哈佛商學(xué)院正式推出在線(xiàn)課程

(Poets&Quants) — After a pair of highlysuccessful pilot runs, Harvard Business School isnow opening its online program in business basics tostudents worldwide. The school is also invitingadmitted MBA students to enroll in the program as apre-MBA boot camp experience, particularly for non-traditional admits or those who need more basicquantitative work before showing up on campus.

經(jīng)過(guò)兩輪非常成功的試運(yùn)行后，哈佛商學(xué)院正式向全世界的學(xué)生開(kāi)放其在線(xiàn)商業(yè)基礎(chǔ)課程。此外，這所商學(xué)院還將其作為MBA新生入學(xué)訓(xùn)練營(yíng)，邀請(qǐng)已被錄取的MBA學(xué)生報(bào)名學(xué)習(xí)，尤其是那些來(lái)自非傳統(tǒng)專(zhuān)業(yè)，或者需要在入學(xué)前學(xué)習(xí)定量分析基礎(chǔ)課程的學(xué)生。

 

 

All told, slightly more than 1,100 students have now taken the primer on the fundamentals ofbusiness called CORe (Credential of Readiness) program. In the first beta starting last June, thetrio of courses—Business Analytics, Economics for Managers, and Financial Accounting—wereopen to only undergraduate students attending colleges in Massachusetts and alumni. Some600 students took the $1,500 two-month program. Harvard then tested the suite of courseson 500 managers at nine different companies in a B-to-B experiment.

目前，共有超過(guò)1100名學(xué)生報(bào)名參加了這個(gè)名為“準(zhǔn)備就緒憑證”(CORe)的商業(yè)基礎(chǔ)課程。在去年六月份進(jìn)行的第一輪測(cè)試中，三門(mén)在線(xiàn)課程(商業(yè)分析、管理經(jīng)濟(jì)學(xué)與財(cái)務(wù)會(huì)計(jì))僅對(duì)馬薩諸塞州的在校本科生及畢業(yè)生開(kāi)放。約有600名學(xué)生參加了這個(gè)收費(fèi)1500美元，為期兩個(gè)月的項(xiàng)目。在隨后進(jìn)行的一項(xiàng)B2B試驗(yàn)中，哈佛商學(xué)院面向九家公司的500名管理者測(cè)試了一套課程。

For the first time, HBS is now opening up the program—based on case studies and videos—toapplicants worldwide, including adult learners who have been out of school up to 10 years, andstudents admitted to the school’s full-time, on-campus MBA program this fall.

現(xiàn)在，哈佛商學(xué)院首次向全世界的申請(qǐng)者開(kāi)放在線(xiàn)課程，包括畢業(yè)10年以上的成人學(xué)習(xí)者，以及在今年秋季入學(xué)的全日制MBA新生。這套在線(xiàn)課程主要基于案例研究和視頻。

Initially, the program was designed largely for non-business undergraduates who needed thebusiness basics to give them a leg up on the job market when they graduated from college.These latest changes could put the program in competition with more expensive ExecutiveMBA programs, which demand a greater time commitment from managers with 10 or moreyears of work experience. EMBA programs cover a lot more ground, but Harvard’s imprimaturon this program of business basics could make it appealing to managers who otherwise wouldattend second-tier EMBA programs. CORe more directly competes with summer businessprograms for undergraduate students from schools like UC-Berkeley and Dartmouth College’sTuck School of Business.

設(shè)計(jì)在線(xiàn)課程的最初目的，是滿(mǎn)足非商業(yè)專(zhuān)業(yè)本科生對(duì)商業(yè)基礎(chǔ)知識(shí)的需求，從而使他們?cè)诋厴I(yè)求職時(shí)獲得一定的優(yōu)勢(shì)。而最近對(duì)在線(xiàn)課程的修改，則使其可以與昂貴的在職高管工商管理碩士項(xiàng)目(EMBA)進(jìn)行競(jìng)爭(zhēng)。EMBA要求管理者有10年以上工作經(jīng)驗(yàn)，并且需要投入更多時(shí)間。EMBA課程涵蓋更多領(lǐng)域，但哈佛對(duì)在線(xiàn)商業(yè)基礎(chǔ)課程的認(rèn)可，則會(huì)吸引更多本打算攻讀二流EMBA課程的管理者。CORe將對(duì)加州大學(xué)伯克利分校和達(dá)特茅斯學(xué)院塔克商學(xué)院等學(xué)校的本科生暑期商業(yè)課程構(gòu)成直接威脅。

In its beta test, Harvard discovered that the program attracted a much broader group ofstudents than it expected. “We positioned it as a program for Humanities and STEM (science,technology, engineering, and math) majors,” explains Bharat N. Anand, faculty chair of HBX, thename of Harvard Business School’s online initiative. “We ended up getting roughly a third fromthe humanities, a third STEM, and another third from from economics, social science, andbusiness undergraduates. That was the rough breakdown.”

在試運(yùn)行測(cè)試中，哈佛商學(xué)院發(fā)現(xiàn)，被課程吸引的學(xué)生范圍要比此前的預(yù)期更加廣泛。哈佛在線(xiàn)教育平臺(tái)HBX首席教授巴拉特o阿南德解釋說(shuō)：“我們最初的定位是針對(duì)人文科學(xué)專(zhuān)業(yè)和STEM(科學(xué)、技術(shù)、工程和數(shù)學(xué))專(zhuān)業(yè)的學(xué)生。最終的結(jié)果是，有三分之一的學(xué)生來(lái)自人文科學(xué)專(zhuān)業(yè)，三分之一來(lái)自STEM，另外三分之一則來(lái)自經(jīng)濟(jì)學(xué)、社會(huì)科學(xué)和商學(xué)專(zhuān)業(yè)的本科生。這只是粗略劃分。”

In a surprise, 20% of those who enrolled in CORe were graduate students, including studentsfrom medical and law schools, and even one PhD in natural science. Almost 20% of the studentswere international and 40% were women. “When we opened up the website, we were thinking ofonly rising juniors and seniors, but we also opened it up to rising sophomores because that isthe time when students are trying to get themselves in line for internships,” adds Anand.

令人意外的是，報(bào)名CORe課程的學(xué)生中有20%是研究生，包括醫(yī)學(xué)院和法學(xué)院的學(xué)生，甚至還有一名自然科學(xué)專(zhuān)業(yè)的博士。約20%為國(guó)際學(xué)生，40%為女性。阿南德補(bǔ)充說(shuō)：“網(wǎng)站剛上線(xiàn)時(shí)，我們只考慮到大三和大四學(xué)生，但我們也向大二學(xué)生開(kāi)放，因?yàn)樵谀嵌螘r(shí)間，許多學(xué)生正在為實(shí)習(xí)做準(zhǔn)備。”

Asked to grade how engaging the course materials were on a scale of one to five, with fivebeing the highest grade, 80% of the first batch of students awarded a grade of four or five. Oncourse quality, the approval figure hit 86%, while the quality of the course instructors—allendowed professors who teach in Harvard’s full-time MBA program—won a four or five gradefrom 90% of the participants. “The results are very encouraging,” says Anand. “We are still inthe early stages of this journey, but it is really exciting. We have high engagement fromparticipants. We have an established revenue model and, most important, the program reflectswho we are.”

學(xué)生們被要求按一至五分的標(biāo)準(zhǔn)，對(duì)課程材料的吸引力進(jìn)行評(píng)分，五分為最高。第一批學(xué)生中有80%給出了四分或五分。在課程質(zhì)量方面，認(rèn)可率達(dá)到86%，另外有90%的學(xué)生對(duì)課程講師的水平給出了四分或五分的評(píng)價(jià)。在線(xiàn)課程的所有講座教授同時(shí)也在教授哈佛商學(xué)院的全日制MBA課程。阿南德說(shuō)道：“這樣的結(jié)果令我們倍受鼓舞。我們尚處在起步階段，但我們真的感覺(jué)非常激動(dòng)。學(xué)生有很高的參與率。我們有穩(wěn)定的收入模式，最重要的是，在線(xiàn)課程詮釋了哈佛商學(xué)院的本質(zhì)。”

HBS says it will now accept applicants from anywhere in the world as old as the mid-to-late 30sto apply for start dates in February, April, and June. The deadline for applications for the April15 intake is March 25, while the deadline for the cohort that begins on June 3 will be May 13.

哈佛商學(xué)院表示將分別從2月、4月和6月開(kāi)始接受世界各地申請(qǐng)者的申請(qǐng)，申請(qǐng)者的年齡最高為35至40歲。4月15日開(kāi)課的課程申請(qǐng)截止期限為3月25日，6月3日開(kāi)課的課程申請(qǐng)截止期限為5月13日。

“We are gradually increasing the eligibility,” says Anand. “There are a lot of career switchers whowant to understand business better, even entrepreneurs who have run their own companiesbut now want to run their firms more systematically. The number of applications we receivedfrom people who are 13 or 15 years out of college was fascinating.”

阿南德說(shuō)道：“我們?cè)谥鸩教岣哔Y格條件。有很多學(xué)員正在考慮改變職業(yè)，他們希望對(duì)商業(yè)有更好的了解，甚至有經(jīng)營(yíng)自己公司的創(chuàng)業(yè)者，他們現(xiàn)在希望更系統(tǒng)性地經(jīng)營(yíng)公司。離開(kāi)校園13至15年的申請(qǐng)者人數(shù)之多，讓我們深感意外。”

Anand says the cohort starting Feb. 25 will likely number 500 to 1,000 participants and willinclude a relatively small group of Harvard admits who will come to campus in September fortheir first year in the MBA program. Like many other business schools, HBS typically held a one-week program called Analytics to get incoming students up to speed on accounting and data.Harvard has decided to give those students who feel they need a jumpstart the option oftaking CORe or coming to campus for the residential Analytics program in July or August. Heexpects roughly 20% of the next incoming class at HBS, some 150 to 200 students out ofslightly more than 900, to take CORe this year.

阿南德稱(chēng)，2月25日開(kāi)課的課程將有500至1000名學(xué)生參與，其中包括數(shù)量相對(duì)較少的哈佛MBA課程一年級(jí)新生，這批學(xué)生將在九月份正式入學(xué)。與其他許多商學(xué)院類(lèi)似，哈佛商學(xué)院通常會(huì)為即將入學(xué)的新生提供一個(gè)為期一周，名為Analytics的課程，使他們能夠迅速掌握會(huì)計(jì)學(xué)和數(shù)據(jù)方面的基礎(chǔ)知識(shí)。哈佛已經(jīng)決定讓那些認(rèn)為自己需要加快節(jié)奏的新生，自行選擇報(bào)名CORe或者在七八月份在校學(xué)習(xí)Analytics課程。他預(yù)計(jì)，今年，哈佛商學(xué)院900多名新生中，約有150至200人會(huì)選擇CORe，占總?cè)藬?shù)的20%左右。

“This is really getting our students to do the program so they are ready to take advantage ofthe full experience on campus,” believes Anand. “The genesis of CORe was asking how can wecreate a wow experience online so they can get up to speed with the basics of data, accounting,and economics before they come on campus.”

阿南德相信：“通過(guò)參與在線(xiàn)課程，新生們就能盡快適應(yīng)校園的學(xué)習(xí)生活。之所以開(kāi)發(fā)CORe，是因?yàn)槲覀兿Ｍ鉀Q如何創(chuàng)造一種受歡迎的在線(xiàn)體驗(yàn)這個(gè)問(wèn)題，幫助學(xué)生們?cè)谡竭M(jìn)入校園之前，掌握數(shù)據(jù)、會(huì)計(jì)和經(jīng)濟(jì)學(xué)等領(lǐng)域的基本知識(shí)。”

HBS expects a significantly higher summer enrollment in June, when the price of the programrises by $300 to $1,800. Anand says he expects to have as many as 3,000 learners signed up,more than three times the intake at Harvard’s full-time MBA program. CORe students would bedivided into cohorts of 300 to 500. The school will also increase the amount of financial aidavailable for students. “We are trying to scale up in a measured fashion,” explains Anand. “You want enough thickness on peer group conversations so that when someone poses aquestion it gets answered quickly and that requires a large cohort. But at the same time youdon’t want a cohort that is so large it becomes impersonal.”

今年六月份，哈佛商學(xué)院的夏季入學(xué)人數(shù)將大幅增加，在線(xiàn)課程的價(jià)格也從300美元提高到1800美元。阿南德表示，他預(yù)計(jì)將有3000名學(xué)習(xí)者報(bào)名在線(xiàn)課程，這個(gè)數(shù)字是哈佛全日制MBA課程錄取人數(shù)的三倍以上。CORe課程的學(xué)生將被分為300至500人的群體。學(xué)院也會(huì)向?qū)W生發(fā)放更多助學(xué)金。阿南德解釋稱(chēng)：“我們正在審慎地?cái)U(kuò)大規(guī)模。你希望同學(xué)之間能有足夠的交流，有人提出問(wèn)題時(shí)，能夠迅速得到回答，而這需要每一期有足夠多的參與者。但同時(shí)人數(shù)又不能太多，否則課程將變得枯燥。”

Unlike many other online business courses, CORe participants are graded in each course basedon quizzes, a final exam, and their level of participation. The program is largely taught throughcase studies of issues and challenges at such organizations as Amazon, PepsiCo, The New YorkTimes, and the American Red Cross. But there also are lessons from managers at small, localcompanies, including the Bikram Yoga studio near campus. Harvard awards a certificate ofcompletion to each graduate and says it will maintain transcripts of the grades. Top performersreceive an Honors or High Honors designation, similar to what Harvard MBAs get when theygraduate from the school.

與其他許多在線(xiàn)商業(yè)課程不同，CORe學(xué)員每一門(mén)課程的得分取決于測(cè)驗(yàn)分?jǐn)?shù)、期中考試成績(jī)和參與程度。課程主要采用案例研究的方式，如研究亞馬遜、百事可樂(lè)、《紐約時(shí)報(bào)》和美國(guó)紅十字會(huì)等組織的問(wèn)題與挑戰(zhàn)。此外還有當(dāng)?shù)匦」竟芾碚邆兊慕?jīng)驗(yàn)教訓(xùn)，如校園附近的比克拉姆瑜伽工作室。學(xué)院會(huì)向完成學(xué)業(yè)的學(xué)生頒發(fā)結(jié)業(yè)證書(shū)，并且校方會(huì)保留學(xué)生的成績(jī)單。成績(jī)突出的學(xué)生可以得到“成績(jī)優(yōu)秀”和“優(yōu)異”的評(píng)價(jià)，與哈佛MBA畢業(yè)生的待遇類(lèi)似。

So, what has Harvard learned after sending two cohorts through the program? The second B-to-B cohort had an 80% completion rate and engagement rates off the chart, much like thepioneer cohort. The completion rate fell by five percentage points, largely because the secondcohort was comprised entirely of full-time managers and employees who often found it difficultto complete all the work. Learners find that it takes about 10 hours a week over the two-monthprogram to get all the work done. Participants also are prevented from moving forward unlessthey complete a module within a two-week timeframe, a deadline that makes it hard to catch upwhen students fall behind.

那么，送走了兩批學(xué)生之后，哈佛從中總結(jié)出什么經(jīng)驗(yàn)教訓(xùn)?第二批B2B學(xué)生完成率達(dá)到80%，學(xué)生參與率同樣很出色，與第一批學(xué)生類(lèi)似。學(xué)業(yè)完成率下降了5個(gè)百分點(diǎn)，很大程度上是由于第二批學(xué)生全部由在職的管理者和員工組成，經(jīng)常難以完成所有學(xué)習(xí)任務(wù)。學(xué)習(xí)者發(fā)現(xiàn)，在兩個(gè)月課程期間，完成所有功課需要每周拿出10個(gè)小時(shí)。而且，參與者只有在兩周內(nèi)完成一個(gè)模塊才能進(jìn)行下一個(gè)模塊，這個(gè)最終期限讓落后的學(xué)生很難趕上進(jìn)度。

Anand says that they initially tweaked the program to strike a balance between takingadvantage of the asynchronous nature of online learning while preserving somesynchronous activity so that students can help their classmates at certain points. “In the firstcohort, we had five gates—or deadlines for the completion of work—across all three courses,”he says. “In the fall, we moved to a slightly different structure. If you have all three deadlineson one day, it becomes very hard to catch up. So we put in many more deadlines, 17 in all, inthe fall. The moment you go to 17, students have to keep up continuously but you also want topreserve some flexibity for them. So we are now moving back to something in the middle,about 10 deadlines with some overlap for when material is released to allow some students tomove faster.

阿南德表示，他們最初對(duì)課程進(jìn)行了調(diào)整，一方面利用在線(xiàn)學(xué)習(xí)的異步特性，同時(shí)保留一些同步活動(dòng)，努力實(shí)現(xiàn)兩者之間的平衡，使學(xué)生們可以相互幫助。他說(shuō)道：“在第一期，我們?yōu)槿咳T(mén)課程設(shè)置了五個(gè)時(shí)間截止點(diǎn)。在秋季，我們對(duì)結(jié)構(gòu)進(jìn)行了微調(diào)。如果你一天有三個(gè)時(shí)間截止點(diǎn)，你便很難跟上進(jìn)度。所以我們?cè)谇锛驹黾恿藭r(shí)間截止點(diǎn)數(shù)量，共計(jì)17個(gè)。當(dāng)你有17個(gè)時(shí)間截止點(diǎn)的時(shí)候，學(xué)生必須持續(xù)下去，但你同時(shí)也希望為學(xué)生保留一定的靈活性。所以，我們進(jìn)行了折中，規(guī)定了10個(gè)時(shí)間截止點(diǎn)，在材料發(fā)布的時(shí)候會(huì)有部分重疊，使學(xué)生可以更快進(jìn)步。”

“With 17 deadlines, if you miss one or two it becomes really, really hard. So with the nextcohort we are creating a slack week in between the program so you can catch up. We’reextending the program from 10 to 11 weeks. Things happen in people’s lives. The completionrates are high, but we would love to see them higher.”

“實(shí)行17個(gè)最終期限的時(shí)候，如果你錯(cuò)過(guò)了一個(gè)或兩個(gè)，后續(xù)的學(xué)習(xí)就會(huì)變得非常困難。所以，我們?cè)谙乱黄谡n程之間會(huì)設(shè)置一周寬松時(shí)間，使學(xué)員跟上進(jìn)度。我們將課程從10周延長(zhǎng)到11周。每個(gè)人生活中都會(huì)遇到各種事情。學(xué)業(yè)完成率已經(jīng)很高，但我們?nèi)杂懈叩钠诖?rdquo;

Despite the decline in the completion rate among full-time employees, engagement remainedextremely high. Harvard attempted to determine how many students came on the platformbecause they wanted to be there. “The pioneers said that for every two hours they spentlearning on the platform, they were spending an extra hour engaging with their peers,” saysAnand. “This is striking because that is entirely voluntary work. Many students said you couldget through the material in 10 hours a week, but a good number chose to spend 15 hours aweek because they were enjoying it so much.”

雖然全職員工學(xué)業(yè)完成率有所下降，但參與率依舊很高。哈佛希望確定有多少學(xué)生是真心希望選擇在線(xiàn)平臺(tái)。阿南德稱(chēng)：“首批學(xué)生表示，他們?cè)谄脚_(tái)上每學(xué)習(xí)兩個(gè)小時(shí)，與同學(xué)交流的時(shí)間便會(huì)多一個(gè)小時(shí)。這令人意外，因?yàn)檫@完全是自愿的工作。許多學(xué)生表示，每周可以拿出十個(gè)小時(shí)研究資料，但許多人會(huì)選擇每周花15個(gè)小時(shí)，因?yàn)樗麄兿矚g這么做。”

Do online students learn more or less than students in a traditional classroom? Anand saysthe school is in the process of studying this and plans to release a report shortly. He sharesone anecdote from a student who took his exam a month after finishing CORe last summer. “He sat down to prepare three days before and he told me that for the first time in hiseducational career he didn’t need to revisit the material,” recalls Anand. “He retained everything.He said it was part of the educational experience. It was engaging throughout. He wasn’t apassive learner.”

與傳統(tǒng)課程相比，在線(xiàn)學(xué)習(xí)學(xué)到的更多還是更少?阿南德表示，學(xué)院正在進(jìn)行這方面的研究，并計(jì)劃在近期發(fā)布相關(guān)報(bào)告。他分享了一名學(xué)生的故事。去年夏天，這名學(xué)生在完成CORe課程一個(gè)月后參加了考試。阿南德回憶稱(chēng)：“他之前準(zhǔn)備了三天，他告訴我，這是他在學(xué)習(xí)生涯中第一次不需要復(fù)習(xí)資料。他記住了所有知識(shí)。他說(shuō)這是學(xué)習(xí)經(jīng)歷的一部分。他一直在全情參與。他不再是被動(dòng)的學(xué)習(xí)者。”