Berkeley Executive MBA Program Helps Launch iPad Learning Platform

  • By Dian Schaffhauser
  • 10/29/13

The business school at the University of California, Berkeley will be deploying a new mobile learning platform in its executive MBA program. The Haas School of Business is working with EmpoweredU to develop the software.

EmpoweredU, founded by serial entrepreneur Steve Poizner, has developed a cloud-based learning environment to allow institutional users to deliver their curriculum online in a mobile format — in this case, Apple's iPad. Recently, the program ran a pilot program that let students test the new technology.

The iPad platform lets the instructor stream online content, do course site creation, set up online lectures, perform test administration, and grade assignments. Both instructors and students can do user publishing; perform live chat, messaging, and other forms of peer-to-peer interaction; run discussion forums; and set up student portfolios. The software can run in and outside of a wireless environment.

Students in the executive MBA program are working professionals. Cohorts meet over long weekends every three weeks for 19 months. Haas administrators said they are expecting the new mobile platform to allow their students to stay in touch with each other between sessions and help them juggle their coursework with other life commitments.

"Our executive MBA program will be the first degree program to experience the benefits of this mobile learning experience," said Adam Berman, who heads the Haas School’s initiatives in learning technologies. "For senior professionals on the go, having this kind of technology means getting the most out of their MBA experience, using their time most efficiently, and deepening their ties to their classmates."

The new platform will initially be limited to four courses: finance; leading people, marketing, and building trust based on relationship. As semesters unfold, additional courses will be added.

Similar technology is being used by the University of California Los Angeles Extension program.

About the Author

Dian Schaffhauser is a former senior contributing editor for 1105 Media's education publications THE Journal, Campus Technology and Spaces4Learning.

Featured

  • Stock market graphs and candlesticks breaking apart with glass-like cracks

    Chinese Startup DeepSeek Disrupts AI Market

    A new low-cost Chinese artificial intelligence model is wreaking havoc in the technology sector, with tech stocks plummeting globally as concerns grow over the potential disruption it could cause.

  • abstract geometric pattern of glowing interconnected triangles, hexagons, and circles in blue, gold, and white, spread across a dark navy-to-black gradient background

    OpenAI Unveils 'Operator' AI for Performing Web Tasks

    OpenAI has launched "Operator," an AI agent designed to perform web-based tasks autonomously using its own browser. Currently available as a research preview for Pro users in the United States, the tool aims to automate everyday activities such as filling out forms, ordering groceries, and even creating memes.

  • glowing shield with a lock symbol at its center, surrounded by stylized outlines of books, a graduation cap, and a laptop

    Why the Education Sector Needs to Get Better at Cyber Hygiene

    Despite the wealth of publicly available information about cyber attacks and the tactics used by malicious actors, many institutions appear unprepared to protect their students, faculty, and endowments from cyber threats.

  • handshake where one hand is human and the other is composed of glowing circuits

    Western Governors University Joins Open edX as a Mission-Aligned Organization

    Western Governors University is the first organization to join the Open edX project as a "mission-aligned organization" (MAO), a new category of institution-level partnership supporting development of the Open edX open source online learning platform.