Several tools and techniques have been shown to be effective in teaching online MBA students. These tools include online adaptive tutorials, visual multi-media, presentation software (WIMBA), chat rooms, and conferencing software. The online effective techniques focus more on the students' ability to ask questions and get feedback in a timely manner along with getting a sense that their personal learning goals matter to the faculty member.
A study was done at the University of Maryland University College to determine what online tools and techniques were most effective with students in the online MBA program. The study focused on graduate students enrolled in the MBA program who begin by taking MBA Fundamentals. An online survey was distributed to all the students enrolled in the spring semester. The survey focused on the online tools and techniques that are employed currently to impart the necessary core content. The response rate was very high indicating that the students wanted to inform the administration on what helped them succeed in the class.
In terms of technology, ease of use was a huge issue for the students along with how effective the tools were in imparting the necessary knowledge. Students found online adaptive tutorials such as ALEKS from McGraw Hill to be extremely helpful with learning quantitative material (basic business math and statistics). They also indicated that they liked options that gave them live or recorded extra help on specific topics such as quantitative and team-based assignments. The more visual multi-media options were preferred with the quantitative material. Online recordings from recognized experts on specific topics were also found to be extremely helpful. Many free sources of these recordings were available to the students. Students also liked the option of sharing their own sources of information for comment by the faculty and class mates. They posted links they found helpful through such sources as You-Tube and Google. They also benefitted from tools such as WIMBA, chat rooms and conferencing to interact with other students and the faculty.
The students favored techniques that centered on their ability to easily reach the faculty member and get quick feedback. They preferred to post questions in conference areas or e-mail the faculty member or teaching assistant directly. Some indicated that they liked having the telephone as an option when online methods do not produce a quick enough response (perhaps because of an emergency, an impending deadline or a sensitive issue regarding a teammate on a group project). The majority of the students also focused on techniques the faculty used to make them feel like their personal education mattered to the faculty member. This included e-mail to check on the students' progress, conference activities to get to know the students and a willingness from the faculty member to offer extra help.
