Flexible and effective, online education is evolving using new technologies to meet the needs of professionals looking to develop their skills. Unlike informal digital learning solutions like MOOCs, tutorials, and other educational applications, online education is a real springboard for your career or switch to a new profession — particularly if you opt for a diploma course. But how do you select the best distance education university and the course that will add genuine value to your CV? Read on to discover the six key criteria to consider before making your decision.
#1 Academic recognition
Your course must further your professional aims, and a university’s reputation is a marker by which you can judge the quality of its teaching staff, teaching methods, and course content. A member of the international alliance FOME (Future of Management Education) alongside several other prestigious and internationally recognised educational bodies, EDHEC Business School furnishes its EDHEC Online programmes with technology and high-quality teaching that are perfectly adapted to distance education.
#2 Qualification value
For your chosen course to benefit you within the job market or your company, it is important that it is validated with a diploma or certificate which is officially recognised, ideally by the Ministry of Labour. To check a course, see if it is included in the Répertoire National des Certifications Professionnelles (National Registry of Professional Certification), a directory of state-recognised diplomas, degrees, and certifications. Certain educational bodies have also been granted European or international accreditations (EQUIS, AACSB, AMBA) which guarantee excellent teaching staff and high-quality diplomas.
#3 The EdTech dimension
In our digital age, mastering digital technologies must form part of your training if you want to develop your skills and progress professionally. To be effective, an online course must provide tools of the greatest relevance to learners. Participants in EDHEC Business School’s distance learning courses, for example, access a virtual campus and gain experience with innovative methods: interactive virtual classes, e-learning modules, collaborative exchange via Slack, micro-learning and gamification, mobile learning, and more. Within this dynamic, EDHEC is also working to develop “adaptive learning” technologies in order to personalise courses to suit each learner’s digital profile.
