CNV3-I1-7-Executive Education

In the world of 4G & soon to come 5G let us discuss how virtual technology has brought about a sea change in the manner which we learn. The advent of high-speed internet access and the ability to stream data seamlessly has indeed helped create virtual classrooms, chat & discussion rooms and such;

1.Technology makes it possible to have learning sessions, where one or two senior executives have to reach out to a large number of company executives. These could be sharing domain knowledge, product updates or even launch of a new HR policy. This can help reduce the costs of getting all employees to a single location.

2.Training sessions when for those who are across multiple locations become much easier and cost effective as well. The use of chat rooms also makes the discussions more interactive & meaningful. This also allows star employees to interact across various locations, both national & international

3. In a situation, where some employees are unable to attend the complete training module due to some exigencies, that can at least attend part of it via video conferencing.

4. Skype & Face Time also can be used very effectively as a training tool where the participants are limited, and video conferencing option is not available.

5. A great advantage of virtual classrooms and chat rooms is the ability of learners to be a part of webinars of their interest, many of which are free. This gives them an opportunity to interact with many professionals from all over the globe from inter disciplinary areas as well.

6. International linkages become much easier as one can arrange seminars with subject matter experts & professors from all over the globe. This helps employees get a global viewpoint right at their offices and work stations.

7. The greatest advantage of virtual learning is that the cost of learning would be certainly lesser as compared to the actual cost of onsite learning. Travel & stay costs can be cut down considerably and this can be a huge saving for the organisation.

Another spin off advantage from the student perspective has been the manner in which the evaluation & examination processes have changed in the recent few years. We see a visible change emerging in the manner of evaluation & assessments of students in executive education. We must realise that the profile of the current generation i.e Gen Y (whom I often refer to as the fast food generation) is one who is restless, seeks results in the short run & lives for TODAY. Further with powerful & real time distractions like Social Media & WhatApp & such, I feel attention spans & retention spans have decreased considerably and this impacts the learning process drastically.

Thus, I strongly feel that the entire executive examination system should focus on assessment of the understanding and not testing the memory or ability for rote learning. Hence, in institutions of higher learning, we must use a multiplicity of methods to ensure more focused and meaningful evaluation processes. Today, there is an increasing emphasis on the job learning projects, presentations, case study discussions and even internships being used more often as an approach to assessment. Many institutions of higher education use methods such as online quizzes, multiple choice questions-based exams answered via online learning platforms such as Moodle & such. The positive trend is that dependency on one single class room based examination at the end of the academic term is on the decline. This we notice a trend where multiple exams are used to assess the understanding of the subject knowledge and concepts. Use of presentations, book review, best practices analysis & case study discussions as a method of evaluation too are on the rise.

Further institutions of higher education must change the approach to assessment and performance measurement drastically & quickly. They must respond to the need of the hour and conceive & use multiple ways to measure the student performance. Since one methodology would not suit all measurement processes as the subjects being tackled are diverse, we need to create an array of such assessment tools. Learning Management Systems & tools like online quizzes can help a great deal to make the assessment implementation smooth. The approach here is that those who teach MAY not evaluate and vice versa. This could lead to the evaluation mechanisms being more robust & tamperproof thus improving the quality of both delivery and understanding. The eternal dilemma that a professor faces too could be eliminated; as he now only needs to be a GOOD teacher and not a POPULAR teacher. Thus, they can insist on highest level of discipline & commitment from the students & ensure maximum learning.

Some such measures that are proving to be very meaningful and effective are;

1.The weightage for term end exams would be maximum 40 percent this would ensure that regular evaluation processes such as online quizzes, presentation would be on the rise.

2. Organising seminars, conferences, co-curricular events would be given enough weightage.

3. Live projects with industry of duration ranging from 2 weeks to a month could give the students first hand learning and also be used as an assessment technique.

4. Active participation in industry associations like CII, BMA could be given due credit as part of the evaluation processes.

5. Many faculty members encourage the executive education students to do joint research on various important areas and these could be a good way of assessing their competence and capability.

6. Another effective tool would be peer-based teaching and evaluation processes. In every group there are students who have specific areas of expertise such as presentation skills ,power point skills, research skills, report writing skills, accounting packages skills, versatility in MS Excel and such. We can create processes, wherein such identified experts could coach those who realise that they need to improve themselves in a certain domain. Both the student teacher and the student learner could be evaluated on the impact of this learning activity and this could be institutionalised over a period of time. This is akin to the concept of train the trainer to further train more trainees. This also adds tremendously to the self-confidence of the students and also helps the weaker students cope up without feeling threatened.

8. Another specific innovation could be the application of the above on an individual basis. Each senior student could be allotted a buddy whom he/she would mentor for 1 term. He/She would impart at least one skill to the mentee and also learn one skill from the mentee. We may also visualise a scenario where those who teach don’t evaluate and vice versa. This could be an opportunity to create a new cadre of evaluators thus making the assessment processes more unbiased & transparent. However, the above must be implemented on a consistent basis and thorough follow up be initiated consistently to make a shift in the evaluation processes.

To summarise, virtual learning is here to stay and is a very useful supplement to the traditional learning process. It can be used very effectively in many of the situations mentioned above and is a boon for learning and training. However, it certainly requires a robust hardware network in place and good quality high speed internet access so that we can achieve the learning objectives meaningfully. Besides the process of testing & examination has to change to become more enabling and understanding than punitive and monotonous.