Variety of programs from around world on tap at Taipei MBA fair. Snippet: ... "Did you know we have a virtual MBA?" asked Charles Croker, deputy director at the University of Surrey School of Management. "We do the whole thing over the Internet and we never see the students," he explained. Instead, students who have successfully enrolled at the school receive course books and a laptop computer that contains "90 percent of what they need" to take the MBA program. "We ship these computers all over the world," he said. "As long as you've got an Internet connection, away you go." The "learnware" on the computer tells the students which chapters to learn each week, and includes lectures, links to related Web sites, and even an introductory video. Tests are taken within a 24-hour window. "We don't insist they take (a test) at 9:00 U.K. time," laughed Croker. As for ensuring that the person taking the test is actually the student, the school relies on "forensic software" that tracks how students write: any variance from this style raises flags that another person may be involved.
