Do your MBA from home

Why should you study your MBA from home? There are several reasons why you should consider studying for an online MBA programme from home. The most obvious reason is that we are living in an era of pandemics. Covid-19, along with its new strains, is one big reason you should opt to study from home. Aside from that obvious health and safety reason, there are several other advantages to studying an MBA online from home. Let us look at a few:

Financial Benefits

Studying from home offers a major financial benefit over full-time study. You can save a lot of money by studying an MBA from home rather than attending lessons on campus. Depending on where you study, you might have to relocate and pay additional accommodation fees. Studying from your desk will save huge amounts on transport costs over the course of your studies, never mind the joy of not having to fight your way through traffic to attend lectures. You’ll also save on campus cafeteria costs as you’ll have the comfort and convenience of your kitchen at home. Studying online avoids all those other miscellaneous fees accompanied with studying on campus that otherwise have to be budgeted for on top of your final tuition fee.

Family responsibilities

If you are a parent, spouse, guardian or carer, it can be difficult to fit in conventional classes between all your household responsibilities. Doing your MBA from home gives you far more flexibility to manage your studies and meet your household responsibilities effectively.

With UJ’s online MBA programme, there is no scheduled class attendance like you would normally have if you studied on campus. Studying from home can help you manage your time since your lessons are pre-recorded. Watching these lecture videos can be scheduled around your day-to-day family responsibilities.

Work responsibilities

Most professionals who want to further their studies with an MBA already have large responsibilities in their workplace. Whether you’re an independent entrepreneur handling clients, a corporate executive dealing with shareholders or a government administrator managing staff, there is often very little spare time during the workday.

Rather than blocking off time to attend lectures, you can continue with your day-to-day responsibilities while studying at your convenience between meetings, during lunch breaks, in the evening or over weekends. Studying from home and doing your MBA online means that your classes are accessible anytime and anywhere.

Why Study an MBA online?

As mentioned, Covid-19 has had a similar effect on traditional higher education structures and methods as it had on the global economy. Students have been confined to their homes and social isolation has meant that conventional campus education has come to an end, at least temporarily. You may have planned to start a traditional class-based MBA but find yourself having to reconsider. In that case, an online MBA programme is an ideal alternative to conventional part-time or full-time studies.

Higher education as a whole has been forced to innovate and adapt to the demands of delivering education via online courses. Schools that have only ever offered on-campus education have found themselves having to adapt and blend on-campus learning with distance learning as a new model of higher learning for now and the near future.

Here are five reasons why you should do your MBA online:

1. Study anytime and anywhere

Studying for an MBA online removes the need to put your career on hold or sacrifice family responsibilities to advance in your career. Online learning now gives you full control over when and where you access your lessons. This makes it easier to combine work, family and studies.

2. Payment flexibility

The payment structure of online programmes allows you to pay per module. This payment structure avoids large upfront fees and allows you to budget effectively.

3. Access to a world-class education at the comfort of your home

Online MBA programmes provide students with access to globally accepted MBA programmes from anywhere in the world in the comfort of your home. There is no travel required or the need to relocate to a different nation or city.

4. Support and assistance

An online classroom, like an on-campus experience, comes with tutors and support staff who are experts in their fields. In most instances, they can be accessed anytime using chatbots on platforms and group discussion forums.

Online MBA vs Part-time

When you want to pursue an MBA, you have the choice of studying 100% online, full-time or part-time. Which option should you choose to create a better work-life balance? This will depend on several factors and your requirements and needs.

Online learning can have similar benefits as on-campus studying. An online classroom may provide you with a similar on-campus experience, as you are also provided with tutors and support staff who support your online learning experience.

Contact sessions versus live sessions

Studying part-time or full-time can have benefits such as student and lecture contact sessions. Student-to-student contact sessions can help facilitate the learning process while building connections and a network. However, well-structured online programmes still offer the same benefits of engaging with lecturers and other students directly.

In 100% online tuition, most sessions are pre-recorded but there are live sessions that could be available to students. Live Q&A sessions by tutors or lectures are better as they have no time constraints and can be recorded and archived to watch later. This means you need never miss a lesson, while still being able to get feedback directly from support staff or lecturers. You can access the archive to instantly find solutions to your questions from archived videos.

Once classroom lectures are over, you may have to wait for the next lesson from the lecturer to ask any questions and this could hinder your learning. Between email and chatboxes, you can get your questions answered far sooner with online learning.

Classroom versus home distractions

The traditional classroom offers few distractions. The lack of interruptions means that more work can be covered within the time of the lecture. Despite this, disruptions and questions from other students can still divert the topic and day’s lesson in a classroom.

Depending on the individual and their responsibilities, the number of distractions to deal with at home can vary. A student with family responsibilities such as children and a spouse could be regularly distracted while watching their online lessons. This can however be minimised by being well organised, delegating certain responsibilities and scheduling your studies for times when the house is quiet. While distractions at home are sometimes unavoidable, it is still better to watch an online lesson while slightly distracted by a sick child than to entirely miss a contact class because of having to care for a sick child.

Financial pros and cons

The financial benefits of studying online do outweigh those of conventional contact studying. You will be able to save on fees such as:

• Transportation costs to get to campus
• On-campus meals or takeout foods
• Textbooks and supplies

Online learning also has its financial requirements:

• Monthly subscriptions to reliable internet services.
• Ensuring that your laptop is regularly updated and maintained.

Why study online or part time?

Another benefit with many online MBA courses is that students are not required to write exams and instead only have to submit assignments. This removes the stress and anxiety of on-campus exams, which can put many people off of studying further.

The decision between studying online or in a classroom is influenced by many factors. The biggest factors to consider are time constraints as well as family and work responsibilities. Choosing the best option for studying for your MBA will depend on your particular situation and the extent to which these responsibilities affect you.

Student and lecture contact sessions can be a major benefit for part-time contact MBA studies. But does it outweigh the financial benefits and flexibility of a 100% online MBA programme? The answer to this question will be different from student to student.

Distance learning MBA requirements

The requirements differ by institution. These are the likely minimum requirements to effectively study your MBA online:

• Access to the internet (fast connections preferred)
• A reliable computer
• Microphone and web camera for live sessions

Admission requirements to qualify for an MBA:

• An Honors degree (NQF Level 8)
• A 3-year Bachelors (NQF level 7) degree plus a Postgraduate Diploma (NQF level 8)
• And a minimum of 4 years work experience

Language proficiency

• Good to excellent verbal and written proficiency of the language is required. The language of tuition will differ between countries and regions, but English is the most common worldwide.

100% Online Tuition

Online tuition comprises pre-recorded lecture videos, downloadable study material and in some instances live Q&A sessions or one-on-one live video sessions. Recorded lectures are very beneficial to the student as you can rewind and pause to better understand the topics being taught during the lesson.

Since your lessons are pre-recorded, you can watch them more than once. This could improve understanding and retention of the material. The lessons can be watched from the comfort of your home or even when travelling.

100% online tuition does have its cons also.

A hardware or software problem could take many days to fix and require the services of an IT technician. This could be frustrating and disrupt your learning flow and schedule. Fixing these issues can also be costly, so it is always better to regularly do maintenance on your computer or laptop.

There could be health implications with 100% online tuition if not balanced properly. Being regularly in front of a computer and having the same sitting posture can in the long-term negatively affect your eyesight and potentially lead to back pain. It is always good to have time allocated for stretching and walking to keep the blood flowing.

Online tuition has many advantages and disadvantages. Finding a balance is the key when deciding to study an MBA or any other programme which is taught 100% online.

Graduates MBA’s – Testimonials and Reviews

Reading and researching the reviews and testimonials of the different online MBAs offered by many institutions is important before choosing the appropriate MBA programme that will meet your needs.

Some MBA programmes from highly ranked institutions are now accessible to many students globally. Choosing the right MBA fit may not be as easy. Do your research and look for reviews by students who have completed the programme. This will help you make the right decision.