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online MBA draws a group of students that is more committed, more experienced, more capable, more savvy—and more demand- ing." Spinella of Fuqua's Cross-Continent pro- absence of body language, professors must learn to be aware of the tone they use in online discussions. Professors must, in essence, re-learn how to present material, pace content deliv- ery, and foster collaboration in a virtual classroom. The online format also accelerates the pace of a course, They want to learn something today and test it in the work- place tomorrow." In the end, she believes the blending of online education which places much different demands on a professor, empha- sizes Spinella. Like UMSL's online MBA, Fuqua's two-year Cross-Continent MBA combines online interactions with ten weeks of face-to-face learning at its campuses in the U.S. and Germany. The flexibility inherent to this format appeals to busy executives, but presents a challenge to faculty mem- bers who must create a sense of community and common goals among students scattered across the globe. "Not everyone is well-suited to this style of teaching. You can't necessarily take someone who has great classroom skills and expect that this person will instantly know the parame- ters, both physically and intellectually, of teaching from a dis- tance in an online environment," says Spinella. "One of the challenges that I think all schools are up against in this area lies in teaching the teachers." Better Than the Average MBA? Educators aren't the only ones being transformed by the demands of e-learning; the students emerging from accredited e-learning programs also are adapting to a new learning envi- ronment. Blended learning attracts students who enjoy the accelerated nature of an online learning format and often push the pace of the course to learn what they need more quickly. "After our first cohort went through the program, it became clear to everyone that this format had attracted stronger candidates," says Durand. "It was a much different kind of student than our professors had been wringing their hands in fear over." That's not to say that everyone who inquired about the program was a winner, he admits. "We received some calls from students who were looking for the quickest, easiest path to an MBA. But once they found out that the program included 52 percent face-to-face learning, they dropped it. The market quickly sorted itself out. In our experience, our gram also has seen the students' need for "instant gratification" at work. "I call them 'application junkies,'" she says. "They're the kind of people who don't want to delay the pleasure of using their newfound knowledge. and traditional classroom models parallels the new landscape of business that managers must inhabit. "The online process mirrors the way well-run, globally distributed businesses operate. Today's employees are expected to communicate and collaborate online and keep their projects and ideas alive even when they're not face-to-face with colleagues. They know how to work with geographically distributed teams among people from different cultures, working nontradi- tional hours." In some ways, students who emerge from blended learning environments are better prepared for these realities, she adds. Rosenfield of UNext/Cardean University agrees, noting that higher education institutions worldwide will see advancements via e-learning such as they have not experi- enced before. "The real power of technology-based educa- tion is that it will be transformative and profound in every modality," he says. "If we look forward five or ten years, we'll find the hybridization of education on campuses all over the world, at all levels. It won't denude the power of those insti- tutions—it will make them richer." As the number of nontraditional students climbs, their demand for flexibility, accessibility, and connectivity may soon define what universities must offer to remain competi- tive. What seems to be emerging is an environment where students can have it both ways: They can enjoy the freedom of online education while reaping the benefits of face-to-face learning. Now, more educators, administrators, and students realize that it's no longer a question of whether or not Internet-based technologies will affect education. The real question is how far it will go. s z BizEd JULY/AUGUST 2002 45 HARRY SIEPLINGA/GETTY