BW Article: Do Online MBAs Make the Grade?

Interesting article:

http://www.businessweek.com/bschools/content/aug2005/bs20050818_4192_bs001.htm

 

Great article!


Abner

 

Same old stuff...I especially liked "Either way, it's important to assess whether the structure jibes with your learning style. The best online programs are the ones that offer brief in-classroom periods, says George Lorenzo, author of The Complete Idiot's Guide to Getting Your MBA Online (Alpha Books, 2005). If a program requires travel to a school's physical campus, you must note that and plan for the extra expense. Some programs require as many as three weekends per year and others just one. " So what makes it better, the fact that I have to plan to take a trip there, pretty tough forcasting and planning there. I did my undergrad degree in a mix of classroom, CLEP, and online classes. I enjoyed traveling to and meeting everyone in the classes and the instructors, but, there was no discernable difference between online and classroom learning outcomes in my opinion. I will complete my MBA completely online and I expect there to be no issues with my degree, though I must say I limited my choices to AACSB schools. Just out of curiousity, it seems Business Week magazine does not care for distance learning, has anyone else noticed this?

William

 

The Complete Idiot's Guide to Getting an MBA Online ?

This is an actual text? Good Lord.

 

Curious: Which school? How far in are you?

My perception's not as negative, but you may have read some articles that I haven't seen. At least BW has a guide to DL MBA programs, and they do throw the occasional DL article bone to us like the one in the link above.

It's true that in the articles I've seen, they always quote skeptics alongside the proponents of DL, but let's not kid ourselves: DL's not for everyone. It may not always be as effective given certain learning styles and it's very often not as well received in HR departments and requires careful and creative explanations on the part of interviewees. Many of the threads on this forum, as you well know, have been devoted to this phenomenon.

 

Interesting article - I'm currently finishing up my first residency in the Indiana Kelley Direct program and I can say that this program appears to be run extremely well.

One thing I can say about Indiana's approach - they don't use lecturers or associate profs for the DL classes...only fully tenured staff who teach both B&M and DL versions. They feel that the DL version actually takes more work due to extra communication requirements.

My class this week on Org Chg was excellent, and the fact that there is a residency allows me to build relationships that I'll leverage throughout the year. For those of you who aren't against a little travel periodically I think it helps.

Group assignments are part of some classes, but they make up a minority of your grade (20% for Org Chg). This I feel is a healthy balance - you do some team work but it's still dependent on you to do well. I've also found that the quality of the students here is excellent...this probably has something to do with the admission requirements.

Oh - also, there is no grade inflation at Kelley. Only 35% of the class is eligible for an A or A-, with the rest getting B+, B or lower. If you want an A you really have to work for it. And I REALLY mean work - 48 credits.

The program chair spoke with us and stated that their goal is to provide an opportunity for people who couldn't otherwise get an IU MBA from Bloomington to get one - and to have an MBA that really means something rather than be a piece of paper.

Cheers,
Mark

 

Re: Re: BW Article: Do Online MBAs Make the Grade?

Fine program you've got there. Had Kelley been a little less expensive and had it been capable of completion PT in a little less time, I'd likely have gone there rather than UMass (had they accepted me). However, I'm quite pleased with my choice now that I'm four PT semesters through the program (hopefully with only three more to go), I've corresponded on the side with all my profs, who have almost uniformly been great, and even had a tentative offer to co-author an article with a professor, and I'll likely take that offer up next semester if it's still on the table.

UMass is not as stringent with the grades, though I haven't exactly been handed the grades on a platter. One of the toughest grades I ever got was the A- in Financial Accounting. I sweated bullets through that class, it was like being back in law school. Speaking of law school, you want to talk about a nasty curve? 15% of the students in class were eligible for A, the next 35% for B, and all others got C or worse!

 

I have seen a "The Complete Idiot's Guide to the Roman Empire".

It could be worse
"The Complete Idiot's Guide to Neurosurgery".

 

Some would argue that it's completely appropriate.

Ha. Some would argue that that's appropriate, too.

Yes.

 

Having earned an MBA via distance study, and then later teaching an MBA class at a brick and mortar, I can say that the difference is not that much in the end. It's how you learn the best that makes the difference. I'll take distance learning anytime if the teacher is not some world-class guru. That's just me, though.

In the MBA classes I had, I received a syllabus, books, writing assignments, group assignments, lectures, and I had regular interaction with the instructors(albeit via e-learning apps, e-mail, and phone). The class I taught had all the same...with the exception that I was there personally lecturing and students could ask questions right away. This direct interaction was somewhat lively but I don't think it made that much difference.

In my MBA program, we had lively e-mail discussions back and forth and sometimes that led to phone conversations during projects. It was just more concentrated. Although, there were bulletin boards, similar to this one, where all students could post and those discussions were often animated. I learned quite a bit about how Russian business, and trade policy, works in those bulletin board posts, e-mail discussions, and group assignments. One of my cohorts was a Russian trade official living in Moscow...doing Russian business day to day. That sort of interaction is not possible in a brick and mortar classroom.

There is an advantage in the bulletin board format. It often gave people a chance to think about what they were going to respond with rather than the spur of the moment response in a classroom setting. This gave everyone an opportunity to participate and maybe even the more shy people jumped in...where they would not in a live face to face class(and I had a few shy people in my MBA class that did not participate much in discussion).

Bing

 

I read somewhere and I can't find it again to save my life. (otherwise I'd love to cite the source)That unless you do not have an alternative and must have a MBA then go for a DL MBA. The rationale is that the networking is one of the most if not the most important part of the degree and you miss that.

-for the record I am currently enrolled in a DL MBA program at Morehead State Universtiy and don't believe that!

Tim

 

Interesting that you talk about networking. I did a DL MBA and networked a bit in that, too. I stayed particularly close to 7 of my cohorts. We all have met up with one another in face to face social interactions over the years and we still keep in regular contact with one another.

Networking can be done via DL, too. You may not see one another in class each week but if you take the time you can meet up and forge relationships.

Bing

 

I recall that you are interested in teaching (I think), which subjects? Law, business, or both?

William

 

I teach Business Law and various permutations of Government as an adjunct at a small college. I've dreamed about doing it FT, tenure track, but may put those plans on hold.

 

Rumor has it there's been a dimunition in the quality of the MBA.

 

Interesting article. The quote from the guy at UBS is obvious because if you want to work for an investment bank you should probably do a full-time MBA at a prestigious program. In my opinion, online MBA's are best for those who are going to school once they already have a career. I did my online MBA at UMass and thought the program was very good. I took two classes live and the other 11 online. The online classes were just as high in the quality of instruction, but the professors assigned a little more work in the online classes. Perhaps this was to make up for the lack of class time.

 

I'm going there now, will be taking my fifth and sixth classes this semester. Any pointers for me? Professors that are must take, professors that are at all costs to be avoided?

Also, what does your diploma look like? Does it obviously look like it was obtained other than in the standard manner?

Just curious.