Toward a Typology of Business Education in the Internet Age*

Many diverse forces are motivating institutions of higher education, particularly business schools, to develop and deliver education via the Internet. As higher education institutions explore this opportunity, the question of how courses and degree programs should be designed for effective online delivery via the Internet is a nontrivial concern and challenge. To address this concern and challenge, this paper articulates, defines, and justifies a typology consisting of four types of online distance education that can be pursued by institutions of higher education. The four online distance education types—Overview Model, Overview Model with Feedback, Technical‐Skills Model, and Managerial Learning Model—can be differentiated along a number of content‐related, delivery‐related, and learning‐related issues and have applicability at various educational levels. In addition, the paper highlights and discusses five key lessons for institutions to consider in their desire to launch online distance education initiatives. These lessons provide insights not only for launch success but also for the ongoing sustainability of online distance education.     

Environmental Education in High Schools in Kosovo—A teachers' perspective

The integration of education for sustainable development (ESD) into all levels of education is a key priority in Kosovo's environmental action plan. However, at present it is not even known how environmental education (EE) is integrated in the country's educational system. With the help of a written questionnaire and in-depth interviews with 18 teachers, this study investigated the integration of EE in high schools (optional upper secondary education) in Kosovo. The representative sample of biology, geography, chemistry, and civic education teachers (244 persons) focused on various kinds of pollution and hazards of pollutants. Teachers' choice of topics was highly relevant, place-based, and linked to the experiences of students, but excluded sustainability issues such as the loss of biodiversity. EE was approached in three ways. The first approach critically reflected links between the natural, social, and cultural environment, while the second approach was characterized by knowledge submission of environmental facts. The third approach aimed at capacity-building and, in the sense of ESD, understood learning as process-oriented, participatory, and action-oriented. However, this approach was rather uncommon, most likely due to insufficient teacher preparation, large classes (up to 50 students), and little time (just one hour per week for EE). Class size and time also restricted outdoor activities, in particular field work. Nevertheless, in view of the interviewees, ideal EE would mean outdoor education, field work and other place-based, capacity-building practical experiences, and the development of critical thinking skills. This exemplifies that approaches to ESD may find support from dedicated teachers in Kosovo.     

Traditional and Online Learning in Executive Education: How Both Will Survive and Thrive

An important component of corporate training is executive education. A sample of 90 open enrollment executive education programs in the areas of management development and leadership was reviewed to better understand the structure of the offerings. In today's marketplace, the majority of executive education offerings are of the traditional face‐to‐face classroom‐style format. More recently, the impact of rapid technological advancements is becoming more apparent in the executive education market as online learning becomes more prevalent. There is no lack of participants for either traditional or online executive education programs, which has expanded the market. While both types of program offerings are viable, the future of executive education may be a merger of the two whereby traditional programs incorporate online components to reduce students’ time away from the job and capitalize on technology to enhance their interpersonal interactions. There is no doubt that executive education will survive and thrive as its future will be the nexus of traditional and online delivery that combines the key advantages of both approaches using a hybrid model that is beginning to be more widely deployed.     

Leadership,Management and Education: Lessons for and from Schooling

Abstract

School based enterprise education and activities are becoming increasingly popular within Australian schools, particularly among students in senior years. However, the objectives of school based business education are still unclear, largely as the demand for activities and courses presently outstrips the development process. As such, the approach taken has centred on the ‘traditional’ style of education, with an overriding concern placed on what can ‘reasonably’ be demanded of students time and resources. This paper outlines the factors contributing to the increased popularity of school based enterprise activities in Australian schools reviewing both past and present teaching methods. An alternative approach to business education is proposed and analysis of the relative merits of this proposal undertaken. The overall objective of the alternative proposed is to remove the artificial environment associated with the approaches employed to‐date. This will require the acceptance of failure as a possible positive outcome and the consideration of issues in a broader social, community and macro‐economic context.     

Art‐Based Action Research for Art Education in the North

This article introduces the art‐based action research (ABAR) methodology as part of the international discussion of art‐based educational research (ABER). The participatory and dialogical approach of ABAR was inspired by a consideration of the pressure for change in art education stemming from the practices of relational and dialogical contemporary art. The need for ABAR as a tool of culturally decolonising, sustainable art education research was identified in multidisciplinary collaboration with the University of Lapland's (UoL) northern and circumpolar network. The methodology was developed collaboratively by a group of art educators and researchers at UoL to support the artist/teacher/researcher with professional skills for seeking solutions to recognised problems and to promote future actions and aspirations in the changing North and Arctic. This article describes how ABAR has been used in school projects, in doctoral theses and finally in a development project with an impact on regional development in the North. These examples show how art education developed through the ABAR method has supported decolonisation, revitalisation and cultural sustainability in schools, communities and businesses.     

Developing online problem‐based resources for the professional development of teachers of children with visual impairment

This article presents a summary of the results from phase 1 of a two‐phase research project. Drawing on the principles of problem‐based learning (PBL), the aims of phase 1 were to design, develop and evaluate a set of flexible online teaching resources for use within a virtual learning environment. Participants in the project (n = 10) were volunteers from students registered on a two‐year distance education programme of study for specialist teachers of children with visual impairment. Two case scenarios were developed for the project, each of which was based around a fictitious support service for teachers of children with visual impairment. Following a campus‐based study day, the participants were assigned to one of two ‘PBL Activity Groups’ and completed a series of tasks within each case scenario. Participation in the project was supported by members of the Project Team over a period of one semester, following which participants were asked to provide feedback through an online questionnaire. A summary of the feedback is presented, and key findings discussed. The results suggest that, with appropriate resources, adequate preparatory training and effective tutor support, online PBL can be an effective method for supplementing the continuing professional development of specialist teachers studying through distance education.     

Environmental education,national curriculum and primary school teachers. Findings of a research study in England and possible implications upon education for sustainable development

This article reports the results of a research study on the impact of environmental education (EE) upon English primary school teachers, and it then discusses the findings of the study in relation to education for sustainable development, as EE is considered one of the two precursors of education for sustainable development. The article begins by considering the development of EE in the English national curriculum of primary schools and then briefly outlines and reports two major findings of the study, comparing them against the new context of education for sustainable development. Overall, the article demonstrates how EE, the national curriculum and teachers have interacted with each other, while arguing that there seems to be a parallel course among education for sustainable development and EE in the national curriculum, with no apparent crossroad to link the two and explain how education for sustainable development is partly based on EE as well.     

Community‐based environmental education—a case study of teacher–parent collaboration

A case study of school–community collaboration in an elementary community school in Israel follows up an environmental education (EE) school‐based curriculum that involves the parents and community members in various indoors and outdoors activities. The collaboration was established in the framework of the Community School Approach. In these schools, parents are encouraged to be involved in planning school‐based curriculum and participating in school's formal and informal activities. The aim of the study was to describe environmental education‐based school–community partnerships and to examine the advantages and limitations for such collaboration. Parents, teachers and community members were interviewed for a period of three years. Most of the participants acknowledged the unique nature of EE that allows such a partnership, emphasizing local ideas of project‐based learning in environmental education. The study describes an exemplary collaboration and the development of local school–community partnerships, which could be adapted by other communities within elementary or middle schools.     

超大规模互联网教育组织的核心要素研究——在线教育有效支撑“停课不停学”案例分析

我国有各级各类学校51.88万所、专任教师1672.85万人、在校生2.76亿人,教育系统在疫情防控期间面向全国亿万学生开展大规模在线教育是历史上从未有过的创举,在全球也属首次。我们可能正在经历一个全球最大的信息化基础设施升级改造工程和一个师生信息素养提升培训工程,一次全球最大的信息化教学社会实验和一次开放教育资源运动。面对新型冠状病毒疫情防控期间各级各类学校在线教学开展中遇到的各种难题,基于网络研讨会的专家观点和校长、教师和局长对一线在线教育实施情况、困难、经验和建议的分析,本文从超大规模互联网教育组织的视角出发,围绕流畅的通信平台、适切的数字资源、便利的学习工具、多样的学习方式、灵活的教学组织、有效的支持服务、密切的政企校协同七个要素,论述了在线教育如何有效支撑“停课不停学”,以期为政府及各级各类学校制定相关政策方针提供理论依据,为一线教师和学生开展在线教学提供操作指南,为相关企业、家庭、社会等多方参与和支持在线教学提供思路和方法。     

A Technical/Strategic Paradigm for Online Executive Education

This article discusses the development and delivery of online courses for the executive education audience. The goal is to introduce a new framework, the technical/strategic paradigm, that will help educators to identify the pedagogical needs of disparate executive groups and adjust their online course development plans accordingly. We describe how four key elements of online courses (course structure, content‐based learning materials, assignments, and learning assessment) should be fashioned in a way that honors the technical or strategic focus of the learning environment. How the technical/strategic paradigm molds well with many different types of executive educational audiences and settings is illustrated. Course developers seeking advice on how to put these ideas into practice will find lists of resources and implementable recommendations. Ultimately, we argue that some of the pitfalls that faculty experience when transitioning from a traditional business school environment to an online executive education environment can be attributed to a misunderstanding of the degree to which students expect technical versus strategic content.     

GOLEM,FROM PRAGUE TO CYBERSPACE: THE USE OF CSCL IN CULTURAL EDUCATION FOR DIASPORAS

In this paper we describe and theorize about a computer‐supported and mediated educational research project which encourages cultural production and sustainability. We first describe the CD‐Golem project which was developed in light of the perceived needs of a Diaspora community's attempts to impart its youth with a sense of belonging and continuity. Next we characterize Cultural Education and discuss the theoretical rationale of our approach in the context of current theories of identity and cultural construction, multicultural education and computer‐supported collaborative learning. We conclude by reviewing briefly and evaluating critically some of the lessons we have learned in our first years of activity.     

SOAP in practice: learning outcomes of a cross‐institutional innovation project conducted by teachers,student teachers,and teacher educators

This paper reports on a case study investigating learning outcomes at the individual and organisational level of a cross‐institutional innovation project based on the SOAP approach. SOAP integrates Schooling of teachers, Organisational development of schools, Action‐ and development‐oriented research, and Professional development of teachers. The innovation project was aimed at combining teachers, student teachers, and teacher educators in an alliance to design and develop new competence‐based vocational educational arrangements for pupils. An inductive qualitative analysis of 37 semi‐structured interviews among the participants revealed seven main categories of individual learning outcomes: attitudes, project design and management, collaboration, action theory, teaching practice, educational principles, and developments within secondary vocational education. Three main categories of organisational learning outcomes were identified: institution‐level learning, project‐level learning, and combining institution‐level and project‐level learning. A tension was identified between the participants’ individual interests in learning and personal development, and the need for organisational learning aimed at improving organisational processes.     

Contextual challenges of implementing learner‐centred pedagogy: the case of the problem‐solving approach in Uganda

This article explores teachers’ experiences of implementing the problem‐solving approach; a learner centred pedagogic innovation prescribed by a centrally mandated curriculum in Uganda. It presents teachers’ interpretations of the pedagogic principles suggested by the innovation as well as their accounts of challenges of implementing the pedagogic approach. The findings suggest that the teachers’ implementation of the problem‐solving approach was far more regulated by contextual affordances and constraints within schools and the broader education system and society than by their interpretations of the official curriculum. These findings highlight the influence of structural contextual factors in regulating pedagogic practice and teachers’ take‐up of learner‐centred pedagogies in Africa. The evidence from this paper suggests the need for education researchers in developing countries such as Uganda to focus on helping teachers develop strategies for teaching large classes as learner‐centred pedagogies have a bleak future in the region.     

Teaching Cases in a Virtual Environment: When the Traditional Case Classroom is Problematic

The rise in interactive digital media has catapulted faculty‐student contact abilities from the traditional Web 1.0 model to a post‐Web 2.0 world where students and faculty can have much more interaction in classroom exchanges. Since business cases have long been a pedagogy of choice among professors concerned with training the next generation of decision makers, the intent of this exploratory teaching execution was to gain insight into the case teaching experience in Second Life (SL). SL is a virtual world developed by Linden Lab that enables its users to interact with each other through avatars (virtual representations of the self). While online classrooms in SL are not new (a number of universities throughout the world have set up virtual campuses), business education scholarship is lacking as related to the use of virtual worlds for educational purposes. The aim of the execution was not to suggest that SL case teaching should displace the traditional case classroom interactions. Rather, the exercise found that a case‐based class can be held and attended independent of time, distance, and location should the need arise. Case teaching in SL offers an availability alternative or supplement to the traditional case teaching and learning approach.     

Student‐teachers' evaluation on the use of different modes of problem‐based learning in teacher education

Problem‐based learning (PBL) has been widely adopted in many university programmes. Evaluations of PBL in medicine, dentistry, nursing and social work reveal positive outcomes from both tutors and learners. However, few evaluations have been published about using PBL in teacher education programmes. This paper reports how the 13 student‐teachers in the Integrated Humanities Major Method course evaluated the use of three different modes of PBL delivery, namely: the classical PBL; an alternate pattern of PBL and teacher‐led deductive workshops; and a modified PBL using problem‐based scenario inductive inquiry workshops. The learning experiences of the student‐teachers were captured via an open‐ended questionnaire to discuss the feasibility and receptivity of endorsing full or partial use of PBL in the teacher education programme. The outcome shows strong preference for the use of the modified PBL approach while the majority agreed the classical PBL style is the most challenging among the three modes.     

Investigating Business Schools' Intentions About Offering E‐Commerce Education Using an Extended Theory of Planned Behavior*

This study investigates business schools' intentions about offering e‐commerce education (ECE) using an extended theory of planned behavior (ETPB). The need for an adequate match between future supply and demand of e‐commerce skills constitutes the main motivation for the study. The results show that most business schools consider ECE important for an adequate preparation of their students for today's competitive labor market. In addition, the proposed ETPB fits well the empirical data and predicts 65.2% of the variances in the schools' intentions about offering ECE. The results can help business schools in their curriculum decisions in at least two ways: (1) through the likely effect of social contagion and (2) through the constructs in the ETPB. First, institutional theory clearly indicates that organizations tend to adopt a new behavior when there is evidence that other organizations in their population have adopted or are likely to adopt that behavior. Having provided such evidence for ECE, this study is likely to promote the adoption of this educational product innovation. Second, the fact that the postulated ETPB fits well the empirical data suggests that administrators of business schools may pay attention to the key constructs when making curriculum decisions. Overall, the study has both theoretical and practical implications. Theoretically, it contributes to a growing literature on the adoption of innovative educational products like ECE. Practically, it provides valuable insights that administrators of business schools can use in their strategic curriculum decision making.     

An evaluation of characteristics of environmental education practice in New Zealand schools

This paper reports on a national evaluation project that investigated characteristics of environmental education (EE) practice in New Zealand schools in 2002–2003. The research included a review of New Zealand and international environmental education literature, a survey of nearly 200 New Zealand schools and case studies of environmental education practice in eight schools. In this paper we describe and discuss key features of environmental education practice in New Zealand schools at the time of the research. We consider the rewards and challenges for teachers, students, schools and the wider school community arising from the schools’ implementation of this non‐compulsory curriculum subject. We conclude by considering what the findings told us about current EE practice and how these findings might inform a greater emphasis towards environmental education/education for sustainability in New Zealand schools at a time of national curriculum policy change.     

Gamification of Entrepreneurship Education

Gamification—the use of gameplay mechanics for nongame applications—enables learning by doing, yet questions abound about its effectiveness for education. This teaching brief reports on the gamification of an entrepreneurship course using a stand‐alone gamification platform integrated with Shopify, a global e‐commerce platform for online stores. Students experienced the entire entrepreneurship process from ideation to launch of a real business and beyond. A live leaderboard allows tracking of team performance and provides a competitive element to the experiential learning. The gamification involved the creation and operation of online ventures by 269 undergraduate students during a trimester‐long undergraduate entrepreneurship course. The assessment of student learning outcomes shows that the gamified approach enhanced students’ experience, engagement, and entrepreneurial self‐efficacy. I conclude with pedagogical observations to assist instructors in implementing a gamified approach.     

Googling in anatomy education: Can google trends inform educators of national online search patterns of anatomical syllabi?

The role of e‐learning platforms in anatomy education continues to expand as self‐directed learning is promoted in higher education. Although a wide range of e‐learning resources are available, determining student use of non‐academic internet resources requires novel approaches. One such approach that may be useful is the Google Trends^© web application. To determine the feasibility of Google Trends to gain insights into anatomy‐related online searches, Google Trends data from the United States from January 2010 to December 2015 were analyzed. Data collected were based on the recurrence of keywords related to head and neck anatomy generated from the American Association of Clinical Anatomists and the Anatomical Society suggested anatomy syllabi. Relative search volume (RSV) data were analyzed for seasonal periodicity and their overall temporal trends. Following exclusions due to insufficient search volume data, 29 out of 36 search terms were analyzed. Significant seasonal patterns occurred in 23 search terms. Thirty‐nine seasonal peaks were identified, mainly in October and April, coinciding with teaching periods in anatomy curricula. A positive correlation of RSV with time over the 6‐year study period occurred in 25 out of 29 search terms. These data demonstrate how Google Trends may offer insights into the nature and timing of online search patterns of anatomical syllabi and may potentially inform the development and timing of targeted online supports to ensure that students of anatomy have the opportunity to engage with online content that is both accurate and fit for purpose. Anat Sci Educ 10: 152–159. © 2016 American Association of Anatomists.     

cMOOC与xMOOC的辨证分析及高等教育生态链整合

知识经济社会是一种全新的社会形态,社会的发展以知识的生产和创新为基础,知识呈现出数字化、网络化的形态。当前基于课程的大学教育对知识传授的速度越来越滞后于知识增长的速度,也无法适应网络化知识产生、传播和应用的方式。高等教育从单纯面授模式转向在线模式或混合模式已成为不可逆转的趋势。MOOCs作为在线教育发展大潮中的一种探索形式,主要发展出基于联通主义学习理论的cMOOC和基于行为主义学习理论的xMOOC。从MOOCs的理念及其对高等教育变革的视角来看,cMOOC提出了适合数字时代基于网络的分布式认知过程的学习理论和教学模式;xMOOC借助于互联网,引入商业模式,突破了百年来高等教育坚固的“知识产业链”,吸引品牌大学的介入,为在线教育的发展提供了可操作的运行模式。但是无论哪种MOOCs均是课程层面的尝试,是局部的探索,因此需要站在数字化知识经济时代人才培养转型的高度,从整体上认识和把握在线教育的发展规律,积极推进尚处起步阶段的MOOC研究与实践。