Joshua Kim

In 2012, much of the attention of the educational press and the world?s learners was focused on the development of massively open online courses (MOOCs), which are making free courses available from elite US institutions. Today, the largest numbers of students participating in MOOCs originating from Harvard, Stanford, Penn, and other elite institutions via platforms such as EdX and Coursera are the residents of growth economies (also known as emerging economies), particularly in Southeast and East Asia.

The MOOC story has largely obscured an equally important development in the relationship between elite US institutions and global learners. This is the development of premium, fully-accredited graduate programmes, that leverage online and blended learning to make it possible for students to receive a high quality degree without quitting their jobs or moving to the US.

I have been fortunate enough to have a front-row seat for the development of one such initiative, Dartmouth?s Master?s in Health Care Delivery Science (MHCDS) programme. The MHCDS degree is a joint effort between the Tuck School of Business and the Dartmouth Institute. What is noteworthy about MHCDS is that it offers an Ivy League quality advanced degree to students who are unable to either leave their jobs or move to the Dartmouth campus. Students complete this rigorous programme over an 18-month period, spending a total of six weeks on campus, with the majority of the coursework completed by utilising advanced online learning platforms. MHCDS?s small size, world-class faculty, small staff-to-student ratio and the use of advanced learning technologies all equate to a learning experience that is commensurate with the college?s residential graduate programmes.

Dartmouth is not alone. Brown University, Duke University, Cornell University, and many other of the US?s institutions are also currently offering or planning premium blended learning programmes. These degrees, aimed explicitly at leaders and emerging leaders already working in their fields, are intended to equip a new generation of global adult students with the skills, networks and credentials necessary to lead their institutions in a time of rapid globalisation and technological change.

How can elite institutions of higher learning offer a premium quality degree for non-residents? One that is accessible to the most qualified learners wherever in the world they may be living?

The answer lies in the improvement over the past few years in online learning platforms, advances in our understanding of how people learn, and the willingness to invest in the services and support necessary to maintain the highest quality student experience. Modern asynchronous collaboration platforms, such as discussion boards, blogs and wikis, allow students to engage in rich debate and dialogue with faculty and fellow learners. These collaboration platforms enable a strong sense of presence and connection within each course, while allowing for participation to be scheduled around student?s extremely busy professional and family lives.

Online learning platforms are not new, but their quality has evolved to the point where learning via online and mobile applications provides a rich learning experience. The improved quality of digital teaching tools is complemented by improvements in both internet and cellular bandwidth, particularly in the growth economies.

But improvements in learning software and devices are necessary but not sufficient for the creation of premium blended graduate programmes for a global student audience. Rather, what defines a premium programme is a combination of the highest quality faculty, with a dedicated staff of professionals dedicated to creating a world-class educational experience.

Geography is no longer a barrier for participating in high quality degree programmes. This shift towards the availability of premium education programmes offered in a blended learning format will offer opportunities for a dramatic expansion in the number of highly qualified global learners able to graduate from elite institutions. It is this growth blended learning at the highest end of the quality scale, an ?intimate? as opposed to a ?massive? online education that is at least as important as the rise of the MOOCs. It is this development that will open up new educational opportunities for the world?s most talented individuals, wherever they may choose to call home.

The author is a professor at the Tuck School of Business, US