Online universities were not introduced until the past decade. The Web only came into being in the twentieth century, so that makes sense. However, you would be surprised to know that online universities can be traced back to as early as year 1728.
It is distance learning itself that is not new. For instance, one can look at the development of a lesson plan by a man back then who was teaching shorthand to people through mailed letters. His lessons were sent through the postal system weekly for aspiring students.
The University of London has asserted that it was the first university to truly add distance learning to their repertoire. The end of the 1800s saw American schools following suit, starting in Chicago. Distance learning was then introduced to Australian shores.
The old lesson-in-the-mail system was overtaken by video education soon after that. Various schools all over the globe started to develop their own program for distance learning from 1970 onwards and are often referred to as open universities. Not long after, Jones International University was established and claimed to be the first regionally accredited online university in 1996.
As for those interested in the history of the MBA relative to this subject, they have to start with the knowledge of the first institution to have a formal school for business graduate programs: Dartmouth. It wasn’t known as Masters in Business Administration but was rather known as a Master of Science in Commerce. Harvard then created the masters in business administration program for several participants.
At first, there were some concerns that the programs did not provide truly advanced studies that were useful outside of the academe. Indeed, the program was even lambasted as a useless qualification, making it hardly a qualification at all. At this time, people thought the masters for business one of futility.
Hence, schools began to try to change the image of the program by making it more comprehensive. MBAs were suddenly courses amenable to the adoption of a focus of study. The skill sets of the degree-holders suddenly became formidable.
Still, there was always something to be nitpicked: in this case, it was that the changes had rendered the training too focused on the theory and not enough on the practice. The true arena of business apparently tended to confound degree-holders who had been taught in a more sanitized environment with more controllable parameters. Because some courses were taught by purely "theoretical business experts", there was further flak thrown at the programs.
The MBA became less desirable to HR officers. Colleges saw the need for fresh alterations. Universities then started to revamp the program to address concerns like soft skills, and globalization that is now reflected in most online degrees.
Colleges have an obligation to see to it that the programs they offer are appropriate for the current state of the industry for each program. Even now,
online universities as well as offline ones are making new modifications to the MBA programs they offer. So you might want to look for a relevant program that includes these three areas into their curriculum.
