Saturday, March 31, 2012

How Online Universities and MBAs Were Put Together

You would be right to think that online universities are recent innovations. The very channel that makes this type of learning possible is a new invention in itself. The beginnings of this education are rooted in a far older learning format, nevertheless, one more than mere decades back in history.

The idea of getting an education even while not in a physical classroom was long considered ages ago. Distance learning came true for the first time when a teacher of shorthand began to provide modules for it through mail. He posted the modules regularly to the members of the course.

London's own main university asserts that it was leading the pack when it came to distance learning at the time, for it was the first to boast a correspondence program. And as for the Americans, they started with the University of Chicago getting on board the distance learning wagon. Distance learning was then introduced to Australian shores.

The old lesson-in-the-mail system was overtaken by video education soon after that. The latter part of the past century saw increasing interest and rapid growth in this sector. Indeed, not even a decade ago, the first accredited institution for this type of schooling came to be.

Meanwhile, the MBA takes its primary root from Dartmouth, which was the establishment that first came out with a true graduate-level school for the degree. At the time, it actually had a different name. Harvard then created the masters in business administration program for several participants.

Certain persons had their doubts: at the end of the 1950s, there were already allegations of the MBA classes containing largely off-tangent topics. Indeed, the program was even lambasted as a useless qualification, making it hardly a qualification at all. At this time, people thought the masters for business one of futility.

It was because of such criticism that most MBA programs would require fundamental courses during their first year. MBAs were suddenly courses amenable to the adoption of a focus of study. The training was thus sharpened and enhanced for maximum effect.

However, it was then criticized to be too theoretical and less realistic. Students were said to be focused solely on textbook approaches and lack the appropriate training for the practical approaches of leadership. The problem too was that several schools hired professors who did not have experiential knowledge of their subjects.

Companies slowed down in their hiring of masters of business administration degree-holders. 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.

Colleges have an obligation to see to it that the programs they offer are appropriate for the current state of the industry for each program. Ethics seems to be the next topic of interest to contemporary MBA programs, according to regular as well as
online universities. Thus, you should apply only to colleges that keep up with the times.