Since last September I've been studying for an MBA (part-time) at one of the top ten AMBA accredited business schools in the UK. The course is taught by people who have literally written the text books; I study with really nice people who are all in work; I get given lots of content – lectures and reams of reading...

By Jon Wardle

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So why do I (and most of my fellow course mates) feel so short changed. I work in higher education so it pains me to say this…but… we have it so wrong…

Why…well… we deliver courses in a way that suits us not the students. Some simple examples are:

• Universities print their timetables about a week before you are about to start the course (and they change them at their own discretion)– how are you supposed to organise childcare and work commitments properly at such short notice.

• Universities give you an email address and then take it away from you as soon as you leave – why don’t they let you keep the one you always had and want to use jbloggs@hotmail.com is so much nicer than sd35345@university.ac.uk – I thought we wanted students to become lifelong learners.

• Students are wherever possible taught in large groups and therefore don’t feel they are taken seriously as individuals.

So what’s the answer if MAs are going to continue to recruit people in work? They need to be more focused on the educational needs of each student and that includes lifestyle needs. Who the student is matters and Universities need to structure courses in ways that allows the students to fashion the course to their own needs – so they truly become masters of their discipline.

Part-time course for creative industries professionals

The Centre for Excellence in Media Practice has started to make strides towards offering an alternative to the current educational masters educational experience (and (fortunately) they aren’t the only ones – Derby, Middelsex, Bath are all developing alternatives to the traditional MA experience)

The MA Creative Media Practice (see http://www.creativedesk.me.uk ) at Bournemouth Media School has been designed for professionals in the creative industries who have been working for at least 2 years. Using the latest online technologies, it allows students to negotiate study with their tutor ensuring that the outcomes are relevant to their needs, and to fashion the course to suit their personal requirements within their own work environment.

The course aims to enhance the student’s professional practice so that the projects they are involved with at work form part of the evidence for their postgraduate qualification. Thus, their work time contributes to the requirements of the course and what they learn immediately improves their working practice.

Option of courses delivered online

The internet plays a key role in facilitating courses like this – no longer do distance learning courses need to be totally textual or isolating experiences – the success of Skype should have taught us that.

So imagine you are making a choice of which MA you should do. The options are:

1. A full time one year programme – but you will need to give up your job, possibly relocate, and work out how you pay the bills while studying.

2. A part-time MA delivered one day a week and an evening – but you don’t know which day it will be and the course material is broad, perhaps with only a small amount of specialisation at the end

3. A part-time MA delivered through several short residential periods with distance learning to support your study – might cut into your 25 day holiday entitlement though – your partner might not be impressed!

4. An MA designed to allow you to look at the history, current practice and future of your chosen discipline delivered totally online and where you work closely with your own tutor to personalise the course to meet your needs.

If it was me I would choose either 3 or 4. What would you choose?

Check out the MA Creative Media Practice - then Work, Learn & Change - http://www.creativedesk.me.uk