Issue link: https://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/55943
Blended learning programs aren't about dazzling new products, they're about design. Therefore, blended learning programs aren't about daz- zling new products, they're about design. They succeed when there is an effective alignment of a school's methodology, technology, and faculty. As a program director at IE Business School in Madrid, Spain, recently said, "At IE, we only ask one thing from our technology—that it works." That should be the starting position for any school offering a program or a course that relies in part on technology. Seven Reasons to Blend While dozens of business schools already offer some online learning options, for those that don't, I've found seven reasons to consider incorporating them into the curricu- lum. I draw on the experiences and observations of Rob Ayasse, a recent graduate of IE's International Executive MBA program, as well as the input of other proponents of online education. session. But at IE, since our entire model is based on col- laborative learning, we don't have a fear of substitution. In addition, we assess three areas in our final evaluations: team- work, which counts for 30 percent of the grade; individual participation through forums and videoconferences, which counts for 35 percent; and the final case study exam, which also counts for 35 percent. Thus, students are assessed on every component of the program. 2. A blended learning program can offer as much academic rigor as a traditional program. Ayasse appreciated the range of readings, multimedia learning tools, and simulations employed in his class, as well as the "wide-ranging, highly interactive four-day online discus- sion of the topics." But the critical value of the class, he says, was "the need to read the material, then synthesize it into well-written submissions for the online discussion. This process forces students to internalize information at a much higher rate, which fosters a deeper understanding of the material and leads to a far deeper exploration than a classical classroom setting could provide." 1. A blended learning program suits the schedule of today's busy professional. Particularly in EMBA programs, students often are so rushed and overcommit- ted that they don't have the time to take a year out to further their educations. A program that is partly online allows them to keep working at their jobs while investing minimally in travel. Ayasse needed a program that would allow him to take classes from Brussels, where he's based, or Afghanistan, where he frequently travels. Because the IE program required only three face-to-face sessions, two in Madrid and one in Shanghai, he could easily make his schedule conform to the demands of the class. Administrators at schools that haven't yet launched blended programs might worry that the student doing the online work isn't the same one attending the face-to-face 36 BizEd NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2010 3. A blended learning program allows everyone in class an equal chance to participate. This is not always the case in classroom sessions, where time is limited or par- ticularly outspoken individuals might dominate discussions. In fact, Santiago Iñiguez, dean of IE, believes that students of sophisticated blended programs are forced to interact with their classmates more than students in face- to-face programs. He stresses that when students work online, they need to make a real effort to become known by their classmates, because otherwise they "don't exist." Students who attend a conventional classroom and merely sit in the back of the room don't need to invest nearly the same amount of energy. Says Ayasse, "In every traditional class, you have those who are eager for discussion, and those who try desper- ately to hide, while the majority of people fall somewhere in between. In an online discussion, everyone is forced to participate actively, because there is nowhere to hide! It becomes immediately obvious—not just to the professor, but to all the classmates—if somebody has not read or understood that week's case. Believe me, this in itself is a powerful motivator." 4. A blended learning program helps a business school globalize. In a July 2010 article in the Harvard Business Review, Richard Barker noted that Americans make JEFFREY COOLIDGE/GETTY IMAGES