• Rhodes University via the Rhodes Business School will begin offering its Master of Business Administration (MBA) course in a hybrid method come 2024.
• This is thanks to a new partnership with edtech eLearnAfrica.
• eLearnAfrica will help Rhodes host the MBA via an online virtual learning environment which will see the course shortened in length.

Those looking to study for their Master of Business Administration (MBA) degree at Rhodes University in the Eastern Cape will soon be able to take advantage of technological advancements thanks to an elearning partnership between the institution, the Rhodes Business School and eLearnAfrica.

The edtech-focused partnership will allow Rhodes to develop a “virtual learning environment” or VLE in order to extend the reach of its MBA programme and have students take part in courses when not on campus.

VLEs are web-based learning platforms, accessed via desktop PCs or notebooks. Through them students are able to access all the usual learning resources, as well as activities and even assessments. They also guide students using a course structure so it isn’t just watching a video and then answering a quiz.

“We learnt two things from teaching through the pandemic. Returning to the old ‘business as usual model’ of ‘chalk and talk’ is not going to happen like it used to. At the same time, running Zoom or Teams sessions and just displaying your power-point slides does not suffice,” explains Professor Own Skae, Director of Rhodes Business School in a press release sent to Hypertext.

“Students and lecturers want the best of both the digital and the physical teaching world. ‘Phygital’ is key! The digital or virtual mode provides convenience and flexibility. The physical mode provides the immersion and human engagement that we still need.”

eLearnAfrica will support the MBA’s movement into the “Phygital” space with Skae calls “state of the art” technology and need the right balance of synchronous and asynchronous interaction that only a VLE can bring.

“We are very excited about this as it means our MBA is now more accessible than ever,” Skae enthused, adding that the MBA via VLE course will be available from 2024.

Plus there are more benefits, including the fact that the VLE-enabled MBA will allow the current four two-week block attendances (i.e. two blocks in Year 1 and two blocks in Year 2) to be reduced to one block in each year (i.e. one block in each of Year 1 and Year 2), for the invaluable face-face delivery mode keeping in line with Rhodes’ hybrid goals.

The Rhodes MBA is a coursework degree comprising coursework and a research assignment. The degree is offered on a part-time, modular basis over two years. The admission requirements are, an Honours degree or Postgraduate Diploma, a minimum of three years’ work experience and an admission test such as NMAT, GMAT or GRE.

Applications close on 31st October 2023.

[Image – Rhodes University]