Issue link: http://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/337193
28 July/August 2014 BizEd DE E DMAN /TH I N KSTOCK Instructional Support The Isenberg School plans for mod- est growth in its online programs, which means the need for more ongoing support for its faculty. It employs a full-time online learning specialist who consults with faculty on course design. If one professor discovers an approach that works well online, the specialist introduces that technique to other professors. The school takes full advantage of faculty training courses offered through the e-learning department at the university's Center for Continu- ing Professional Education, which supports online education at UMass Amherst across all disciplines. The school uses a small core of scholarly academics to lead course design and instruction. These fac- ulty manage a larger group of affil- iated faculty, comprising adjuncts and practitioners, to teach sections of the larger courses. Big Aspirations The introduction of the MBA Fel- lowship already has been paying "big dividends," says Wells. The number of applications to the full- time Isenberg MBA program went from 220 in 2013-2014 to 320 for the upcoming academic year; the number of students accepted into the program increased by 22 per- cent, from 36 students to 44 stu- dents. Their average GMAT score has increased by approximately 20 points. Through the MBA Fellowship and its curricular revision, the school wants to develop a different kind of "blended" program, which connects students online who already have significant experience with high- quality less experienced students on campus. "We don't think of our PREPARING FOR MOOCs CENTRUM Católica Graduate Business School Pontificia Universidad Católica del Peru Lima, Peru Program Snapshot: ■ Two annual cohorts of 30 students, 80 percent of whom are Peruvian ■ Plans to increase to four annual cohorts in 2015 ■ Three weeks of on-campus courses followed by asynchronous online courses ■ Delivery in Spanish Online since: 2006 Course structure. CENTRUM's Virtual Managerial MBA uses Moodle2 as the learning management platform and Adobe Connect for live ses- sions. Instructional designers coordinate with faculty to develop content, design learning activities, and teach courses. The program also uses profes- sional tutors and advisors to help students meet their learning objectives. Once-weekly live sessions are complemented by asynchronous discussion forums, team projects, simulations, and other assignments. Faculty training. New online faculty take two eight-hour courses—the first introduces them to effective pedagogical approaches, course planning, con- tent development, and learning activities, and the second introduces them to the learning management platform. Thereafter, faculty take regular training ses- sions on topics such as student motivation and assurance of learning. Next challenge. Dean Fernando D'Alessio says that the school's next goal is to support "the internationalization and the massive delivery of our programs," by developing MOOC versions of several courses offered through the Virtual MBA. The school is exploring possibilities for offering certification or credits toward a degree to students who complete MOOCs through the school. The Isenberg School plans for mod- est growth in its online programs, which means the need for more ongoing support for its faculty. It employs a full-time online learning specialist who consults with faculty college as having 44 students in its resident MBA program and 1,200 in its online program," says Wells. "The way we view it, we have 1,244 students in our MBA program." Succeeding in online delivery, he emphasizes, is a matter of pro- viding students with exceptional educational experiences, which is what the MBA Fellows program is designed to support. "Business schools all have access to the same technology. But to use that technol- ogy well, we also must invest in our staff, our resources, and our students," says Wells. "What mat- ters isn't the technology. What mat- ters is execution."