It is true that online universities are not exactly traditional in the sense that they only came about in recent years. The very channel that makes this type of learning possible is a new invention in itself. The beginnings of this education are rooted in a far older learning format, nevertheless, one more than mere decades back in history.
The idea of getting an education even while not in a physical classroom was long considered ages ago. Distance learning came true for the first time when a teacher of shorthand began to provide modules for it through mail. He posted the modules regularly to the members of the course.
The University of London claims to be the first to incorporate the precursors of online programs into their portfolio in 1858, when they referred to it as the External Programme, which is now known as the University of London International Program. The end of the 1800s saw American schools following suit, starting in Chicago. Distance learning was then introduced to Australian shores.
The old lesson-in-the-mail system was overtaken by video education soon after that. Soon, more universities got on the bandwagon for this kind of education. Not long after, Jones International University was established and claimed to be the first regionally accredited online university in 1996.
Meanwhile, the MBA takes its primary root from Dartmouth, which was the establishment that first came out with a true graduate-level school for the degree. It wasn’t known as Masters in Business Administration but was rather known as a Master of Science in Commerce. Harvard then created the masters in business administration program for several participants.
The program was not without detractors: some alleged that it was bad-quality education and had little to do with the true commercial world, just some decades into its existence. There were many who argued too that the masters in business was of little usage to practicing businessmen. It was thus that there were several dark years for the MBA program as a whole.
That was why the masters in business administration began to include the core courses of the undergraduate, to some extent, in order to combat the general perception. Moreover, students were allowed to take elective courses specializing in certain aspects like marketing, finance, accounting or economics. The result was a more comprehensive, balanced program.
All of a sudden, though, the critics switched gears and started making allegations of over-academic approaches in the discipline. There were allegations of graduates being so theoretically-inclined that they had trouble with the less-than-predictable real world. There were also criticisms about the faculty for the programs.
It was because of this that the demand for MBA graduates declined and faltered. Modifications were obviously the order of the day. The result is the MBA you see now, which is still being perfected and developed by experts both in and out of the academe.
Colleges have an obligation to see to it that the programs they offer are appropriate for the current state of the industry for each program. That is why
online universities and traditional ones are perpetually thinking of the next movement in the industry and discipline, which at this moment is tilting towards a more ethical approach to commerce. A forward-looking course curriculum should be a fine indication of a good program.
