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Mauro F. Guillen, Wharton School

Von am 29. Juni 2014

MOOCs are a new technology with a new mode of delivery which has the potential of enhancing what business schools do as opposed to cannibalize their existing programs. At the Lauder Institute, which offers the Wharton MBA in conjunction with an MA in International Studies, students attend classes and travel the world to immerse themselves in other cultures. My MOOC on has enabled me to sharpen my in-classroom teaching, focus the students’ attention on important topics, and combine traditional teaching methods with state-of-the-art, technology-enabled learning. It’s a win-win. MOOCs are completely synergistic with existing pedagogical approaches and modes of delivery of knowledge. Thus, MOOCs will help business schools improve their programs; they will not hurt them.

MOOCs widen access to knowledge

In addition to the benefits to full-time students, MOOCs help those who teach them reach a vastly larger audience of students worldwide. Obviously, the online experience is not as intense and as complete as the face-to-face interaction that takes place in the classroom. But it is a technology and medium that is inclusive, allowing students from the furthest corners of the world to access knowledge at a negligible cost.

Those who are against MOOCs or who say that MOOCs will destroy b-schools or universities are wrong. They are modern-day Luddites. One cannot ignore new technology. One must embrace it.

About Mauro F. Guillen, Director of the Lauder Institute of Management & International Studies, Wharton School

Mauro F. Guillen is the Director of the Lauder Institute of Management & International Studies, and Zandman Professor of International Management at the Wharton School. He is the recipient of the Aspen Institute’s Faculty Pioneer Award, member of the World Economic Forum’s Global Agenda Council on Emerging Multinationals, and an elected fellow of the Sociological Research Association. In 2014 he delivered the Clarendon Lectures at Oxford University. He is the author of over 10 books and 30 scholarly articles, including most recently Emerging Markets Rule: Growth Strategies of the New Global Giants and Global Turning Points: Understanding the Challenges for Business in the 21st Century.  His research deals with emerging markets, the diffusion of innovations, and the global financial architecture. He offers a mass online class through Coursera on Analyzing Global Trends.

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Über Barbara Ward

Barbara Ward studierte Medienkulturwissenschaft und Politologie. Die gelernte Werbekauffrau studierte und arbeitete zunächst im englischsprachigen Ausland. Als Referentin der University of Edinburgh nutzte Sie Online-Medien und soziale Netzwerke bereits als Facebook noch in den Kinderschuhen steckte. Später war sie Chefin vom Dienst eines bilingualen Online-Magazins. Methoden und Grundsätze der Redaktionsarbeit lernte sie in Fachseminaren der Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung, an der Journalisten Akademie in Bonn und der Journalistenschule Ruhr. Sie arbeitete als freie Mitarbeiterin beim Westdeutschen Rundfunk, bei der Deutschen Welle in Berlin und beim Nachrichtensender Phoenix. Ihre Praxiserfahrung ergänzte sie durch ein Journalistik-Studium an der Freien Journalistenschule in Berlin. Seit 2010 ist Barbara Ward selbständig als Online-Journalistin, Beraterin und Buchautorin. In der Reihe iKnow veröffentliche sie zwei Bücher iKnow Twitter und iKnow Social Media Marketing.