Online universities are indeed among the later developments in educational technology. The Web only came into being in the twentieth century, so that makes sense. The actual start of distance learning, though, was about three hundred years ago.
People even centuries in the past were already interested in being educated out of university. The pioneer of distance learning was said to be a man who was giving classes on shorthand writing via snailmail. He posted the modules regularly to the members of the course.
London's own main university asserts that it was leading the pack when it came to distance learning at the time, for it was the first to boast a correspondence program. The end of the 1800s saw American schools following suit, starting in Chicago. The new formats were embraced too by educators in the land Down Under soon enough.
The old lesson-in-the-mail system was overtaken by video education soon after that. It was not long before other colleges began to create similar programs. By 1996, there was already an accredited college: Jones International.
The very first of the major universities to create a masters school for business in particular was Dartmouth, though. To people taking the course, they were taking not an MBA but a Master of Science in Commerce instead. Harvard then created the masters in business administration program for several participants.
Initially, there was some criticism regarding the curriculum and relevance of the materials in the courses. Indeed, the program was even lambasted as a useless qualification, making it hardly a qualification at all. It was continuously assumed at the time that educators and students of graduate programs were always lacking in quality.
To fight the negative opinions, there were major revamps and improvements to the curriculum. MBAs were suddenly courses amenable to the adoption of a focus of study. It was thus that MBA graduates began to make a name for themselves in their skills.
Unfortunately, the critique did not exactly stop: it simply changed. Students were said to be focused solely on textbook approaches and lack the appropriate training for the practical approaches of leadership. Because some courses were taught by purely "theoretical business experts", there was further flak thrown at the programs.
It was because of this that the demand for MBA graduates declined and faltered. Colleges saw the need for fresh alterations. This is why the MBA of today is largely different from that of the past.
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. For example,
online universities and their conventional counterparts are already moving towards fresh perspectives in business administration. This is why it may be wise to seek out schools whose MBAs are reflective of the latest trend in the industry.
