Issue link: https://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/54894
our name in entrepreneurship. Some students might earn their certificates, but feel they want to learn more and earn their MBA with us." Arizona State University's Carey School of Business in Tempe has offered students the option to earn an MBA fully online since 2003. Its program has grown from 100 stu- dents to more than 450 students. "We have been blown away by the number of students who have shifted to the online model, and we're in the process of trying to understand this trend more deeply," says Robert Mit- telstaedt, dean of the Carey School. "I think these numbers are grow- ing not because students are lazy, but because a large number of our students work full-time, and some are just more comfortable learning through online models." Beth Walker, associate dean for the Carey MBA, notes that one of the biggest challenges for business schools as they move to online for- mats will be to create models that produce the same results as their face-to-face programs. "We do have to think more deeply about how we make this shift," she says. "But while new delivery models may change how we teach, they don't change what we teach." Mittelstaedt notes that even well- established online programs must pay attention when new players enter the market. "As universities, we often worry about competing with our peers, but it will be outsiders who are most likely to disrupt our business model," he says. "At the moment, we can look at many of these outsiders as great foils for us to demonstrate why we offer a higher quality product, but what worries me most is if these schools wake up and start delivering higher quality themselves." TOOLS OF THE TRADE Teaching Communication One Upload at a Time YouSeeU.com provides interactive evaluations of student presentations. Teaching presentation skills in online course environments can be a chal- lenge, says Jeff Lewis, who teaches business communication courses for the online program at Colorado State University in Fort Collins. That's why Lewis has developed YouSeeU.com, an online environ- ment that allows students to pro- vide asynchronous feedback on the uploaded presentations of their classmates. Before YouSeeU, Lewis had his students send him recorded presenta- tions, first on VHS, next on DVD, and most recently, via digital formats. The process allowed Lewis to grade each student's work, but it didn't allow peer evaluation. With YouSeeU, students can record their presentations with a Web cam, cell phone, or camcorder and then upload their video presentations to the site to solicit the feedback of their professors and peers. They also can synchronize their presenta- tions with PowerPoint slides or other media. As Lewis and other students watch the presentation, they can post comments on a particular gesture or expression at the moment in the video when it occurs. "In many cases, we can't even do that in the classroom," says Lewis. "We can't stop a student in the mid- dle of a presentation and say, 'Take your hands out of your pockets.' But we can do that here." The site also allows professors to use these videos for assessment purposes, host asynchronous video discussions, or hold oral exams from a distance. Such exams also make certain that the person enrolled is the person taking the course, Lewis adds. "They have to answer questions on the spot on video. Their spouses can't be doing the work for them!" This tool is aimed primarily at com- munications courses, but it can be used in any context where presentation skills are important. Lewis points to one finance professor who is using it to evaluate how well students present financial analyses of companies. While there's no substitute for giving live presentations in front of a group, YouSeeU gives students the chance to see themselves on video and receive instantaneous feedback, Lewis says. "Business students are getting practice with their presenta- tion skills on campus, but not in online programs," he says. "My goal is to see students graduate from even online programs with strong communication skills." YouSeeU offers customized sub- scription packages to suit the needs of individual educators. To see a live demo, visit www.youseeu.com. BizEd JANUARY/FEBRURY 2011 61