Cisco Technology Helps Duke MBA Program 'Cross Continents'

Posted by: Louis Lavelle on December 20, 2010

It used to be that when you signed up for an MBA program, what you got—the professors, fellow students—was what you got. This is particularly true for many part-time MBA programs which, unlike full-time programs that offer international trips and such, for the most part have a more difficult time connecting students with the global community. Well, not any more, at least if you attend the Cross-Continent MBA Program at Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business (Fuqua Full-Time MBA Profile).

The program is incorporating technology from Cisco, called Cisco Quad, that allows students and faculty to create virtual working groups with students in the U.S., England, Dubai, India, Russia, and China. Using the technology, students can share ideas and content, collaborate on projects, and interact using chat, voice, or video.

In a press release, Fuqua Dean Blair Sheppard said technologies like Cisco Quad are essential in an era of globalization. “As Fuqua develops into the first globally distributed business school, technologies like Cisco Quad allow us to create a sense of community and collaborative interaction necessary to prepare our students to excel in a globally connected world.”

Judging from a “case study” about Duke’s use of the new technology posted on the Cisco web site, Duke is clearly trying to teach the tech-savvy millennial generation on its own terms. It’s also attempting to take advantage of the business knowledge students have when they enter the program, transforming it into a powerful learning tool in its own right. It’s an interesting idea, one that a lot of part-time (and full-time and EMBA) programs can probably benefit from. What’s everybody think?