Keith Pond, Director of the EFMD Online Course Certification System, outlines all the reasons you shouldn’t miss out on the upcoming EFMD Online Learning Symposium. 

Online management education has the power to transform the lives of all.

Let’s unpack that a little:

1. The best quality online education is flexible and accessible, allowing for both part-time and full-time study, self-paced study, work and study.
2. Online learning does have a carbon footprint, but it is much smaller per learner than the traditional face-to-face alternative (Versteijlen et al., 2017).
3. Virtual experiences allow for a truly international curriculum without leaving home (Perrin Halot and Mercado, 2024)

…and that’s how most lists on the subject continue (and end).

At the 2024 EFMD Online Learning Community Symposium hosted by the University of Liverpool Management School, we expand the list to include the transforming nature of online management education for:

4. Institutional strategy, as traditional markets come under pressure and opportunities for growth open up.
5. Faculty skills, as new and innovative pedagogies develop teaching skills in online, hybrid and blended delivery.
6. Partnerships, as opportunities to harness the positive power and investment of global technology, are presented and…did we mention AI?

Registration for this year’s Symposium is open until 1 September 2024 for face-to-face participants and 4 September 2024 for online participants.

So, why not come along and transform your own practice and insight through participating face-to-face or online by:

7. Networking with other business school and industry professionals happy to share their experiences and challenges.
8. Participating in workshops on Internationalisation and employability skills development online.
9. Witnessing EFTO presentations from around the world on individual case studies of online innovation.
10. Engaging in an optional workshop on Gamification lead by the brilliant “Professor Game” aka Rob Alvarez.

And the one thing that you cannot do online…

Enjoying the warmth and hospitality of the University of Liverpool Management School and the vibrant city of Liverpool – also famed for:

• Football,
• The home of the Beatles,
• England’s only UNESCO City of Music,
• The original “Redbrick” University,
• Two iconic cathedrals…another list to expand??

Be part of it!

REFERENCES

Marieke Versteijlen, Francisca Perez Salgado, Marleen Janssen Groesbeek, Anda Counotte, Pros and cons of online education as a measure to reduce carbon emissions in higher education in the Netherlands, Current Opinion in Environmental Sustainability, Volume 28, 2017, Pages 80-89, ISSN 1877-3435, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cosust.2017.09.004 .

Julie Perrin-Halot and Simon Mercado, Business School Internationalisation in a Changing World, Global Focus, January 2024, https://www.globalfocusmagazine.com/business-school-internationalisation-in-a-changing-world/

For additional insights, trends and perspectives about online education, visit the conversation here.