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course structure ( commonly 70 percent or more delivered online ) then they may choose that .”
Done well , blended learning enables students to understand the basic concepts and knowledge of the MBA at their own pace , he added , while making the most use of the time in class to share experiences and develop important leadership skills . “ Whatever the mode of delivery , AMBA accredited programmes must have at least 500 contact hours and 1,800 student learning hours , but these can be delivered in a mix of synchronous ( in real time ) and asynchronous ( flexible ) formats .”
So who is leading the blended learning evolution ? For best practice look for the Euro * MBA , a part-time executive MBA programme offered jointly by six European universities and business schools : Audencia Nantes School of Management , France ; EADA Business School Barcelona ; HHL Leipzig Graduate School of Management ; IAE Aix-Marseille Graduate School of Management ; Kozminski University Warsaw ; and the lead institution , the Maastricht University School of Business and Economics in the Netherlands
The need to relate theory and practice tends to be addressed in schools like the Newcastle Business School ( NBS ) at Northumbria University which has delivered its MBA programme for more than 20 years . Its head , Dr Guy Brown , says that employers and students appreciate flexible delivery modes that include full time , part time and distance learning , with the support of technologyenhanced learning . “ Differing from the traditional dissertation element required for other Masters programmes ,” he explained , “ NBS MBA learners are required to carry out a management investigation project , which needs to address real problems and challenges facing a particular organisation , either in public or private sectors , and provide practical solutions and recommendations to the organisations .”
Over the past 10 years , Newcastle Business School MBA has been actively engaged with regional and local organisations and has helped develop more than 300 leaders in the north-east of England , significantly enhancing the regional business leadership pool . This raises interesting questions around another dilemma , the trade-off between internationalism in business schools and their
20 June 2015