Influenced by the need for lifelong learning, the requirement for increased flexibility, and digitalization, business education programs are experiencing substantial changes and variances in content and format, whether they are led at institutions or companies.
Business education isn’t the same as it used to be. External influences have multiplied dramatically in the last two years, resulting in a full makeover.
Business education programs are designed to endure substantial adjustments and alterations in terms of content and format. They will broaden their reach and scope in a world where lifelong learning is important due to a fast-paced era in which skills have a shorter shelf life and learners’ expectations are shifting toward increasingly digitalized, interactive, and adaptable experiences.
Trends in Business Education
These trends can help you navigate this fast-changing world and make your journey easier.
- New content to tackle contemporary challenges
- New formats for flexible business education
- Virtual and hybrid learning
New content to tackle contemporary challenges
Today’s learners require far more than business expertise, whether in corporations or higher education institutions. Interdisciplinary is the keyword here. To get practical knowledge of everything business, talents such as technology awareness, digital and soft skills, knowledge of societal issues such as climate action, diversity, and equity should be incorporated in business education programs.
As per reports, 66% of business school decision-makers asserted that their programs had been amended to ensure they offer the latest information to students on the significance of business management in helping to tackle climate change and other significant issues.
Apart from digital skills, soft skills are becoming increasingly relevant in organizations. They are not yet capable of being replaced by technology and are required for any job function, regardless of role, organization, or industry.
One of the most important abilities for prospering in the face of uncertainty and constant change is soft skills. According to LinkedIn, 9 out of 10 that L&D professionals now use are represented by soft skills.
New formats for flexible business education
Business education in future will be more flexible, with no ties to a set location, timing, or structure. The one-size-fits-all education model will be phased out in favour of a wide range of programs and learning routes, including short courses, non-degree programs, certificates, and micro learning.
As lifelong education becomes compulsory, adult learners who cannot study full-time will need specific programs that will allow them to reskill and upskill.
Organizations and institutions must develop flexible, shorter, and focused programs for those learners who mix full-time jobs and families with learning. Younger generations entering university, business schools, or the job market will seek different learning experiences than their elders: virtualized, flexible, interactive, and collaborative.
Virtual and hybrid learning
Virtual learning can be done effectively and efficiently using computer-based resources, without a traditional classroom atmosphere. It can be either asynchronous or synchronous in nature (live).
Synchronous virtual learning can be enabled through purpose-built solutions, such as virtual classrooms.
Asynchronous virtual learning can be done in a number of ways – recordings, eBooks, discussion boards, etc.- with a clearly accepted method being mobile learning. It can be enabled by adjusting existing content and platforms to be mobile friendly or creating mobile-first learning experiences. The latter, enabled by mobile applications, will allow micro learning on the go, efficiently and interactively.
Hybrid learning or blended learning, encompasses a mix of onsite and online, synchronous and asynchronous methods of learning.
It can combine live sessions in a traditional classroom, hybrid classroom (some participants onsite, some online), or virtual classroom with asynchronous methods, both virtual and analog, such as mobile learning or pre-recorded videos, as well as presentations, books, cheat sheets, and other materials.
Hybrid learning will become more fluid in 2022 as new technologies enable learners to fluidly switch between face-to-face education and an immersive virtual reality. Some deans are even speculating about the creation of a metaverse for business education.
To conclude, new technological trends are clearly transforming the educational landscape in terms of teaching and learning methods. Learning has grown more convenient and accessible, and aspirations have risen as well.
Every crisis has a solution, thanks to modern technology and new educational trends. Learners are able to continue their studies virtually. Something like this could not have been imagined not long ago.
Exeed College with its innovative online MBA programs is transforming the lives of aspiring learners and preparing them to be leading innovators and entrepreneurs of tomorrow.
