2009 Oct 19    

The Financial Times on How Wharton Uses Technology to Engage Students

The Financial Times provides an overview of how a number of schools are using the latest technologies to interact with their students. Quoted in the piece is Howard Kaufold, director of Wharton's Executive MBA program:

"We do not deliver classes through technology," [Kaufold] says. "There is no technological substitute for in-class interaction." Which is not to say that Wharton is not experimenting heavily with ways of supplementing its broadly traditional teaching methods with advanced communication technologies.

There is, for example, the "Web Café", essentially an intranet or closed user group where faculty members can organise their courses and present their materials. Course notes, assignments, videos of some lectures and talks from visiting lecturers are available over the network.

The school makes use of Facebook in two ways: first, as a communication tool for alumni; second, as a way of reaching potential students and others anxious to find out about the school.

For the complete article, see:

• Financial Times: Technology: Classroom interaction offers best experience