Is really business school online manageable?

As a result of the outburst of online education, business schools have come out to the light. In other articles we’ve mentioned how technology had permitted students to take classes and attend courses online via the Internet or webcams. We had also commented that more traditional and conservative views are dismissing this kind of education because, they say, contact and interaction teacher-student is completely lost. But what happens with business school online? Can the same concepts be applied to this? In that case, why? I think there is something specific of business themes that shouldn’t be dismissed as a secondary issue: more than in learning contents, business depends and relies on gestures: one smile, one frown, one bending of your head, even a false laugh to a stupid joke, can all be little details that will make you successful when negotiating or trying to sell a product. So, how much worthwhile is it to go on a course online, in which dealing with business is taught? On the world wide web, if you do a random search, you will find thousands of business school online all over the world. They offer courses in general management, finances, general direction, marketing, among many others. Yet I ask again: can you become a manager through the internet? Aren’t there some topics which cannot be avoided, issues that have to be dealt with exclusively face to face? OBC, Online Business School, advertised as the first business school online, was opened in november 2007 with the sponsorship of the administration school of Planeta Group. Post-degree courses are announced to be made online, to professionals.

Yes, of course, we are actually living in the Information Society, and we know that in the world of finances everything is different: most of the times you deal with people who are in other hemispheres and whom you will never meet, and nonetheless you can be trading for millions and millions of dollars. But that’s not the actual point. What I am trying to say is that there is, or there should be, an inevitable part concerning the human being: body language. For people working in finances, thinking only about the money, this may sound naïve, but I can assure you that business online, complemented with actual meetings would be much more effective (it’s what some businesses give to their employees, merged courses, combining both traditional and online classes). The online fact that may be affecting this kind of education for business is that the people in charge is probably people who come from totally different contexts, in relation to what one would expect from an educational institution. In an enterprise, such as Grupo Planeta, who associated with Universidad de Barcelona, it is all about cost and benefit. The less the cost, the better. So quality stays out of discussion. In some cases, like the one mentioned before, an association with universities should work fine, as the two poles can be combined: on the one hand, the instituion, and on the other, the enterprise.

The general opinion of people who work on finances had been positive towards this kind of courses, with not a glance through some aspects that may be criticized, such as simplicity of the programs, and difficulties to catch up in case you don’t have time to follow the proposed studies plan. Another aspect is that by now it is only focused to the part of the world that has the power and the money : the USA and some regions of Europe, such as Spain. As it was said, courses are offered of many different topics, but always pointing to form big think tanks that can then develop in a macroscopic way. Is is obvious that the cost of these courses is impossible to be afforded by people living in regions like Southamerica, where at first countries are very poor, and at second connection to the Internet is very limited (only 0,3 per cent in Argentina, for instance). Sometimes, people working in this businesses may want us to believe that Internet is democratic and accesible to anyone: that is a sheer lie, as its owners are american, and its inventors too (remember that internet was created as a military service). So not too much democracy: just a fine resource for those who can afford it.

The same happens with business online school courses. Even though they seem to be worldwide spread, it’s still a puzzle to think if in the future everyone would have access to them. The cost is very high, and as we are talking about business, in very few cases scholarships are provided. Maybe, sometime in the future, things change and some plans are thought to amply the spectrum of students applying to such courses.

At least, a fine point to refer to is that, as the businesses offering the courses are usually millonaire enterprises, if you are entering one of these courses you will be provided with any possible resource so as to make you feel comfortable and you have nothing to complain about. In some schools, like Brighton Business online school, you may follow classes live through the TV, and have access to interviews with staff and students, as www.bus.bton.ac.uk states.

We may name lots of examples, spread around the US, Spain and Great Britain mainly. The opinion never changes: in all cases, minimum standards of quality try to be met, but in most of them just the minimum. Taking advantage of the resources, the technology, the advance of having the last computer, the last operative system, the last TV, derives sometimes on a mislead of the part related to the queality of education. This will not affect business online school in the short term, but we can’t be sure for the long term, if students will be prepared to deal with difficult situations, face to face circumstances, after having set for a course entirely via the Inernet. The worldwide web provides us with possibilities and potentialities, but sometimes we have to be our own judges, to evaluate pros and cons, to put everything perfectly in weight, as to form coherent opinions on business school online.

To sum up, I’d like to dedicate some lines to the situation in poor countries, where you won’t be able to find too many possibilities to sit for these business school online courses. As for regions like Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Venezuela, countries with a fine tradition in high levels of education, some doors are getting to open, very slowly. In most cases suppored by international organizations that raise funds and finance them, these institutions are beginning to offer some opportunities for students who are keen on doing an MBA for example. A very fine advantage of doing this is that you will be more prone to find a job than in other cases. These enterprises are finely connected with the big owners of worldwide money and this is how you can manage to find a place in whatever position you may want to occupy. Nowadays, situation is changing a little, and good quality teachers are being brought to give out the courses, so students can be assured that they will find, at least, some quality in business school online courses. Of course, it is impossible to go on with the rhytm imposed in the US or other developed countries, but truth is that a very selected group of students are being put available in job market due to the courses taken online.

In conclusion, and like most issues, we need to round up on something really important: the opportunities for some students to go and get a degree, that in spite of being a virtual degree it still works for the labour market. Capitalism has told us this, so if you are able, just go, pay it, get your course, and go ahead, make your way. This is the nowadays world. Take it or leave it.