THE MAIN ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES OF THE DISTANCE MBA PROGRAM
The Distance MBA program provides business school students with a unique opportunity to earn a Master of Business Administration degree without a two-year separation from real life and business. Such an offer undoubtedly deserves the attention of all applicants for the MBA degree, but most students of business schools refer to the remote program a bit cautiously.
Not a small role in this was played by the rejection of the majority of employers of specialists who received an MBA from a distance learning program. Many recruitment agencies directly state the doubts about the suitability of the Distance MBA graduates. In the business environment, the benefits of distance learning have been valued by only 17 percent of employers who train staff.
This position did not originate in an empty place. The Distance MBA program, in its pure form, is based on e-learning technology, which is prone to the same disadvantages as the correspondence form of the educational process. As a result of e-learning technology, the quality of education received depends largely on the aspirations and persistence of the student, if the applicant for an MBA degree does not have proper self-organization, then he will never become a good specialist.
Another disadvantage of the Distance MBA program is the lack of personal contact between participants in the learning process since establishing personal relationships in the learning process is equally important for ambitious MBA graduates. The minimum number of in-class meetings with lecturers and fellow students does not allow this goal to be realized.
In addition, according to leading experts in the field of business education, there are a number of subjects that can only be studied in the form of direct communication between a teacher and a group of students. These include, in the first place, the art of negotiation, programs aimed at studying the subtleties of marketing and other disciplines, the development of which is possible only as a result of training.
In addition to the above disadvantages, there is one more drawback of e-learning technology. Experts' studies show that 20 percent of participants in this process refuse to continue their studies and throw a started case.
However, in spite of all the disadvantages of the Distance MBA program, there is a positive dynamics in the growth of the number of MBA students in schools that have chosen this particular way of obtaining an MBA degree. From their point of view, all the disadvantages of e-learning technology overlap the bulk of the benefits of such an educational process.
As a major benefit, most students highlight the opportunity to independently plan the learning process and the relatively low cost of the Distance MBA program. In some schools, the difference in the cost of full-time MBA and Distance MBA programs reaches 30 percent.
In addition, the opportunity to use instead of sad fictitious training, the real situation allows from the point of view of supporters of Distance MBA to gain more knowledge and skills. The Distance MBA program, according to most experts, is closer to today's realities than those programs that were prepared for the Full-time MBA in pre-crisis times. Graduates of the Distance MBA program are not members of the reclusive club, who have been protected from the world for two years, and professionals who have experienced all the difficulties of modern business, being in the center of events.
Modern adherents of distance education fully agree with the presence of drawbacks in e-learning technology and consider it as a quick addition to the traditional educational process. In their opinion, the creation of mixed technology will increase the effectiveness of training and make it more accessible.
Over time, the development of Distance Learning will lead to the fact that this form of training will be in line with the classics of classroom programs and will partially replace or supplement some of the traditional educational processes.
This position did not originate in an empty place. The Distance MBA program, in its pure form, is based on e-learning technology, which is prone to the same disadvantages as the correspondence form of the educational process. As a result of e-learning technology, the quality of education received depends largely on the aspirations and persistence of the student, if the applicant for an MBA degree does not have proper self-organization, then he will never become a good specialist.
Another disadvantage of the Distance MBA program is the lack of personal contact between participants in the learning process since establishing personal relationships in the learning process is equally important for ambitious MBA graduates. The minimum number of in-class meetings with lecturers and fellow students does not allow this goal to be realized.
In addition, according to leading experts in the field of business education, there are a number of subjects that can only be studied in the form of direct communication between a teacher and a group of students. These include, in the first place, the art of negotiation, programs aimed at studying the subtleties of marketing and other disciplines, the development of which is possible only as a result of training.
In addition to the above disadvantages, there is one more drawback of e-learning technology. Experts' studies show that 20 percent of participants in this process refuse to continue their studies and throw a started case.
However, in spite of all the disadvantages of the Distance MBA program, there is a positive dynamics in the growth of the number of MBA students in schools that have chosen this particular way of obtaining an MBA degree. From their point of view, all the disadvantages of e-learning technology overlap the bulk of the benefits of such an educational process.
As a major benefit, most students highlight the opportunity to independently plan the learning process and the relatively low cost of the Distance MBA program. In some schools, the difference in the cost of full-time MBA and Distance MBA programs reaches 30 percent.
In addition, the opportunity to use instead of sad fictitious training, the real situation allows from the point of view of supporters of Distance MBA to gain more knowledge and skills. The Distance MBA program, according to most experts, is closer to today's realities than those programs that were prepared for the Full-time MBA in pre-crisis times. Graduates of the Distance MBA program are not members of the reclusive club, who have been protected from the world for two years, and professionals who have experienced all the difficulties of modern business, being in the center of events.
Modern adherents of distance education fully agree with the presence of drawbacks in e-learning technology and consider it as a quick addition to the traditional educational process. In their opinion, the creation of mixed technology will increase the effectiveness of training and make it more accessible.
Over time, the development of Distance Learning will lead to the fact that this form of training will be in line with the classics of classroom programs and will partially replace or supplement some of the traditional educational processes.
Author Bio
Alex Anne is a professional and experienced academic writer in a well-known custom assignment writing company in UK. Besides his core job he also personally offers academic help service to the students. Students should follow him on Twitter and LinkedIn.
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