Upcoming MOOCs Offered by UV Darden School of Business
University of Virginia’s Darden School of Business is a big proponent of massive online open courses (MOOCs). As Dean Robert Bruner, an early adopter of innovative technologies to improve management education, notes in a recent interview, “Everyone says ‘you’re a business school, why are you giving it away for free,’ but we’re proud to count ourselves as one of the most active business schools in online learning,” says the dean. “MOOCs are consistent with our mission and we’re learning a great deal about digital instruction with practice.”
This top-ranked MBA program believes MOOCs are a great way to become acquainted the school’s faculty and boost your business knowledge before enrolling in business school. With that in mind, registration is open until Thursday, December 5th, for Darden Professor Jeanne M. Liedtka’s five-week course on Design Thinking for Business Innovation.
The course, which consists of a series of videos and on-line discussions, is designed for anyone interested in innovation in an organizational context and answers the following questions:
- What is design thinking?
- How can we prepare ourselves to be leaders of innovation?
- How can you use design thinking to generate ideas?
- How can you use design thinking to test ideas?
- What kind of changes can we expect to see coming out of the design thinking process?
If you’re interested in taking a future course with Darden faculty, check out these offerings scheduled to begin in 2014:
- Foundations of Business Strategy
- Grow to Greatness: Smart Growth for Private Businesses, Part 1
- Grow to Greatness: Smart Growth for Private Businesses, Part 2
- New Models of Business in Society
MOOCs may not provide actual course credit, but if MBA applicants have the self-motivation to complete the course and demonstrate a thorough understanding of the subject matter, admissions committees would look favorably on one’s dedication to deepening his or her knowledge base.
