在線MBA教育時代來臨

Technology has transformed the way people live and work but it has yet to change fundamentally the MBA market. Despite the digitisation of many aspects of teaching, not least the plethora of free-to-study Moocs (massive open online courses), most people completing an MBA from a leading institution still take a career break in order to study on campus.

技術(shù)已改變了人們的生活和工作方式，但還沒有從根本上改變MBA市場。盡管教學(xué)的許多方面實現(xiàn)了數(shù)字化——尤其是鋪天蓋地的學(xué)習(xí)方式自由的大型網(wǎng)絡(luò)公開課(Massive Open Online Courses，簡稱Moocs)——大多數(shù)在一所名牌學(xué)校攻讀MBA的人仍需要暫時離職，以便參加在校學(xué)習(xí)。

There are signs, however, that the online MBA could become the most popular option eventually. A growing number of teaching institutions and students are embracing qualifications that are delivered entirely or mainly over the internet. Online education is coming of age.

然而，有跡象表明，在線MBA最終可能成為最受歡迎的選擇。越來越多的教育機(jī)構(gòu)和學(xué)生開始接受完全或主要通過在線方式取得的文憑。在線教育已經(jīng)成熟。

Last year there was a small but significant increase in the take-up of programmes covered by the annual Financial Times Online MBA Ranking. Enrolment numbers on these course rose on average 7 per cent for the 15 schools in the 2016 ranking. Five more schools were added to this year’s ranking, reflecting an increase in online offerings from notable institutions.

去年，每年一度的《金融時報》在線MBA項目排行榜(Financial Times Online MBA Ranking)上榜課程的招生人數(shù)出現(xiàn)小幅但不容忽視的增加。在2016年上榜的15所學(xué)校中，在線課程的入學(xué)人數(shù)平均增加了7%。今年的排行榜還增加了五所新上榜學(xué)校，反映出知名教育機(jī)構(gòu)在線課程開設(shè)數(shù)量的增加。

Several factors have come together to drive this shift. They include the tightening of visa conditions in the UK and elsewhere, schools attempting to reach overseas markets, advances in teaching technology and the growing credibility of online degrees.

幾個因素共同推動了這一轉(zhuǎn)變，包括在英國和其他地方收緊簽證條件、學(xué)校試圖觸及海外市場、教學(xué)技術(shù)的進(jìn)步，以及在線學(xué)位的可信度不斷提高。

Both the supply of online MBA courses and demand for them have been rising around the world, albeit for different reasons in different countries, says Matt Robb, managing director at Parthenon-EY, an education industry consultancy. Australia, for example, has long had a strong distance learning market because of people studying in remote areas. Being able to deliver courses online has allowed leading Australian schools to offer a more interactive experience for remote learners, he adds.

教育咨詢機(jī)構(gòu)巴特農(nóng)-安永(Parthenon-EY)的董事總經(jīng)理馬特•羅布(Matt Robb)說，，在線MBA課程的供給和需求在世界各地都在上升，盡管不同國家產(chǎn)生這一現(xiàn)象的原因不同。例如，長期以來，澳大利亞一直有著強(qiáng)大的遠(yuǎn)程學(xué)習(xí)市場，因為偏遠(yuǎn)地區(qū)的人有學(xué)習(xí)需求。他接著說，能夠在線授課，讓澳大利亞的名牌學(xué)校得以為遠(yuǎn)程學(xué)習(xí)者提供互動性更強(qiáng)的體驗。

In the UK, online courses have become a means for business schools to reach overseas students prevented from studying on campus by stricter student visa controls and cost.

在英國，有部分海外學(xué)生囿于更嚴(yán)格的學(xué)生簽證控制和成本，無法參加在校課程，在線課程已成為商學(xué)院為這些海外學(xué)生提供服務(wù)的手段。

“Nearly everywhere you look, demand by students for online education has exceeded supply,” Mr Robb says. “The question has never been whether there is a market but whether there is sufficient supply.”

“在你目光所及的幾乎每個地方，在線教育都供不應(yīng)求，”羅布說， “問題從來都不是有沒有市場，而是供給是否充足。”

Another important factor in the evolution of online MBAs is that schools are more sophisticated in the way they use technology. Many break down lessons into video segments and run interactive online lessons, in which students can ask a professor questions as they teach, says Mr Robb. “Nobody will sit through an hour-long lecture online, so you have got to ‘chunk things up’,” he says.

在線MBA的發(fā)展的另一個重要因素，是學(xué)校運(yùn)用技術(shù)的方式更先進(jìn)了。羅布說，許多學(xué)校將課程分解為一段段視頻，并開設(shè)在線互動課程，學(xué)生可以在教授上課時提問。“沒有人會耐著性子看完1個小時的在線講座，所以你必須‘化整為零'，”他說。

Leading schools are waking up to the potential of online education to spread their brand more widely than campus-based learning. Warwick Business School in the UK, for instance, has more than 1,200 people on its online MBA, mostly overseas, compared with 75 on its full-time campus-based programme.

名牌學(xué)校開始意識到在線教育的潛力——在線教育能比校園學(xué)習(xí)更廣泛地傳播它們的品牌。例如，英國華威商學(xué)院(Warwick Business School)的在線MBA就讀人數(shù)多于1200人(大部分在海外)，而其全日制在校課程的就讀人數(shù)為75人。

The school has built two film studios on campus to create online content. A simulation of a bank trading floor is one example of how it has developed new ways of teaching. Its production team visits companies to film short documentaries that students can stream.

華威商學(xué)院在校內(nèi)設(shè)立了兩個攝影棚，以制作在線內(nèi)容。模擬銀行交易大廳是揭示該校如何開發(fā)新教學(xué)方法的一個例子。制片組造訪各家公司拍攝紀(jì)錄短片，供學(xué)生用流媒體播放。

“More and more people are used to being online and expect, in some ways, to be educated online,” says John Colley, Warwick’s associate dean in charge of the MBA.

“越來越多的人習(xí)慣上網(wǎng)并期待以某種方式在網(wǎng)上接受教育，” 華威商學(xué)院負(fù)責(zé)MBA的副院長約翰•科利(John Colley)表示。

“The flexibility an online MBA allows is very attractive for a generation where time is constantly being squeezed and the demands of work heightened — you can fit the distance-learning MBA around your life,” he adds.

“在線MBA提供的靈活性對于時間總是不夠、工作辛苦的一代人非常具有吸引力——你可以根據(jù)自己的日程安排遠(yuǎn)程MBA學(xué)習(xí)，”他補(bǔ)充稱。

Imperial College Business School launched its fully online global MBA (GMBA) in January 2015. Now, with 220 students enrolled, it is the London school’s biggest course. Most GMBA students would not consider a conventional MBA, says David Lefevre, director of Imperial’s Edtech Lab.

2015年1月，帝國理工商學(xué)院(Imperial College Business School)推出了完全在線的全球MBA(GMBA)課程。如今該課程有220名注冊學(xué)生，是這家位于倫敦的商學(xué)院人數(shù)最多的課程。帝國理工商學(xué)院教育技術(shù)實驗室(Edtech Lab)主任戴維•勒費(fèi)夫爾(David Lefevre)表示，GMBA的多數(shù)學(xué)生不會考慮傳統(tǒng)MBA。

“There is a growing proportion of MBA students who routinely work and collaborate online and across time zones,” he says. “To these students, the blended approach is completely natural and it is the value of the purely face-to-face traditional MBA format that needs explaining.”

“越來越多的MBA學(xué)生常?？缭綍r區(qū)、在網(wǎng)上學(xué)習(xí)和協(xié)作，”他稱，“對于這些學(xué)生來說，這種混合式方法的好處是不言而喻的，需要解釋一下的反而是純面對面式傳統(tǒng)MBA價值何在。“

For all the growth of the online market, at many schools there remains a dichotomy between teaching purely digitally and bringing students to campus. In Spain, IE Business School prides itself on the technology at its Madrid campus, such as the WOW Room (Window on the World), whose wall of 48 screens enables professors to hold interactive lectures with students watching online.

盡管在線市場迅速增長，但很多學(xué)校仍然把純數(shù)字化教學(xué)和讓學(xué)生親自到校這兩件事分得很清。在西班牙，IE商學(xué)院(IE Business School)以其馬德里校區(qū)的技術(shù)為傲，比如世界之窗(Window on the World)教室。該教室的墻是48塊屏幕，使教授可以向在線觀看的學(xué)生授課并與他們互動。

The school has used online content for the past 15 years to teach MBA students and it is integral to the experience of coming to the school, says Jolanta Golanowska, IE’s director of learning innovation. But IE, which has a corporate learning alliance with the FT, has yet to offer a purely online MBA.

IE商學(xué)院學(xué)習(xí)創(chuàng)新主任約蘭塔•戈拉諾夫斯卡(Jolanta Golanowska)表示，15年來該學(xué)院一直利用在線內(nèi)容教授MBA學(xué)生，它也是學(xué)生在校學(xué)習(xí)體驗的不可或缺的一部分。但是IE商學(xué)院——與英國《金融時報》建立了公司學(xué)習(xí)合作——目前尚未提供純在線MBA課程。

“We believe very strongly that there is a need for connecting people in person,” Ms Golanowska says. “People don’t just do an MBA for knowledge, but for personal advancement, so they need to network. If you try to do that online, it doesn’t have the same depth as if you do it in the classroom.”

“我們堅信，人們面對面建立聯(lián)系是有必要的，”戈拉諾夫斯卡稱，“人們上MBA不只是為了獲取知識，還是為了個人發(fā)展，因此他們需要培養(yǎng)同窗情誼。在網(wǎng)上試圖培養(yǎng)感情，和在課堂里培養(yǎng)起來的感情深度是不一樣的。

Also in Spain, Esade, which the FT ranks among the top 20 full-time MBAs, does not run an online MBA but does use technology to supplement teaching at its Barcelona campus. For example, a video may be pre-recorded by the tutor so that more lecture room time can be devoted to group learning and discussion.

同樣位于西班牙的Esade商學(xué)院(在英國《金融時報》全日制MBA排行榜上躋身前二十)也沒有開設(shè)在線MBA課程，但它在巴塞羅那校區(qū)利用技術(shù)來輔助教學(xué)。例如，講師可能提前錄下視頻，這樣課堂上可以用更多時間進(jìn)行小組學(xué)習(xí)和討論。

The school does offer purely online teaching, but it is aimed at the executive education market, reaching people who are in work and at a later stage in their career and who might struggle to justify coming to Barcelona to study full time.

該學(xué)院提供純在線教學(xué)，但針對的是高管教育市場，面向的是這樣的人：在職且處于職業(yè)生涯較晚階段，可能找不到要去巴塞羅那接受全日制教育的充分理由。

Esade, too, emphasises the importance of the campus experience.

Esade商學(xué)院也強(qiáng)調(diào)了校園體驗的重要性。

“We are fortunate to be in a city where people want to be,” says Jonathan Wareham, professor of information systems. “For the courses we run on the campus the question is not whether to do it online or offline but how to use technology to help the student learn while here.”

“我們有幸生活在這個人們向往的城市，”Esade信息系統(tǒng)學(xué)教授喬納森•韋勒姆(Jonathan Wareham)稱，“對于我們在校內(nèi)開設(shè)的課程，問題不在于是在線上還是線下教學(xué)，而是如何利用技術(shù)幫助學(xué)生在這里學(xué)到東西。”