The use of Virtual Classes at Harvard Business School — A successful model for corporate e-Learning

Abstract

Some years ago the message presented by many experts was clear: online education would change dramatically the way to provide education. Many assumptions about the adoption of the new technology proved far too optimistic. Many business models didn’t succeed. In many cases it turned out that technological restrictions were much higher than expected. On the other hand, it is obvious that there are genuine advantages to e-Learning. Online education offers an opportunity to improve greatly the efficiency of learning with respect to time and cost. In many cases it provides an entire new learning experience for students including multimedia features (like digital video and web based simulation). Online education supports “learning-on-demand”, a service which will become increasingly important in the corporate learning arena. It is clear that with a continuously improving technology-infrastructure (increased bandwith, rising penetration of broadband etc.) and people growing more accustomed to the use of the computer and the internet, e-Learning will attain greater significance as a potential an educational platform. Universities and companies will have to take this into consideration in their strategic educational planning.