps that allownote-taking in this way.

Penultimate is one of themost popular and a newversion offers a cleanerinterface and searchabletext, with optical characterrecognition (OCR) of hand-writing made possible.

Penultimate notebooksare viewable on almost anydevice, as they are stored inthe Evernote note-takingservice, which has apps fornearly every platform andacquired Penultimate lastMay.

Evernote stores record-ings made on the new Live-scribe Sky – a digital penthat I use to make notesevery day with old-fash-ioned ink and paper.

Many students still prefertaking notes on paper andthe Livescribe Sky offersthe best of both worlds.

Handwriting is capturedby a camera in the barrel ofthe pen and audio of a lec-ture is recorded by abuilt-in microphone.

The Livescribe Sky haswi-fi, so when the lectureends, the notes and theiraudio are automaticallyuploaded to Evernote asonline PDF documents withaudio embedded.

They can be shared andaccessed from any browser,disseminating a lesson fromteacher to student to theworld using the oldest edu-cational aids of pen andpaper.

Tablets offer immediacy in the global education marketTechnology

Pen and papercontinues to takeknowledge to theworld – just faster,writes Chris Nuttall

Can an online MBA programme be ofthe same high quality as a campus-based programme?

From a teaching and learningperspective, there can no longer beany doubt that online education canmatch and, in some ways, exceed theperformance of conventionaleducation.

Online MBA programmes match orexceed the quality of on-campusprogrammes when done right. Doingit right does not mean simplytransmitting taped lectures or usingPowerpoint slides with a voice-overlecture. It does mean:

• Rigorous courses taught byexcellent teachers who assessstudents’ work and provide feedback:

• Students working in teams ongroup projects:

• Students actively engaged withclassmates and professors, forming alifelong network.

Doing online right is very hardwork, and requires investments oftime and resources. But it is possibleand worthwhile, and MBA@UNC isthe proof.

Any quality programme is built onthe foundation of excellent students,faculty and curriculum. It must beengaging, interactive and supportive.A quality online programme is nodifferent. Furthermore, while theexperience is not exactly the same,the differences might surprise you.

With the right design, an onlineprogramme can offer experiencesthat you might think students missby not being on campus. Ourstudents participate in simulationsand group projects, listen tocorporate speakers and engage in avirtual consulting project. Liveclasses, capped at 15 students,feature a high level of direct student-faculty interaction. Students buildstrong relationships with each otherand the school. They have virtualhappy hours and virtual hallwayconversations. When our first classgraduates in July, a member willserve on our school’s alumni council.

Frankly, what we discovered isthat using traditional education asthe gold standard is outmoded.

• In our small, live classes,professors and students are visible atall times. There is no back row, soeveryone can and must participate inways that do not always occur in on-campus classes. Students are moreaccountable and their levels ofenergy and engagement are higher.

Professors can better gauge theirunderstanding in real-time.

• We archive everything, includinglive sessions. Students watch tapedclasses as many times as they needto master a subject; the class doesnot “evaporate” when the sessionends. Professors can evaluatesessions and go back to a specificmoment – for instance, to identifywhen a student became confused.Importantly, we have givenessentially the same tests to our full-time and online students and seenvirtually identical performance.

• Online students master virtualteamwork – a skill that companiesrequire and value.

• Professors think deeply aboutwhat exactly they want students tolearn and how to communicate thatin new ways and then redesign theircourses. They often incorporate thosechanges into their on-campus classes.

Beyond the purely curricularperspective, the picture is morecomplicated. Full time and onlineprogrammes have a portfolio ofstrengths and weaknesses, and meetthe different needs of differentstudent populations, with EMBAprogrammes, in many ways, theintermediate between the two.

For students who want to makesignificant changes early in theircareer paths, full-time programmesoffer on-campus access to recruitersin ways not easy to replicate. YetMBA@UNC students receiveindividualised career managementsupport, assessments and coachingas students. And their employersreap the benefits of what they arelearning. MBA@UNC students applywhat they learn in class onThursday at work on Fridaymorning. Employers so value theirlearning that about 30 per cent ofour students have receivedpromotions and new jobs after onlyone year in the programme.

Among the most compellingreasons for a top online programmeare increased access and unparalleledflexibility for people who thought aquality MBA programme was out ofreach. Those students might livein a place without proximity to atop programme and cannot or do notwant to leave their jobs or relocatetheir families. What is the highestcost for on-campus students? Toforego income for one or two years.

Asking whether an onlineprogramme can match the quality ofa traditional programme mightultimately be the wrong question.As technology evolves, the questionwill increasingly become whatare the characteristics of a high-quality programme for a particularstudent segment, however it isdelivered.

The author is dean of the Universityof North Carolina Kenan-FlaglerBusiness School

Virtual classes givelesson in realityPoint of ViewJames Dean

Similar tests for both onlineand full-time students haveproduced near identicalperformance

Higher education is entering a newera in which educational technologywill bring – as the president ofStanford university John Hennessyput it recently – a tsunami ofchange. The MBA will be noexception. But how should it change?

Rooted in Silicon Valley amongsome of the most innovativeorganisations in the world, peopleask me: “Why not make the MBA anonline degree?” My answer? Whiletechnology can greatly enhance thelearning experience, it simply cannotreplace the faculty-studentinteraction, experiential learning andself-discovery that occur in the MBAclassroom.

The issue is an incrementalexperience versus a transformationalone. The two-year, residential MBAis an immersive experience thatdelivers a life-changing process forthose who embrace it.

In Stanford’s two-year programme,students learn about themselves andhow they want to lead othersthrough highly interactive eight-person leadership labs in whichcoaches and fellow students providereal-time, personal feedback. Theyengage in hands-on, multidisciplinaryclasses where new products orprocesses go through brainstormingexercises and rapid prototypingsessions with scores of ideas flyingacross work tables as one studentbuilds on another’s idea. MBAsserendipitously bump into potentialbusiness partners in the diningpavilion, which draws engineering,law and other students.

Pre-eminent economists challengestudents to analyse problems thatinvolve anything from big data totax policy and employment practices.Real-world business protagonists,such as Google’s Eric Schmidt orformer US Secretary of StateCondoleezza Rice, appear in classeswhere they dissect operationalproblems and adjourn for coffee tomentor students. Venture capitalistsreview business plans and failedentrepreneurs explain why things didnot work – and why it is importantto try again. Students developconfidence in their ideas.

Much of this intense experience isabout human relationships,experimentation and mutual support,and a mid-programme summer jobwhere a student can find outwhether an industry or functionis right for him or her. Little of

this can be replicated online.That is not to say that educational

technology should not be exploited.It can and will reinvent the on-campus experience as businessschools apply technology in serviceto the learning process.

Recently faculty members DanIancu and Kostas Bimpikisimplemented a “flipped classroom”model of instruction by developingonline software tutorials for theircore course on optimisation andsimulation modelling. In the flippedclassroom, students view onlineinstructional videos in their owntime and at their own pace,dedicating in-class time for activediscussion and challengingexchanges. Screencasting maximisesfaculty-student time in the classroomand presents valuable opportunitiesto monitor and capture informationabout how students learn so we cananalyse that data to support changesin the way we teach.

There are many ways for people toaccess the knowledge of managementeducation, some of which is moresuited to different stages of a careerthan the MBA. Like other schools,we are exploring how to use betterdistance education (based on high-definition video conferencing) todisseminate rich faculty expertise tobroader audiences beyond theuniversity campus, without having toalways jet the faculty around theworld.

To that end, we are extendingStanford Ignite, a nine-weekprogramme for non-businessgraduate students and practisingentrepreneurs to locations such asBangalore and Paris. Distancetechnology will enable more facultyto participate and engage with thesestudents. We launched a purelyonline certificate programme ininnovation and entrepreneurshipwith Stanford’s engineering schoollate last year. It is a programme thatany working professional anywherein the world can use to learn newtechniques that bolster innovationand problem-solving in theirorganisations. Finally, we see acrossthe business school landscape thedevelopment of asynchronousmassive open online courses, orMoocs, on specific topics that can beshared with even broader audiences.

In the past six years, we havefocused on an all-new MBAcurriculum. To meet the changes, wehave redesigned our work space toinclude garage-like classrooms forprototyping and small rooms forteam meeting practice.

Educational technology will refineand extend but not override, thevalue of the full-time, on-campusMBA experience.

The author is dean and PhilipH Knight professor at StanfordGraduate School of Business

Confidence buildsin unique settingPoint of ViewGarth Saloner

For students, this is abouthuman relationships,experimentation andmutual support

James Dean: ‘Using traditional education as the gold standard is outmoded’ Garth Saloner: ‘A life-changing process for those who embrace it’

Della BradshawBusiness Education EditorChris NuttallTechnology Correspondent

Adam PalinEmma BoydeCharlotte ClarkeBusiness EducationCorrespondents

Kate MackenzieJohanna KasselFT Correspondents

Garth SalonerStanford Graduate School ofBusinessJames DeanKenan-Flagler Business SchoolHoward MarsdenWarwick Business School

Aban ContractorCommissioning EditorSteven BirdDesignerAndy MearsPicture Editor

Contributors »

FINANCIAL TIMES MONDAY MARCH 11 2013 ★ 3

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AACSB / Equis accredited schoolsAmericas

Tecnológico de Monterrey Mexico AACSB, Equis Global MBA � 1998 1 404 34 5 24 93 95 0 � � 95 � � � English US$ 62,400 North America, South America

Centrum Católica Peru AACSB, Amba, Equis Virtual Managerial MBA � 2006 2 208 16 3 28 100 70 85 � � 85 � � Spanish US$ 25,000 Global

Arizona State University: Carey US AACSB W.P. Carey Online MBA � 2004 2 395 1 6 24 95 100 100 � � 100 � English US$ 53,900 Global

Babson College: Olin US AACSB, Equis Fast Track MBA � 2003 2 380 7 8 24 91 60 60 � � 100 � English US$ 76,626 North America

Drexel University: LeBow US AACSB MBA Anywhere � � 1997 2 137 5 2 24 90 90 100 � � 100 � English US$ 64,000 Global

Florida International University: Chapman US AACSB Corporate MBA � 2010 5 404 1 6 18 79 100 100 � n/a English US$ 37,500 Global

George Washington University US AACSB Healthcare MBA Program � 2004 3 338 0 5 30 100 97 97 � � 100 English US$ 80,764 Global

Professional Online MBA Program � 2013 3 n/a 9 5 n/a n/a 100 100 � � 100 � English US$ 83,096 Global

Indiana University: Kelley US AACSB Kelley Direct Programs - MBA � 1999 2 669 3 5 30 86 95 95 � � 95 � English US$ 58,395 Global

Northeastern University: D’Amore-McKim US AACSB D’Amore-McKim Online MBA � 2006 9 1,432 5 5 24 n/a 100 100 � � 100 English US$ 67,250 Global

Syracuse University: Whitman US AACSB iMBA � 1977 3 216 1 7 36 66 94 94 � � 43 � English US$ 67,611 Global

Temple University: Fox US AACSB Fox Online MBA � 2009 3 41 0 6 24 82 84 94 � � 94 � � English US$ 62,208 Global

Thunderbird School of Global Management US AACSB Global MBA On Demand � 2005 3 212 19 5 24 96 80 75 � � 100 � English US$ 69,800 Global

University of Florida: Hough US AACSB Internet One-Year MBA � 2001 2 86 1 1.3 16 97 82 88 � � 36 � English US$ 47,200 Global

Internet Two-Year MBA � 1999 2 98 2 2.25 21 85 90 87 � � 27 � English US$ 54,300 Global

University of Nebraska-Lincoln US AACSB Distance MBA � � 2002 4 236 3 10 45 83 100 100 � � 81 � English US$ 25,605 Global

University of North Carolina: Kenan-Flagler US AACSB MBA@UNC � 2011 4 203 3 3 n/a n/a 90 95 � � 100 English US$ 91,225 Global

University of Texas at Dallas: Jindal US AACSB Online MBA � 1999 3 241 0 6 26 76 100 100 � � 100 English US$ 45,000 Global

Global Leadership Executive MBA � � 1996 3 67 7 6 23 99 100 75 � � 75 � English US$ 67,500 Global

Europe

Euro*MBA Consortium Netherlands AACSB, Amba, Equis** Euro*MBA � 1996 2 58 97 2 36 98 50 70 � � 0 � English € 28,500 Europe, North America, South America

IE Business School Spain AACSB, Amba, Equis Global MBA+ Blended � � 2006 3 196 86 1.3 16 97 95 95 � � 90 � English, Spanish € 42,000 Global

Executive MBA+ Blended � � 2002 1 34 65 1.1 13 96 95 80 � � 70 � � English, Spanish € 44,000 Global

IE Brown Executive MBA � 2011 1 30 96 1.3 16 96 95 60 � � 80 � � English, Spanish € 76,400 Global

Aston Business School UK AACSB, Amba, Equis Online MBA � 2012 2 29 67 3 30 95 100 100 � � 70 � English £ 18,000 Global

Bradford University School of Management UK AACSB, Amba, Equis Distance Learning MBA � 1998 4 370 75 6 36 80 100 100 � � 0 English £ 13,500 Global

Durham University Business School UK AACSB, Amba, Equis Global MBA � 1998 2 607 61 5 42 84 75 93 � � 25 � � English £ 14,500 Global

Global MBA (Finance) � 2008 2 12 78 5 42 95 75 81 � � 25 � � English £ 14,500 Global

Henley Business School UK AACSB, Amba, Equis Henley MBA by Flexible Learning � 1985 2 1,823 88 5 48 n/a 85 100 � � 0 � � English £ 18,500 Global

Open University Business School UK AACSB, Amba, Equis MBA � 1989 2 3,500 41 7 48 70 Varies 100 � � 0 � � English, Russian £ 14,100 Africa, Asia, Europe, Middle East

MBA (Technology Management) � 2005 2 180 25 7 48 70 Varies 100 � � 0 � � English, Russian £ 11,190 Africa, Asia, Europe, Middle East

University of Liverpool UK AACSB, EFMD Cel MBA � 2001 Rolling 1,520 92 6 30 n/a 100 100 � n/a English £ 17,476 Global

University of Strathclyde Business School UK AACSB, Amba, Equis Strathclyde Flexible Learning MBA � 1983 2 160 60 6 36 90 80 40 � � 5 � English £ 13,500 Global

Warwick Business School UK AACSB, Amba, Equis The Warwick MBA by Distance Learning � 1986 2 1,548 63 5 36 80 95 100 � � 8 � English £ 20,850 Global

The Warwick Global Energy MBA � 2009 1 103 72 5 36 n/a 60 70 � � 0 � English £ 33,000 Global

Other schoolsAmericas

Athabasca University Canada Executive MBA � 1994 3 809 1 5 30 94 50 94 � � 100 English C$ 45,076 Global

Colorado Technical University US MBA in Project Management � 2006 8 39 6 2 24 100 100 100 � n/a � English US$ 22,570 Global

MBA in Human Resource Management � 2005 8 211 2 2 24 100 100 100 � n/a � English US$ 22,570 Global

MBA in Technology Management � 2005 8 71 1 2 24 88 100 100 � n/a � English US$ 22,570 Global

MBA in Logistics Management � 2005 8 56 0 2 24 88 100 100 � n/a � English US$ 22,570 Global

MBA in Global Leadership � 2013 8 n/a n/a 2 n/a n/a 100 90 � n/a � English US$ 22,570 Global

University of Maryland University College US MBA � 1999 4 1,737 10 5 24 77 90 100 � � 100 � English US$ 29,842 Global

One Year MBA � 2011 2 35 0 5 12 n/a 90 100 � � 100 � English US$ 29,148 Global

Walden University US MBA � 2002 6 2,457 10 5 31 55 100 100 � � 100 English US$ 29,955 Global

Executive MBA � 2012 2 18 6 5 n/a n/a 100 100 � � 100 English US$ 49,500 Global

Asia-Pacifi c

Curtin Graduate School of Business Australia Amba, EFMD Cel MBA � � 1995 3 594 10 7 13-36 95 92 92 � � 30 � English Aus$ 43,800 Global

Deakin University Australia MBA � 1980 3 828 8 7 36 80 Varies Varies � � 0 English Aus$ 33,324 Global

MBA (International) � 2006 3 158 70 7 18 85 Varies Varies � � 0 English Aus$ 33,324 Global

Europe

Eude Spain MBA � � 2005 Rolling 3,072 58 2 12-24 98 100 100 � � 100 � Spanish € 3,200 Europe, North America, South America

Instituto Europeo de Posgrado Spain MBA � 2008 12 551 73 3 16 100 100 100 � � 100 Spanish US$ 15,300 Global

Isead Business School Spain Executive MBA � 2003 3 150 94 3 18 98 91 90 � � 100 � � Spanish US$ 18,000 Global

MBA � 2003 3 84 83 3 18 96 95 95 � � 100 � � Spanish US$ 15,000 Global

OBS Online Business School Spain Executive MBA � 2007 2 115 66 1.5 19 100 100 100 � � 100 � Spanish € 12,750 Global

Global MBA � 2007 2 65 61 1.5 19 100 100 100 � � 100 � Spanish € 12,750 Global

Educatis Switzerland MBA International Management � 2003 Rolling 35 95 5 48 80 100 100 � 0 � English, French, German, Spanish € 3,500 Global excl. Australasia, Caribbean, Oceania

MBA Sustainable Management � � 2013 Rolling n/a 100 5 n/a n/a 100 100 � 0 � English, French, German, Spanish € 3,500 Global excl. Australasia, Caribbean, Oceania

Robert Kennedy College Switzerland University of Cumbria MBA (Leadership and Sustain-ability) at Robert Kennedy College

� 2010 Rolling 1,016 96 5 18 n/a 90 90 � � 90 � English Swiss Fr 11,500 Global

University of Cumbria MBA at Robert Kennedy College � 2012 Rolling 80 97 5 18 n/a 90 90 � � 90 � English Swiss Fr 11,500 Global

SBS Swiss Business School Switzerland Global Distance MBA � 2000 Rolling 307 78 5 36 90 100 100 � � 60 � English, German Swiss Fr 17,000 Global excl. Carribean

Aberdeen Business School, Robert Gordon University UK Amba MBA � 2005 2 85 66 5 32 95 100 100 � � 100 � English £ 12,000 Global

MBA Oil and Gas Management � 2007 2 272 70 5 32 100 100 100 � � 100 � English £ 16,000 Global

Edinburgh Business School, Heriot-Watt University UK MBA � 1990 Rolling 10,945 92 n/a 36 70 100 n/a � 0 � Arabic, English, Russian, Spanish £ 9,000 Global

Oxford Brookes University UK Amba Global MBA � 2001 3 316 66 5 30 69 100 100 � � 20 � � English £ 13,500 Global

RDI - Resource Development International UK MBA (Anglia Ruskin University) at RDI � 2012 4 166 51 5 n/a n/a 100 100 � n/a English £ 7,495 Global

Royal Holloway, University of London UK Amba MBA International Management by Distance Learning � 1999 2 416 89 5 36 50 100 20 � � 5 � � English £ 12,490 Global

University of Derby UK MBA � 2007 3 90 59 6 36 50 100 100 � n/a � English £ 11,220 Asia, Europe

University of Leicester UK Amba MBA � � 1989 4 3,945 87 5 48 n/a 90 0 � � 0 � English £ 10,915 Global

Footnote: This table is compiled from a list of schools that completed a Financial Times survey in February 2013.n/a = data not available. *Total number of students enrolled on the programme at the end of 2012. **Euro*MBA programme accredited by AACSB and Equis via its constituent schools

Financial Times Online MBA programme listing 201346 of the top online MBA providers: schools listed alphabetically by region and country

she says. Ms Adamson alsoappreciates the ability toapply instantly businessprinciples in the workplace.“I’m really beginning tounderstand how to make[healthcare] services highquality and viable.”

In executive learning,where short courses domi-nate, technology is likely to

Continued from Page 1 play two roles: deliveringlow-cast scalable educationand training on the onehand, and supporting high-cost face-to-face teaching onthe other.

In the finance sector,Charles McIntyre, chiefexecutive of Ibis Capital –supplier of services to theinvestment banking indus-try – says as e-learning hasbecome more available it isseen as an efficient way of

providing courses to meetregulatory frameworks. Tra-ditional business schoolsalso look set to benefit fromthis style of training. Withon-campus executivecourses costing up to$10,000 a week per person,the market is demandinglow-cost scalable alterna-tives for junior managers.

Face-to face learning willstill be the ticket for topexecutives, though, says

Dominique Turpin, presi-dent of IMD in Switzerland.“For the segment we are in,e-learning will be a comple-ment, not a substitute. Weare selling an experience.You don’t become a globalleader by sitting behind ascreen.”

In a world where the costof university education isincreasing beyond themeans of many, low-costscalable training and

Moocs, which are free ofcharge at the initial point ofentry, could help businessschools reduce costs andreach a wider audience.Many already use onlineprogrammes to teach basiccalculus or accounting.

This could be taken onestep further, particularlyfor second or third-tierschools, replacing expensiveprofessors. “This is a veryeasy way for them [under-

graduate programmes] notto teach the first-yearcourses,” says Anand Anan-dalingam, dean at theSmith school at the Univer-sity of Maryland.

The strategy behind ProfWerbachs’s course on gami-fication – using the designtechnology of computergames in a non-game con-text – is clear. Although ittook him 200-300 hours todevelop, Prof Werbach says

he has been able to use, andre-use, the videos in hiscampus-based courses.

He is extremely happyabout the reach of his firstMooc. Although 82,000 peo-ple registered for Prof Wer-bach’s course in 2012, only8,280 completed it. Thoughjust a 10 per cent comple-tion rate, it would take ProfWerbach a lifetime to teachthat number of students inthe classroom.

Academic freedom finds a global market

‘We are selling anexperience.You don’t becomea global leaderby sitting behinda screen’

Business Education Online

4 ★ FINANCIAL TIMES MONDAY MARCH 11 2013

Business Education Online

I always wanted to do anMBA but the opportunitydid not present itself untilthe global financial crisishad taken its toll and theproject I was working onwas put on care andmaintenance. I liked thelook of the WarwickBusiness School DLMBA,which suited me as I wasthen based in Gaborone,Botswana, and not able tostudy full-time or part-time.

My application toWarwick was accepted andI waited eagerly for theMBA to start. In January2009 a large box of filesand textbooks arrived and,after the initial excitementof a child opening a specialChristmas present, thereality set in about howmuch work was involved.

The first year was reallytough; trying to schedulenine to 15 hours of studyinto my working week andbalance the demands ofliving an expatriate lifewith a young family was areal challenge. The onlineelement was useful,especially the WBS LiveSessions, which actuallyamounted to conversingwith real people, not justtext books.

It was great to meetfellow students in the fleshat the September seminar.These week-long events atWarwick were reallyhelpful because there was

a lot of interaction withother students from aroundthe globe and some goodfriendships were made,shared with somerelatively expensive beers.The exams were a shock. Ithad been more than 15years since I hadhandwritten more than apage, never mind fourthree-hour exams in fivedays. I do feel that thesedays exams should becomputerised but,thankfully, I passed them.

So on to year two, andanother box of study notesand textbooks, althoughthis time opened withmuch less zeal. I have amantra that “pain is afunction of time” and thusI elected to do five subjectsin year two, so year threewould not be so pressured.I knew this would betough, but I did not realisehow tough. My workproject, to build a diamondmine in the centralKalahari, was approved –something I had beendreaming of for theprevious four years.

Those years were focusedon designing the optimalmine, concentrating on theenvironmental and socialaspects to ensure minimaladverse impact andoptimal social benefit fromthe mine’s development.This involved an intensivesocial and environmentalimpact assessment withthe focus on consultation.The excitement of theproject starting, plus theextensive travel to the sitemeant I truly needed myhome time to be spentwith family. I decided allmy studying had to happenwhen I was on site.

My “site” was a tentedcamp in the desert, with

no phone communicationand an unreliable satelliteinternet connection.Summer temperatures weremore than 40 degreescentigrade and everythingwas covered in dust.

On top of the physicalconstraints was themanagement of the onsiteteam and contractors. Themine camp is reached via a160km long sand trackwhich takes four hours tonegotiate in a four-wheel-drive. The site is a singlestatus construction camp,designed to have as smallan environmental impactas possible, thus theaccommodation is tentedand the central servicesbuilding is modular so thatit can be moved ifrequired. It is 160km fromthe nearest village withpower andtelecommunications.

There was a goodcommunity of us out thereand it was hard to balancemy duties to the team anddifficult to pull myselfaway from the prospect ofa well-deserved cold beerafter a 14-hour day, andretire to my tent to study.Yet the year passed in ablur, with the September

seminar a welcome reliefand a good time to bond –and I passed my exams.

I planned to complete myproject and dissertation byJune, then do two face-to-face modules at Warwick,leaving just one subjectwith its exam in December.This meant just one small“present” in January(which did not get openeduntil nearer the Septemberseminar at Warwick).

The year began reallybadly from a work point ofview. Unforeseen technicalproblems at the mine sadlyled to workers beinginjured. There were alsodelays and cost over-runsand I had no choice but tolet my study plans slip.

It was not until theSeptember seminar oncampus, and two face-to-face modules, togetherwith good seminars and anexcellent study partner,that I was back onschedule. The two moduleswere excellent, especiallythe Business in Societymodule which I thinkshould be a core subject.

Thus three years of toiland sweat have endedsomewhat abruptly.

Would I repeat them?Definitely not.

Did they add value?Certainly.

The four key “takehomes” for me are thecontent of each subject, theexposure to internationalstudents, discovering therereally are no free lunchesand, through sacrifice anddiscipline – and with somevery fine balancing –learning that anything canbe achieved.

I look forward to turningall of the lessons learntinto value for the businessand my family.

Add value by going the distanceCase StudyWarwick DLMBA

Online learning hasmany rewards, saysHoward Marsden

Howard Marsden studied forhis Masters in a desert tent

IdaleneKesner

Interimdean at IndianaUniversity’s KelleySchool of Business

Join the conversation on FT.com »MichaelLuger

Director ofManchesterBusiness School

ChipPaucek

Co-founder andchief executiveof 2U

Online Q&AOn Wednesday March13, 14.00 to 15.00GMT, a panel ofexperts willanswer questionsabout online MBAs

www.ft.com/ask/onlinemba

Many in the world ofhigher education suspectthey are witnessing thebeginning of a revolu-tion. The agent provoca-

teur is the Mooc (massive open onlinecourse) and, if some pundits areproved correct, it could change theway all students experience learning –including those at business schools –and put a few professors out of a job.

Why the nerves? Moocs are free,millions have signed up and no oneknows what the scene will look likeafter the dust has settled. Anant Agar-wal, professor of electrical engineer-ing and computer science at MIT andpresident of edX, a Mooc provider,thinks the result will be positive.

“I view online learning as a risingtide that will lift all boats. It will not

only increase access, it will alsoimprove the quality of education at allour universities.”

At the moment there are three biguniversity level Mooc providers – allbased in the US and all launchedwithin months of each other last year:Udacity, Coursera, and edX. Future-learn, a British Mooc project being ledby the Open University, the UK dis-tance learning institution, will beginoffering courses later this year.

Predating them is the Khan Acad-emy. It began in the US in 2008, offer-ing courses mainly for secondaryschool students, although some reachearly college level. It also offersGMAT (Graduate Management Admis-sions Test) tuition.

The Khan Academy laid the ground-work for the higher education provid-ers that emulated it. It also gives anidea of Moocs’ potential. Khan boasts5.5m unique users a month who com-plete 2m exercises a day. In all, therehave been 235m videos viewed. Thishas all been achieved with a staff ofonly 37.

Coursera, the largest of the univer-sity-level Mooc platforms is reportingsome phenomenal numbers. AndrewNg, co-founder of Coursera and profes-

sor of computer science at StanfordUniversity says between launchinglast April and August, it signed up itsfirst 1m users. It reached the 2m markin December and claimed more than2.7m users by the end of February.

“We have had a slight accelerationin growth,” says Prof Ng, modestly.

Coursera’s early lead in terms ofusers may be because of its largenumber of courses. It offers 325courses from participating institu-tions, of which 29 courses are in busi-ness and management. Some have notyet run and some are already repeat-ing. One of these, Introduction toFinance, has been Coursera’s secondmost successful – 119,658 studentssigned up for the first one.

The Mooc platforms have differentapproaches. Coursera and edX –which plans to launch business-fo-cused courses this year – have setstart and finish dates and typicallylast from six to 10 weeks. Informationis imparted largely by video lecture.Online forums take the place of semi-nars.

At Udacity – with just one business-related course – once a course isuploaded it stays open and studentscan work at their own speed. Assess-

ment, testing and certification can dif-fer quite significantly. Essay-typeassignments pose problems because ofthe huge student numbers. AtCoursera peer assessment is beingused for these tasks. Students are“taught” to mark the work of othersby being given marking criteria andthen marking previously graded work.

At Udacity all assessment is by

computer and at edX by a combina-tion of machine grading, peer gradingand self grading.

Testing and certification also differ.Although all courses continue to beavailable for free, all three institu-tions have begun offer different levelsof testing and certification on somecourses for modest fees rangingbetween $30 and $190.

Mooc platform: UdacityTutor: Steve Blank, Silicon valleyentrepreneur and author of severalbooksWhat you learn: Key tools and stepsto build a successful start-up.Ideally, students will join the classwith at least a rough idea of the busi-ness model of the start-up they willwork on. They shall learn how to iden-tify and engage customers and togather, evaluate and use feedback tomake their business model strongerStart date: It does not have one –students can start the course and fin-ish it in their own time.Course length: Students study attheir own paceCosts: Free, with possible futureoption of paid-for certificationAssessment: All Udacity courses arecurrently assessed by computerCertification: After completion of thecourse students receive a certificateof completion.However, Udacity also offers an optionto complete a proctored (externallyinvigilated) exam for a fee of $150 onsome courses

Course How to build astart-upTime and a little money

are a worthy investment

Mooc platform: CourseraTutor: Hank Lucas, professor at theUniversity of Maryland’s Smith Schoolof BusinessWhat you learn: Howorganisations can successfullyconfront the challenges posed bytechnological innovation, using casestudies of organisations that havefailedStart date: March 25 2013. Thecourse will repeat at a future dateCourse length: Seven weeksCosts: Free, with possible futureoption of paid-for certificationAssessment: As well as weekly onlinequizzes and discussion questionsbased on course content, a numberof essays will be subject to studentpeer reviewCertification: Students whosuccessfully complete this class willreceive a certificate signed by theinstructor.Coursera offers a verified certificate,with student progress linked totheir online identity on a smallnumber of its courses for a fee of$30 to $100

Course Survivingdisruptive technologies

Amid the fanfare surrounding thenascent massive open online course(Mooc) movement have been loomingquestions concerning their economicviability. Leading platforms, includingCoursera and edX, have committedthemselves to providing higher educa-tion content online for free.

Until now, the costs of developingMoocs have been shouldered by theplatforms themselves and the univer-

sities supplying courses, rather thanconsumers of the content.

Coursera, a for-profit Mooc platformthat has more than 2.8m students, hasraised venture capital to cover devel-opment costs. A $16m injection fromSilicon Valley-based Kleiner PerkinsCaufield & Byers – an early investorin Amazon and Google – has been themost notable. Udacity, a for-profitplatform that does not partner withuniversities, has raised more than$21m in venture capital.

The case of edX differs, as the non-profit platform has been developed bya consortium of universities led byfounding members Harvard universityand the Massachusetts Institute ofTechnology. Both have committed$30m to developing the platform. EdX

has since received between $10m-$20mfrom other member institutions,including Georgetown university andthe University of California, Berkeley,in monetary and technology contribu-tions, according to a spokesperson.

Hank Lucas, a professor at the Uni-versity of Maryland’s Smith businessschool, says: “We’re all wrestling withthe question of how to make this sus-tainable.” He says universities suchas Maryland, that partner withCoursera, cover the costs of coursedesign and production and, more sig-nificantly, pay professors’ salaries.

Part of the solution appears to bepaid-for certification, as introduced byeach of the three leading platforms.

Though Coursera’s university part-ners choose whether to offer a paid-for

certificate, they face an incentive todo so. For any given class, 15 per centof associated revenues, plus 20 percent of gross profits, is apportioned tothe academic institution.

Mike Boxall, a higher educationexpert at PA Consulting, argues thatthe revenue-generating potential forMooc platforms does not truly lie instudent fees, but through harnessingtheir vast body of users, much likeFacebook and Google. “The value is inthe carefully segmented market ofusers spending a lot of time on theseplatforms,” he says. “And in the vastdata generated to third parties.”

Clarissa Shen, vice-president atUdacity, sees a further possible reve-nue stream from recruiters paying foraccess to student profiles.

For leading universities that havejoined the movement, however, mak-ing money is not yet a priority.

“Even if we never earned a dimefrom Coursera, it’s great value toreach so many people,” says KarlUlrich, a professor at the Universityof Pennsylvania’s Wharton Schoolwhich has offered six Moocs to date.

Universities’ investment has been inpart about building their own profiles,according to Prof Lucas, whose ownforthcoming Coursera course will dis-cuss challenges to higher educationfrom Moocs. “If a technology is dis-ruptive [to a sector], it needs to beincorporated,” he says, adding that anearly presence on platforms couldprove a great advantage once a profit-able business model is established.

Fresh partnerships offer more than financial survivalMaking the Mooc pay

Cashing in on vast numbersoffers a new way to dobusiness, writes Adam Palin

Khan-do: Khan Academy boasts 5.5m unique users a month

Massive open online courses

Millions of students havediscovered the value ofhigher learning en masse,Emma Boyde discovers