I finished all my finals for Spring 2013 last week, meaning that I only need 6 hours to graduate with my MBA! I’ll be completing those hours online from the University of Texas at Dallas and graduating in August. HUZZAH! I’ve had quite a few people ask me about my experience with online vs. face-to-face classes, and I have to say bluntly that I hate online classes. This may be largely due to my personality and functional area, but several people have found my insight to be helpful, so I figured I should share it with all of you 🙂

Pros:

Accessibility – Clearly, the most obvious pro of an online class is the ability to study anywhere. When I lived in Texas and started my MBA program, I knew that moving back to California prior to graduation was a possibility. Thus, it was very important to me to be able to easily finish my hours online if necessary. I’m able to access my classes during my normal routine, and I didn’t have to miss class during business travel.

Flexibility – Flexibility is enabled by accessibility. Since I can access my classes anytime, anywhere, I can re-arrange my schedule to accommodate studying as needed. Need to stay late at work on an emergency problem? No worries, I can push my lecture to later in the week. Happen to have an evening free? I can put in more discussion posts now.

Cons:

Flexibility and Accessibility – These two pros are a double-edged sword, as professors are much less understanding about conflicts with scheduling. In theory, you should be able to find 2 hours SOMEWHERE in the 24 hours a day, 7 days a week that exist. I didn’t really struggle with this, except when I was on my business trip to SXSW. We were literally working from 7am to 2am (yep, not a typo, 2am!) for 7 days straight, meaning that I had to push to complete my lectures ahead of time. Some classes lock down the lectures to make sure students pace through the class, so you can’t work ahead. For on-campus classes, you simply miss the lecture, miss the quiz, and you’re allowed a certain number of absences. In online classes, you don’t get this kind of leeway.

Discussion threads drag on – In a normal classroom setting, you have class discussions that run their course pretty quickly. Either you participate and get your points, or you sit quietly and the professor docks your grade. Unfortunately, many professors require a certain number of posts per topic to receive a full discussion grade. Thus, threads drag on far longer than they should or would in a face-to-face setting. Plus, responses like, “I agree” or, “Good point” often clog up the discussion boards, and in real life, these types of responses would be ignored or not happen at all, since most people know better than to raise their hand to say something with no value. Further, in an attempt to ensure the students are engaged, some professors put silly rules about logging in every other day, only contributing a certain number of posts per day, etc., which means that you can’t just jump in any time, you must schedule time to log in and contribute. This type of requirement defeats the pro of flexibility!

Project and case study coordination is frustrating – You never meet your team, and you rely on email or the group discussion boards. Often, projects are less cohesive and lower quality in online classes because you don’t have the usual back-and-forth collaboration that results in more creativity and effort. It’s also difficult to “present” a PowerPoint deck on the eLearning platform, so students end up straining their eyes to read terribly-designed slides to contribute to the discussion. (See con #2 above)

Lectures are boring – Sure, lectures can be boring in an on-campus setting, but man, lectures are BORING online! There’s no discussion, no body language, no interesting side notes, just monotone voices and text-heavy slides. I should acknowledge my own bias on both of these points. I work at a presentation design firm, so my threshold for bad slides has been significantly lowered. My functional area is creative, so the engineers and scientists probably don’t mind dry lectures, as the subject matter is very straight-forward. But yeah, I have trouble keeping my eyes open, no matter what time of day I tune in.

Scope creep – Again, this one might be specific to me, but I find that my degree is “running in the background” in my mind much more frequently with online classes vs. face-to-face. This is largely due to the fact that I don’t have a set time that requires me to go to campus, sit in a chair for 3 hours, and only focus on that. All other times, I can’t focus on the lecture because there is no lecture. It happens once a week for 3 hours, and that’s it, so it’s pointless to think about whether I should do the lecture now or later, eat before or after logging in, etc. I find myself logging in or feeling pressured about posting and scheduling much more frequently than I did when I attended class on campus. I was able to plan my weeks much better because the schedule was rigid. I try to stick to a rigid schedule, blocking out time for each class on a specific day, but with the posting requirements and lecutre release variability, it’s much more difficult.

Clearly, online classes are not for me, and I would not choose to do it this way in the future. I was only willing to do it for the last semester or two because I landed a position in the “dream job” category, but I would recommend against online training for an MBA. Anyone else have counterpoints to share?

The summer session for my MBA is in full swing, and I’ve been a little frustrated with one of my professors. He’s an adjunct who recently attained his PhD, and this is his second or third semester teaching. He brings excellent practical application into the classroom, and he generally cuts out the academic jargon to get straight into what we’ll need as managers in our post-MBA positions. However, in an effort to treat us like professional adults, he wants to run the class like a democracy! Now, I’m all for giving team members a platform to collaborate in the office, but in the classroom? I’ve gotta support a monarchy (not quite dictatorship, there should be some give and take!).

The first night of class, he asked us what format we would prefer to be quizzed. In a class of 40 people, some wanted online, some wanted in-class, some wanted essay-style, others wanted multiple choice… and on and on and on! You can’t really put the format to a vote in a classroom situation. The timing of the quiz has also been the subject of debates and an actual vote-by-hand-raising in last night’s session. This drives me nuts, largely because everyone has some excuse about why they can’t take the quiz at this time or that. “I’m working, can we move it to Friday?” “I travel for business, can we do it in class?”

Here’s the thing: you’re in grad school, in a part-time MBA program, as in, you have multiple priorities right now. And, if you’re not going to put a high priority on your degree, you might need to re-consider your choice to attend business school right now. I’m not saying people don’t get busy, emergencies don’t happen, or homework isn’t an inconvenience, but if graduate education were easy, everyone would do it! In addition to the knowledge you gain in the classroom, the MBA is about time management, juggling priorities, and choosing the most profitable projects. Notice any parallels between your personal life and professional life? I certainly do. Sometimes I don’t want to crunch the numbers in a spreadsheet for the marketing budget, but that’s part of the job. Sometimes I don’t want to read my textbook or attend class, but that’s part of the program. Are you going to make excuses in your day job? If not, don’t start that habit in grad school!

I understand that the professor is trying to be fair, but I think it’s a much more valuable and true-to-life experience to realize that sometimes life ISN’T fair. Sometimes we have to take projects we don’t like, on a timeline that’s too tight, and a budget that’s too lean. Sometimes the office is a creative, collaborative place, but sometimes the head of the organization needs to crack down to make sure that projects are delivered in top quality for customer satisfaction. If I’m voting, I’m going to cast my lot in favor of a stronger leader, at least in the classroom!

This post doesn’t really apply to the majority of my readers, but after several conversations with fellow class mates, I figured I’d post up a list of recommended professors to point them to for summer/fall session planning. So, here’s my list of great professors in my program thus far:

Prof. Richard Bowen (ACCT 6202): I had Prof. Bowen for Managerial Accounting, and I thought he did an excellent job with organization, time management, and applicability. He explained the concepts with clarity, and his examples and test questions seemed like reasonable situations for managers to face. He didn’t try to “trick” us, but gave us challenging problems to illustrate the material. He also has first-hand insight into the Sarbanes-Oxley ramifications and the whistle-blower laws, which he’ll share with the class if you ask him. And, for an accountant, he’s actually a pretty humorous fellow, so the 4 hour class doesn’t seem so ridiculously long and boring.

Prof. Abhijit Biswas (MKT 6310): I took Consumer Behavior with Prof. Biswas during my first semester as an MBA student, and his class made me excited to be a grad student! He presents thought-provoking case studies and interesting statistics, and he makes everyone question their own behavior as a consumer. He reaches across a number of marketing fundamentals to show how each is relevant to consumer behavior, and he opens engaging class discussions. Every student that takes one of his classes recommends him and chooses to take him again. He teaches classes on all areas of marketing, and makes himself available to students for career advice, marketing ideas, and generally lending his wisdom to his students. He’s passionate about his subject, and his passion is contagious when he teaches. Most students find his exams to be pretty difficult, because he  requires you to remember a lot of details from the material.

Dr. John Wiorkowski (OPRE 6301): Dr. Wiorkowski is a great statistics professor! He made stats applicable to a variety of functional business areas, and used applicable scenarios. I liked that he understood that we needed a managerial base for stats, not a theory or PhD approach. Sometimes stats professors get so caught up in their own expertise, they forget that we don’t know (and for most of us, don’t care) what they’re talking about! Dr. Wiorkowski makes the material approachable and relevant, and he explains each concept in a logical, understandable manner. He also has some hilarious quotes, and keeps class pretty entertaining for a stats professor. His bow tie is his signature, so if you can’t remember his name, just look for the guy with bow tie!

Dr. Tracey Rockett (OB 6331): I took this Power and Politics class online, and I wish I’d had it in person. It’s a discussion-oriented class, so facilitation is much easier face to face. However, the information is sound, and Dr. Rockett presents some thought-provoking scenarios. The lectures, readings, and discussion boards were well-organized, and I enjoyed the articles and book requirements for this class.

Dr. Laurie Ziegler (OB 6332): Dr. Z is a passionate professor with a lot of interesting perspectives to offer. Her Negotiation and Dispute Resolution class focuses heavily on role playing and discussion, so I would recommend taking it in person. Her class forces you to take a look at your own biases and strategies when negotiating, and she keeps class lively with her own stories and discussion questions.

Prof. Scott Sanderson (FIN 6301): Prof. Sanderson is an excellent finance professor. He’s an adjunct, currently working in the real world, so he brings practical knowledge and scenarios into his examples. He does an excellent job explaining the historical and cultural significance of many of the concepts, so you understand why things are done, not just how. He uses several different types of examples to demonstrate the use of equations and logic, and he clearly explains a lot of complex ideas. His exams are straight-forward, and he keeps you until the end of class. He makes himself available to answer questions, and he genuinely wants his students to succeed.

Though some of the subject matter is not my favorite, I appreciate professors that use examples and test questions that we might actually face in a managerial situation. If you have the opportunity to take a class with any of the above professors, you won’t be disappointed!

 

I attended my first week of classes for this semester, and I noticed some interesting patterns.

First, students in general are so much more open than people in the professional world. Maybe this is just the people I’ve met in the professional world, but I’m always struck by how quickly people show their hand and make assessments in an academic setting. Particularly in the Organizational Behavior class, all the students “get” each other pretty quickly. The ice breaker activity on the first day was to choose a partner that you didn’t know, and introduce them. The questions included asking about their biggest accomplishment or proudest moment, and their biggest failure or disappointment. Digging deep, right off the bat! I walked into that class without knowing anyone, and by the end of a 3 hour session, I’d formed a semester-long group that I already feel very comfortable with. This type comfort seems to take much longer in professional settings I’ve experienced.

Further, it was interesting that so many more people were comfortable speaking to the class than in my accounting class. It’s odd, because this OB class is required for most of the programs represented in the class, so there’s not a higher concentration of marketing nerds that just enjoy presenting. Maybe it’s the class setting, and the fact that the ice breaker was informal, as opposed to the accounting class with a formal presentation for a grade? Either way, most of the people in the class stood up to speak, made eye contact with the audience, and spoke loudly and clearly throughout their introduction. The accounting presentations involved reading a notecard in a soft voice, with heads buried behind the card or the computer screen. HUGE differences that made me feel more confidence in my peers after leaving class last Wendesday evening!

So, I feel this semester is going to get the gears turning in my head, and I’m excited for the synergy that I believe will happen between my classes and my work days. It’s good to be back in a class with people that are open and articulate, so we’ll see if my first impressions hold true as the semester progresses!

I finished my 3rd semester at UTD in early December, and grades are posted. I ended up with an A in Global Business, an A in Management of Information Systems, and a B in Statistics. The B in stats pulled my GPA down to a 3.817, which is slightly below my final GPA in undergrad, so I’m not terribly upset. I’ve budgeted a B in Finance, and As for the rest of my degree, so I should end up just under a 3.9 when I graduate.

I was not impressed with my Global Business class or my MIS class. I feel like both of them could have had some interesting things to discuss, but they both just rambled on with no point. In today’s globalized society, it would have been helpful to talk about different business customs and expectations around the world, and business “norms” in other countries. Instead, we talked about standard models and the history of the soviet union. My MIS class consisted of reading a Harvard Business Review case each week, and discussing it in a painfully boring 4 hour session. I was under the impression that this class would go into spreadsheets, project management software, and even some coding, similar to my information systems class in undergrad, but that was not the case. My stats class was actually pretty good, and the professor made a point to include applications for different areas of business, including marketing. I was pleased to see several examples that dealt with comparing the effectiveness of different advertising mediums, promotions, and atmospheres, and I can see how using statistics would be helpful in allocating my marketing dollars.

This semester of my MBA was purely required, and I don’t feel that my business acumen increased as a result of the semester. The MBA is supposed to be a well-rounded degree for future managers, but if you have your undergraduate degree in a business function, you’ve already taken most of these classes. Thus, if I was doing a graduate degree for the love of learning, I would choose the Master’s in Marketing, not the MBA. Because I felt my classes added no value to my knowledge, I was ridiculously unmotivated to do anything more than show up to class and submit my slides for the group PowerPoint. I’m generally really aggressive when it comes to academics, and group projects in particular, but this semester just didn’t strike me. However, it’s a good indication (and somewhat comforting) of how I will perform “at my worst”. I can’t be 100% all the time, so it’s nice to know that my 75%-80% is strong enough to get me through.

I’m taking 9 hours next semester, and two of my classes are electives. I’m hoping that these classes will bring back the creative stimulation of my Buyer Behavior class from my first semester of grad school!