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The EdTech segment has an increasing influence on the business education market. How new technologies help make executive training more effective and interesting, the pros and cons of each format
Most business school students today are millennials. According to the Pew Research Center, they are more passionate about learning and self-development than their predecessors. Generation Y wants to learn in a dynamic environment, counts on an individual approach and regular contact with the teacher. Another feature of millennials is their interest in game mechanics and digital technologies. Ideally, they would like education to also be an exciting process.
This is one of the reasons why the EdTech segment, with different mechanics to increase engagement and interest in subjects, is increasingly integrated into the structure of business education. Let’s consider what technologies have already been implemented in various educational programs for entrepreneurs and corporate training.
The material was prepared for the special project “Guide to MBA”
MBA
MBA (Master of Business Administration) is one of the most popular business education formats. Such programs teach effective company management – new techniques and techniques for growth, as well as skills to act in difficult situations.
In the MBA, training is usually based on the case-studies methodology developed at the Harvard Business School in the early XNUMXth century. Teachers and students analyze specific examples from practice and work out possible actions with the obligatory reasoning of decisions. In our country, MBA programs are taught at business schools, such as the Moscow Business School or the Skolkovo School of Management, as well as at specialized faculties of universities. Among them are the Higher School of Economics, St. Petersburg State University of Economics, Peoples’ Friendship University of Russia, RANEPA, etc.
One of the EdTech areas that is actively developing in the MBA format is augmented and virtual reality technologies (AR and VR). So, the Imperial College London creates holograms of teachers for live lectures. The lecturer can be anywhere in the world, but at the same time virtually attend the lesson and even answer students’ questions in real time. The technology allows you to combine the advantages of online and offline formats, as well as build contact between the teacher and students. This has a positive effect on student engagement and learning efficiency.
AR and VR technologies in MBA are also used by Harvard and Stanford Business Schools, MIT School of Management, etc. to form virtual classes.
MBA in Plus format
- Training from recognized experts;
- Acquisition of practical knowledge and skills;
- International level of qualification: upon completion of the full program, the student is awarded an MBA degree and a diploma is issued;
- Strong networking and valuable contacts.
Cons
- Long duration of training – an average of 1,5–2 years;
- Rather high cost, which is also affected by the use of expensive AR and VR technologies;
- As a rule, you can become an applicant only if you have a higher education and 2-3 years of work experience;
- MBA programs are mainly based on the foreign market structure, although in our country there are other features of doing business.
Online Courses
Appearing much later than the MBA, online courses quickly gained popularity among users and a solid market share. Soon, the self-paced e-learning format was born out of them: the client purchases a ready-made course, and then decides when to start this or that training block, complete assignments and pass exams.
Despite the benefits, the self-paced education market has been in decline for several years now. If its volume in 2016 was $46,7 billion, then by the end of 2021, according to analysts, it will fall to $33,5 billion. Experts attribute this to the fact that in this format it is difficult to ensure a high level of player involvement and the quality of acquired knowledge . While studying on their own, many users do not complete courses, they do not remember well and assimilate the information received. Therefore, representatives of the EdTech segment have already begun to rebuild educational methods.
First of all, such courses are gradually moving to the format face to face (communication with the teacher) and to customization learning process.
The second trend is the use of processing technologies big data (big data). For example, Coursera, edX and Udacity analyze big data to improve teaching methods and increase the effectiveness of student learning. Coursera has developed a dashboard that gives educators an idea of when students are most likely to stop watching videos and the percentage of those who answer questions correctly on the first try. In this way, lecturers can evaluate how they teach a particular block of knowledge and how clear the wording of questions is to users.
Pros of Online Courses
- Availability: anyone can take online courses, without any requirements for education or experience;
- Flexible pricing system depending on the course format.
- A variety of programs and areas of study.
Cons
- As a rule, insufficiently high level of involvement and assimilation of knowledge;
- Duration of training – an average of 4-6 months;
- Contradictory reviews about the quality of knowledge acquired while learning from some of the developers of online courses.
Microlearning
Microlearning is becoming a new trend in online education. Thus, by 2024 it is expected that the volume of this market will reach $2,7 billion with an average annual growth rate of 13-15%. The process of obtaining knowledge in this format is divided into short interval classes. Unlike most educational programs, the main goal of microlearning is to acquire and practice a specific skill.
According to a study by the Journal of Applied Psychology, microlearning leads to a 17% increase in the quality of knowledge assimilation and a 50% increase in the level of user engagement. In addition, this format is especially convenient for the corporate segment, which seeks to train employees on the job. In microlearning, each module of the program takes from 3-5 minutes to 1-2 hours and allows the employee to acquire and consolidate a useful skill. This is one of the reasons why Google, IBM, CISCO, Unilever and other corporations are already actively implementing this technique.
In most cases, microlearning is built in a face-to-face format for better engagement and skill acquisition. Helps here video-assisted learning – learning technology with the help of videos. At the same time, both the student and the teacher perform all actions on a single online platform. Gamification elements are used to increase engagement.
Benefits of Microlearning
- A high degree of involvement and assimilation of knowledge in the learning process;
- Availability and flexible pricing: clients can choose to study either one skill or a whole mini-course;
- Significant time savings for the user;
- Transparency of the learning process and visible results from each lesson.
Cons
- In some cases, such a format may not be sufficient for obtaining in-depth managerial knowledge, and MBA programs and others will show greater efficiency;
- Although effective, the microlearning format has not yet become widespread. In our country, the influence of the stereotype is still strong that education must necessarily be something fundamental, and it takes a long time to study.
Thus, the EdTech segment is gradually transforming business education both in traditional MBA programs and in new training formats.