BusinessForward

Among the many markers of the year that was, 2014 might be remembered for the explosion of online learning. Since continuous learning is one of the gifts of working as a business process consultant, I felt that writing about my experience leading an engagement to design and implement an online MBA program would be a great way to close out our “Great Minds” blog series with Pittsburgh Magazine.

Anyone who is thinking of exploring the process of launching an online learning program or a consultant who has been asked to lead the charge will benefit from these basic take-aways from my successful experience.

1  Content Matter is Brain Matter.

Here, I’m not speaking in information technology terms. I mean the curriculum. Ask yourself what is the knowledge you want to impart to your learners and in what type of environment. Is it more formal, more independent? Are all portals clean inroads to instructors, administrators and peers? In the case of our project, we were razor-focused on a competency-based learning program. Geared toward working professionals, it was paramount to our success that applicants had a clear understanding what Competencies, Learning Objectives, and Learning Outcomes drove the content of the courses. At the outset, we asked ourselves: “What is it that makes this ‘Leadership and Organizational Behavior Course’ superior or that ‘Implementing Business Strategy?’ course more effective than other online offerings?  Once you spend time on this step, students will give you high marks from their first day.

2.  Great Expectations Grow when you Disrupt and Innovate.

Part of the language of consulting is to assemble an “A Team” to get it done. As a higher education leader, you must engage cross-functional teams too and inspire them always.  From the registrar to the alumni director, every person along the continuum of student engagement has a voice in constructing the ideal online learning experience. Launching an online MBA has an astounding complexity that invites questioning. As a consultant, it was my job to make sure that the subject matter experts across the university felt comfortable pushing up against convention.  Sometimes what made sense from say, an IT or human resources perspective didn’t make sense from an admissions point of view. Healthy debate should always be encouraged.

3.  Communicate, Communicate and then Communicate Again.

Communication is the one thing that everyone knows is important, but few truly master. While it would seem that a manual, face-to-face university faces deeper communication problems, the same is true of an online university. Just because there are no bricks to mortar, doesn’t mean cracks won’t surface in the foundation. The good news is that through Agile testing, we were able to communicate architectural challenges quickly and along the way with less cost. Perhaps because of its digital, virtual nature we stayed ahead of communication challenges by repetition and creativity. Don’t be afraid to interview the same team members multiple times. Be sure to facilitate meetings with seemingly disconnected internal leaders. Certainly there is value in convening a curriculum designer and a faculty member or an alumnus and a registrar.  Because the online student learning experience is a continuum that begins with the first click, you must ensure those moving parts are always “talking.”

4.  Stay Positive Through the Obstacles.

Launching an online MBA program is a complex task. You are analyzing and addressing everything from an online application to a virtual test.  As you disrupt and innovate, you will encounter obstacles.  For all of our communication, there were some points when steps of the planned processes for our Competency Programs didn’t seem to make sense.  When we stepped back and reviewed our ultimate objectives, they re-crystallized and our goal was again. Obstacles were plowed through with the force of our vision and collaboration.  We stayed positive, forged on and ended up creating a flexible and scalable platform that could be used for future online learning programs.

5.  Be the student

Don’t forget what it is to be a student.  Remembering the hunger to learn, to have the insatiable appetite to want to know “why” informs the whole project.  It’s easy to see the classroom from the perspective of being in the “front” when you are member of staff or faculty.  The experience is very different when you are a student.  Remember what it was to first walk into a classroom or lecture and need to focus on the content. In the case of an online MBA, you know that your students are mature learners who will dislike being distracted by things unrelated to their course. Through your architecture of the program and deployment of the site, you’ll produce a focused, effective learning experience. By making it a pleasure to learn and easier for your students to connect to their instructors and peers, you’ll feed their hunger as you would like yours to be satisfied.

By:  Julio Kuok, BusinessForward Solutions Architect