Online universities were not introduced until the past decade. We have to remember that online technologies are new developments in themselves. Yet, the idea for these universities came into being ages ago, in the 1700s.
Although the technology is somewhat recent, the concept of learning in an informal environment, without the need for the educator and student to be in the same room, is centuries old. This is referred to collectively as distance learning and was first done by Caleb Phillips when he offered to teach shorthand through the mail. The snailmail that we rarely use nowadays was the channel for his program.
Perhaps among the more forward-looking institutions back then was the University of London, which was why it was so quick to get on board the distance learning boat: in fact, it was among the formal pioneers of it. Just a little behind was the state university of Chicago, which also took on similar courses at the end of the 19th century. The new formats were embraced too by educators in the land Down Under soon enough.
The old lesson-in-the-mail system was overtaken by video education soon after that. Various schools all over the globe started to develop their own program for distance learning from 1970 onwards and are often referred to as open universities. By 1996, there was already an accredited college: Jones International.
And as for the MBA, some claim it really began when Dartmouth put up what would be the first graduate business school in the world. At the time, it actually had a different name. Then Harvard came to the scene, providing actual masters programs for business administration.
At first, there were some concerns that the programs did not provide truly advanced studies that were useful outside of the academe. It was even stated that graduate studies are no better than completing a vocational course. It was thus that there were several dark years for the MBA program as a whole.
To fight the negative opinions, there were major revamps and improvements to the curriculum. Moreover, students were allowed to take elective courses specializing in certain aspects like marketing, finance, accounting or economics. This then provided students with a balance of management and subject expertise.
All of a sudden, though, the critics switched gears and started making allegations of over-academic approaches in the discipline. The true arena of business apparently tended to confound degree-holders who had been taught in a more sanitized environment with more controllable parameters. Moreover, educators were said to lack the qualifications to be effective leaders when most of them didn’t have any professional experience to speak of.
It was because of this that the demand for MBA graduates declined and faltered. However, it was evident that changes in the program were necessary. The result is the MBA you see now, which is still being perfected and developed by experts both in and out of the academe.
It is clear that even educational courses have to change to meet the demands of the business arena. Ethics seems to be the next topic of interest to contemporary MBA programs, according to regular as well as
online universities. A forward-looking course curriculum should be a fine indication of a good program.
