delivering business school programmes in the digital age

34
Delivering Business School Programmes In The Digital Age © Tom Ryan, 2016

Upload: tom-ryan

Post on 08-Apr-2017

17 views

Category:

Documents


0 download

TRANSCRIPT

Page 1: Delivering Business School Programmes in the Digital Age

Delivering Business School Programmes In The Digital Age

© Tom Ryan, 2016

Page 2: Delivering Business School Programmes in the Digital Age

2

This presentation aims to help business schools understand • The impact of the digital age on how programmes can be delivered• The new opportunities for business school programmes offered by the digital age

– New programme formats– Improving the effectiveness and efficiency of existing programmes

• Framing and making strategic choices: adapting programmes for the digital age• Conclusions and next steps• Appendix: Checklist for flipping the classroom with technology

Page 3: Delivering Business School Programmes in the Digital Age

3

THE IMPACT OF THE DIGITAL AGE

Page 4: Delivering Business School Programmes in the Digital Age

4

The Digital Age

• Is characterised by the ability to store, process and transmit vast quantities of data in digital form at an acceptable cost

• Has already transformed how some services are created and delivered, for example– Amazon first transformed how physical books are bought before enabling readers to replace physical

books with a digital alternative through Kindle– Apple created a new way for people to buy and enjoy music through the iPod and the iTunes store– Netflicks and others are driving a move from broadcast TV to on-demand viewing

• Offers users the chance to – Time-shift – towards an on-demand world– Enjoy richer experiences e.g. video can complement or replace text to explore aspects of history

• Offers content providers• Opportunities to reach new audiences – particularly for niche products and services that might not

be otherwise economically viable e.g. New York’s Metropolitan Opera now broadcasts selected performances to cinemas around the world

Page 5: Delivering Business School Programmes in the Digital Age

5

Massive Open Online Courses were an early step in adapting education to the digital age• MOOCs were launched to deliver top-tier teaching from the best business schools

to vast numbers of students around the world at modest prices via interactive technology

• Wharton Online is a good example– Currently offers 24 courses covering business fundamentals, entrepreneurship and specialist topics– Typically require 5-6 hours of study for each of 4 weeks– Typical price is £65 for an individual course, while specialisations comprising 4 courses plus a

capstone project to gain a certificate cost about £400– Delivered on the Coursera platform

• There have been issues in the practical implementation– Faculty rejection of online courses as a replacement for classroom learning– Low completion rates – which may reflect people signing up for low cost courses to test the concept

• There have also been strong positives– MOOCs are generally effective at communicating difficult material that has traditionally been

delivered as lectures or in text books– They have the potential for tracking student progress to support continuous improvement

Page 6: Delivering Business School Programmes in the Digital Age

6

Leading business schools have now gone further - including• Harvard launched HBX – which they describe as ‘our vision of business education,

reimagined for the digital age’ with three components– HBX CORe is a ‘primer on the fundamentals of business’ with three courses: Business Analytics,

Economics for Managers, and Financial Accounting delivered on an asynchronous online learning platform

– HBX Courses are specialized offerings that “allow learners to engage with leading-edge ideas from our faculty” using short video lectures, HBS-style case studies, and active learning at the participant’s own pace, wherever and whenever is most convenient, while sharing insights with peers along the way - it started with Clayton Christensen’s Disruptive Strategy course

– HBX Live! brings together people from around the world to participate in online case classes in a studio classroom on a synchronous digital learning platform

• Stanford offers the LEAD Certificate in Corporate Innovation– An online experience with academic rigor, world-class faculty, and innovative frameworks– Gives participants ‘the freedom to master new skills in an interactive and flexible online format’– Supports engagement with a highly-selective peer group – Allows users to experiment with new learning to address specific business challenges– Combines 3 foundation courses and 5 individually-selected electives, designed to be completed over

a year

Page 7: Delivering Business School Programmes in the Digital Age

7

The success of these models has strategic implications for other schools• The leading schools are leveraging several key assets to support success in their

digital models– Reputation that reassures potential users – students and employers– Content and intellectual property valued by potential students and their employers– Recognised thought leaders and educators– The financial resources to invest in testing the market, potential technology and business models

• This creates threats for other schools– Some students will prefer a digital programme from a top school over a face-to-face programme

from a less well-known school - there are parallels in sport where fans watch the best teams and players on television or other devices rather than attending live local events

– Creating and delivering purely digital programmes will likely require financial resources beyond the means of smaller schools and create a minimum efficient scale

– Purely digital programmes would likely have substantial fixed costs but low marginal costs for incremental students – so generating benefits of scale for successful schools

– This can generate greater revenue that allow the ‘winners’ to hire the best faculty (as happens in football) and to invest in upgrading their technology

Page 8: Delivering Business School Programmes in the Digital Age

8

However, many students will continue to value a face-to-face component in programmes• Opportunity to engage with lecturer to better understand materials and their

practical application• Cohort effect

– Psychological support during the programme from peers going through the same learning and transformation process

– Learning from fellow students with different functional or industry experience – particularly in post-experience programmes

– Learning to work effectively with others – a key factor for career success– Career benefits of network established on programme

• Cultural exposure from studying outside their home country or region

Page 9: Delivering Business School Programmes in the Digital Age

9

These innovations have implications for business schools• Predicting a single outcome for management education and leadership development in

the coming years is both appealing and mis-guided• It is more likely is that there will be multiple solutions to the varied needs and

preferences of different users• Schools will need to partner with technology providers as a part of their core activities

rather than simply using technology to support administration• Schools need to position themselves for the digital age by framing and making strategic

choices that recognise their existing strengths and resources• While synchronous online classes look exciting and will become a factor in the future,

they will not be the only effective and viable way to deliver programmes • There is a danger that schools will delay in adapting to the digital age because the real-

time on-line classroom looks like a ‘game-changer’ that requires substantial organisational change and financial resources – leaving them paralysed by the scale of the decision

• Schools should start experimenting now with redesigning programmes for delivery using a variety of new digital tools and platforms

Page 10: Delivering Business School Programmes in the Digital Age

10

Schools need to consider the on-going changes in two areas other than technology• The changing nature of work

– The connected (and globalised) world– Moving towards 24/7 for knowledge workers and their managers– Fluid and more frequent transitions between work, learning and leisure– Fewer substantial blocks of time to devote to any one issue or topic– Increased emphasis on leadership with less on management– Substantial and continuing change in many functions and industries– Knowledge is more accessible – people need to know how to find and process it

• Changes in the demand for business education and leadership development– Lifetime learning has replaced learning for life– Less value in transferring knowledge – and more in building the ability to access and apply it– Greater emphasis on working with and leading knowledge workers– Increasing expectation of on-demand services– Increasing expectation of a digital experience– Increasing expectation that schools will demonstrate impact

Page 11: Delivering Business School Programmes in the Digital Age

11

Schools also need to remember why and when people attend their programmes• People undertake business education for one or more of the following reasons

– To achieve the academic results required to unlock career opportunities– To demonstrate their competence for the purposes of certification or accreditation– To improve their effectiveness in the workplace – for their own benefit and that of their employer

• Over the course of a career, a person may attend a range of programmes– Undergraduate university programmes– Business school academic graduate programmes: pre-experience and / or post-experience– Professional programmes (e.g. Chartered Accountant): including both qualifications and continuing

professional development– Executive education

• Programmes must be both– Effective – measured by their success in achieving the reason it was undertake – including impact– Efficient – in the use of the students’ / participants’ time and the resources required to deliver the

programme

Page 12: Delivering Business School Programmes in the Digital Age

12

The remainder of this presentation focuses on degree programmes, but applies equally to• Executive education

– Programmes are typically more easily adapted than degree programmes as there are fewer contributors and stakeholders

– Client may drive change in company-specific programmes

• Doctoral programmes– Typically require a number of core courses from degree programmes plus specialist programmes for

doctoral students that underpin supervised research– Small intakes can make these programmes expensive– Schools could share specialist courses delivered with a high digital content as a way of overcoming

this challenge

Page 13: Delivering Business School Programmes in the Digital Age

13

THE NEW OPPORTUNITIES FOR BUSINESS SCHOOL PROGRAMMES

Page 14: Delivering Business School Programmes in the Digital Age

14

Technology offers new ways to meet the needs of students• Students on a programme no longer have to be in the same place at the same time - there

are now three options for delivery location– Physical – the traditional approach where students assemble at the same time in a single physical location

with a lecturer standing in front– Digital – asynchronous – students do not assemble at the same time– Digital – synchronous – where students assemble at the same time – but in more than one location – and

with the lecturer in one of these locations or possibly another

• Technology can enrich the learning experience to increase effectiveness and student engagement– Providing text in a digital form with a capability to make notes will allow students to study on the move and

remove the need for paper – in line with their schools commitment to sustainability– Using videos to replace text: for example, in studying leadership watching the YouTube video of Martin

Luther King, Jr.’s I Have A Dream speech is more powerful than simply reading about it– Exercises that can be completed online and be instantly checked can accelerate learning of techniques

particularly in and other quantitative subjects such accounting – Nano-learning apps can allow students to cover individual topics when they have 5 to 15 minutes free,

allowing them to make better use of travel or spare time– New technologies can facilitate collaboration in sharing documents or engaging in discussions

• The learning platform can capture data that supports continuous improvement

Page 15: Delivering Business School Programmes in the Digital Age

15

‘Flipping the classroom’ has become a hot topic in education generally

The Traditional Approach The Flipped Classroom

Preparation before class

• Limited, but may include some pre-reading

• Students gain first exposure to new material by reading or watching lecture videos

What happens in the lecture theatre

• Introduction to material via lectures and examples

• Assimilating knowledge through problem-solving, discussion, or debate

Post-class work • Review of lecture notes• Reading assigned texts• Completing exercises

• Review topics covered in class• Applying what has been learned to

exercises that deepen knowledgeRole of ‘lecturer’ • The ‘sage on the stage’ transferring

knowledge• Facilitator

Page 16: Delivering Business School Programmes in the Digital Age

16

Business schools already use a variety of learning approaches that ‘flip the classroom’

Classroom: Lecture, discussion of case

studies and exercises

Learning Management System

Coaching based on surveys completed by self and others

– individually or in groups

Group work: preparation of case studies, exercises

and projects

Individual study: preparation of case

studies, exercises and projects

Study tours: Curated opportunity to learn through observation and discussion

Page 17: Delivering Business School Programmes in the Digital Age

17

The digital world offers the opportunity to re-engineer these learning approaches

Approach Physical World Digital - Asynchronous Digital - Synchronous

Classroom • One way lectures – including examples and case histories

• Recorded (e.g. TED talks)

• Webinars

• Inter-active lectures, including worked exercises and case studies

• None • Virtual classroom

Group work • Case studies• Simulations• Projects

• Collaboration tools focused on sharing documents

• Tools that support document sharing and live discussion

Individual study • Hand-outs, books and academic papers

• Paper-based exercises

• Online text and video• Interactive exercises• Simulations

• N/A

Coaching • Face-to-face • Collaboration tools• Virtual coaching

• Skype

Study tours • Physical tours • Virtual tours • Real-time virtuous tours

Page 18: Delivering Business School Programmes in the Digital Age

18

Different modes of programme delivery will support different digital delivery modelsProgramme Mode Time Available for Pre-Class

Preparation and Post-Class WorkRequirement to Collaborate Remotely

Full-time • High • Low

Part-time • High • Moderate

Modular - Executive • Limited – during modules • High – between modules

Distance Learning (e.g. Stanford LEAD Certificate in Corporate Innovation)

• High • High

Page 19: Delivering Business School Programmes in the Digital Age

19

The roles of those involved in creating and delivering courses may change as a resultStage Existing Model Additional Digital Options

Course design, including selecting readings, case studies and exercises

• Lecturer and academic committee

• Media and communications specialists

• Technology specialists• Using ‘Big Data’ technology to

improve design based on actual usage and feedback

Preparing content including notes and lectures

• Lecturer • Third party providers and speakers

Delivering lectures • Lecturer • Third party providers and speakers

Facilitating discussion of content, cases and exercises

• Lecturer • Facilitators and moderators who may not be traditional academics

Assessment • Lecturer / teaching assistants • Automated checking of assignments

Page 20: Delivering Business School Programmes in the Digital Age

20

FRAMING AND MAKING STRATEGIC CHOICES: ADAPTING PROGRAMMES FOR THE DIGITAL AGE

Page 21: Delivering Business School Programmes in the Digital Age

21

Schools need to address two high level questions about how they will adapt• Can or should the school launch new substantially remote programmes?• How should the school leverage the possibilities of the digital era in substantially

face-to-face programmes?

Page 22: Delivering Business School Programmes in the Digital Age

22

Before launching a new remote programme, the school must be able to answer certain questions• Do we believe that there will be a viable market for:

– Synchronous programmes such as that trialled by Harvard for Clayton Christensen’s Disruptive Strategy course?

– Asynchronous programmes such as that used by Stanford for their LEAD Certificate in Corporate Innovation?

• What are the critical success factors in competing in this market?– Technology and digital learning pedagogy– Reputation – including faculty and content – which attracts students– The ability to fund the necessary investment in new learning platforms and adapted content– Commitment across the school including faculty to the new delivery models

• Can the school realistically compete with its rivals on these factors?

Page 23: Delivering Business School Programmes in the Digital Age

23

For face-to-face programmes - schools must integrate choices by programme and course• For each existing and new programme, what proportion of delivery will be:

– Physical face-to-face?– Digital – asynchronous?– Digital – synchronous?

• For each course within each programme, how will the pedagogy be adapted to gain the benefits of digital technology?

• How will the digital components be sourced:– Create in-house?– Borrow from publicly available content such as lectures posted to YouTube?– License or rent from other schools or providers (similar to using case studies from Harvard Business

School)?

• Who will provide and manage the technology:– Software ranging from learning management system to individual applications such as nano-learning

apps?– Operation / administration?– Hosting?

Page 24: Delivering Business School Programmes in the Digital Age

24

Schools will need to consider factors related to students and other stakeholders• Will students and employers find the programmes as re-designed attractive

compared to others becoming available?– What will be the impact on fee levels?– What will be the impact on intake numbers?

• Will the target participants have the necessary digital access?– Broadband speeds – and cost?– Restrictions on access – by government or employers?

• Will students engage with the digital components?– Preparing in advance of classes?– Collaborating remotely?

• What is the potential impact on rankings?

Page 25: Delivering Business School Programmes in the Digital Age

25

Schools will need to consider the impact on faculty at an individual and organisational level• How will the type of faculty and other ‘contributors’ required change?

– Comfortable using digital technology and new learning tools?– Capable of creating materials and content in digital formats?– Interacting with students remotely including in real-time?

• How will faculty respond to the psychological impact of the changes?– Moving from being ‘the giver of knowledge’ towards curating and facilitating using materials created

by themselves and others?– Making the transition to delivering in the new digital age?

• What are the implications for faculty teaching obligations and compensation?• What are the implications for the faculty headcount and mix?• Will faculty be prepared to invest the necessary time and energy in:

– Learning the new delivery approaches?– Converting materials to digital environment?– Introducing new content - including possibly from other academics or thought leaders (they already

use text books, academic articles and case studies created by peers around the world)?

Page 26: Delivering Business School Programmes in the Digital Age

26

Increasing the digital component of programmes will also change the other resources required• Physical resources

– Lecture theatres– Seminar rooms– Individual study space– Library and information resources

• Administrative and support staff– Technology related– Programme management– Faculty support

Page 27: Delivering Business School Programmes in the Digital Age

27

Increasing the digital component may have economic implications for the school• Programme Profitability

– Class sizes– Fee levels– Cost of delivery – including technology and licensing-in content from other providers

• Ability to generate new revenue streams from licencing content or developing new offerings

• Ability to raise funds from alumni – especially if they are on campus less often and so build less loyalty

Page 28: Delivering Business School Programmes in the Digital Age

28

CONCLUSIONS AND NEXT STEPS

Page 29: Delivering Business School Programmes in the Digital Age

29

The winners in business education’s transition to the digital age will be those who • Commit to new technology• Use the new technology to leverage their existing complementary assets

– Reputation– Recognised thought leaders and educators– Intellectual property– Access to the market

• Learn more quickly than rivals – and apply what they learn– Adapting existing programmes and content to the digital environment– Implementing new approaches– Using data on how students learn to drive continuous improvement

• Use technology and the changes it brings to– Create new programme and learning offerings– Improve the effectiveness of programmes

Page 30: Delivering Business School Programmes in the Digital Age

30

This suggests a number of conclusions

• Not all schools can or should launch new remote programmes– Those who cannot deliver effectively on the critical success factors should probably avoid the

temptation that remote programmes offer– All schools needs to have a robust discussion that leads to either a decision not to explore such

programmes, or a decision that the school should commit to developing proposals to launch specific programmes.

• No school should totally ignore the opportunities offered by digital technology to improve student engagement and learning on established face-to-face programmes

• Efforts to adapt the programme delivery approach may encounter inertia and resistance from many stakeholders

• Embedding digital technology within programmes will not happen organically – other than at a leisurely pace.

• Schools need to make an active commitment, putting in place the resources and incentives to drive the adaptation of courses and programmes to deliver the superior student engagement and learning offered by the digital era

Page 31: Delivering Business School Programmes in the Digital Age

31

To survive and prosper in the digital age, business schools need to• Make high level strategic decisions on extent to which each of their programmes

should remain face-to-face or become partially or totally digital • Get faculty buy-in• Put in place a process of learning by doing – experimenting on an incremental

basis around individual learning technologies– Create a showcase of the different technologies now available or being developed– Test the showcase technologies with faculty, other contributors, students and employers– Proto-type and experiment

• Improve the collaboration tools available to and used by students• Make the learning management system fit for purpose in the digital age• Build new technological capabilities• Retain the flexibility to adapt to evolving technology platforms• Update their resourcing and financial models to anticipate the implications

Page 32: Delivering Business School Programmes in the Digital Age

32

APPENDIX:CHECKLIST FOR FLIPPING THE CLASSROOM WITH TECHNOLOGY

Page 33: Delivering Business School Programmes in the Digital Age

33

Before committing to ‘flipping the classroom’ with technology, the school must be sure that• Faculty be willing to:

– Change their role from ‘the sage on the stage’ to becoming a facilitator and tutor?– Learn the technical skills required to exploit the new technology?– Invest the necessary time and energy to updating existing courses by including new formats such as

on-line video content, on-line tests, and Skype-style group discussion– Use digital content created by their peers and rivals? Showing a lecturer given by an academic rival is

quite different to using a case study one has written!– Make their intellectual property available in digital format to be used by lecturers other than

themselves?

• The school be willing to:– Invest in the new technology?– Educate faculty on the advantages offered by new learning technology – and on the technology

itself?– Compensate faculty for time spent in adapting existing courses?– Buy or licence intellectual property from its own faculty? From the faculty of other schools?– Change the faculty model to increase the emphasis on ‘teaching’ skills over research output?– Adapt other aspects of the school’s business model?

Page 34: Delivering Business School Programmes in the Digital Age

34

It must also be confident that

• Students be willing to:– Engage effectively with the digital content? There is little point in providing introductory lectures on-

line to be viewed by students as part of class preparation if students do not watch them in advance.– Value a programme where digital content replaces some of the opportunities to engage with faculty

in the classroom?

• Recruiters and employers will:– Value the modified programme?– Provide time off for private study in the way that many currently do for face-to-face classes?

• The impact on programme rankings will be acceptable– Those responsible (such as The Financial Time and Business Week) will adapt their methodologies to

embrace the new era, or– Stakeholders will accept a lower positioning due to reducing research or other activities in favour of

greater impact from programmes