A student's perspective of online business education: Self-directed and peer learning in a flexible format designed to meet the needs of today's busy professional

Abstract

In today's volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous (VUCA) world, busy professionals are looking for business education that balances two primary drivers: flexibility in managing the course workload and a robust curriculum designed to foster learning despite an online format. Unfortunately, many potential students worry that flexibility obtained via online programs comes at the expense of their learning experience. This paper will explore the perceived duality of flexibility, through an asynchronous online format, versus the degree of learning that occurs in an online program. The asynchronous format of the author's online business program maximized flexibility and the ability to complete schoolwork when most convenient for her yet also fostered an environment of learning, both from the course work in collaboration with cohort colleagues and the ability to build strong peer learning networks. This format and structure resulted in an education that met the author's needs for flexibility as a busy professional but also resulted in learning that was as rich as would occur in any in-person business program. Through this exploration, the benefits of the flexible structure will be demonstrated as will the valuable learning achieved with and through the learner, her peers, and instructors. From the author's perspective of both a student who completed an online program and an educator in two online programs, she can state with certainty that online education is not for the faint of heart but for those with commitment, perseverance, and the ability to be self-directed and disciplined; the learning achieved through an online business program is comparable to traditional in-person MBA programs, but with the added benefit of flexibility, which, in today's VUCA environment, is imperative for every leader.