Online Teaching in International Business

Abstract

Higher education, including that in International Business (IB), faces a number of challenges. One of the primary challenges is its cost that is rising at a much faster pace than any other costs except medical costs. We now have skyrocketing and debilitating student debt problem in the US. These rising costs also limit access to higher education. Unlike most modern industries that have been disrupted to varying degrees by new technologies, higher education does not seem to have undergone such disruption. Many critics are pointing to online education as a less expensive alternative. How would online education impact IB education? We address the question here in this issue. Online education offers many advantages. Many geographically dispersed students can take advantage of such education. In many cases, online education can also be asynchronous so that students can attend classes at times convenient to them. At the same time, professors can record their lessons at times convenient for them. These freedoms of time and place in learning can dramatically expand the size and diversity of a class and the range of teaching and learning pedagogies used. Given the advantages of time and place, online education has expanded dramatically in popularity over the last decade. According to the data by the National Center for Education Statistics, between 2007 and 2017, the percentage of US undergraduate students who participated in online or distance education at degree-granting institutions increased from 20.6% to 32.9%, and the percent of undergraduate enrollment that took online education exclusively rose from a mere 3.8% to 13.3%. Accompanying the rapid growth in the demand and offering of online education is the increased attention to the quality and effectiveness of online education. For example, according to Arbaugh, Formicary, and Hwang (2016), of the top 100 most cited business management education research from 1974 to 2014, almost a quarter are related to the topic of distance education and online teaching and learning. Geographic and cultural diversity is particularly important in international business (IB) education. The Internet allows for greater exposure to foreign cultures. Web content, such as videos and blogs, enables students to learn about other countries and cultures in a rich and engaging manner without