I was pleasantly surprised to learn recently that Great Leadership is required reading for an MBA class. Wouldn't it be great if more online MBA programs followed suit too!Bret Simmons, Assistant Professor of Management from the University of Nevada, Reno, is requiring his MBA students to subscribe to at least 5 leadership blogs and provide comments to at least one of them each week. They bring the comments and responses to class to discuss and are graded on their online activity.
I thought this sounded like a pretty cool idea, and wanted to learn more, so I contacted Bret and asked him for an interview. I also contacted one of his students, Christine Adams to get another perspective.
GL: When and why did you start using leadership blogs in your MBA class? How are you using them? Do you use other forms of social media as well?
Bret: I started using blogs in my MBA class about 18 months ago. I use case studies in my class, and I used to have students write stuff up prior to each case study. I got tired of collecting and grading papers, so I decided to require students to blog about each case prior to our in-class discussion. I like it much better. I also have them all join Linkedin and join a group that I create for the class. In Linkedin we can all see and communicate with each other and I can access their blogs easily.
GL: What are the advantages and disadvantages of blogs over traditional textbooks?
Bret: I still use a textbook for the class because of the nature of the subject matter. One thing I am doing this semester is requiring students to visit blogs like yours, Bob Sutton, Mary Jo Asmus, Wally Bock, and Art Petty. These excellent blogs allows my students to have conversations with someone other than me about leadership and management. I have a very definite perspective but it is by no means the only one, so reading these blogs helps my students get a broader picture of leadership.
Now that I have my own blog, I use it to support material we cover in class. I often leave a class with new questions about the subject and materials from interacting with students. I’ll do some research and document what I find at my blog. My blog provides an easily accessible record of all that we talked about during the course. If after the course is over a student encounters an issue at work and remembers we might have covered it in class, he or she can just visit my website to get my thinking on the topic.
I think the blog is a powerful communication platform. Many of my students have never even read a blog before my course, and of course few if any have ever blogged. I just developed a new course on personal branding and blogging is central to that effort.
GL: How are the students reacting?
Bret: I think they like it. They certainly prefer it to writing a paper every week and so do I. The behavior I am trying to encourage is preparation, and blogging serves that purpose quite well.
Christine (former student): Dr. Simmons is preparing us to differentiate ourselves in an increasingly competitive job market. The skills he is requiring us to master increase our written communication skills, highlights our strengths in business and proves to potential employers that we are investing in our future. Bret's courses contain real life applications that we are able to use on a daily basis.
GL: You strike me as an early adopter. What do you see for the future regarding the integration of "Web 2.0" into college curriculums?
Bret: I honestly have no idea whether or not I am an early adopter. I know that I will continue to explore ways to use Web 2.0. Personally, I would like to see more academics take up blogging themselves. It is by far the best thing I have done for myself in my academic career so far.Way to go, Professor Bret! So how about it, professors, teachers, and trainers – are you ready to trade in your textbooks for blogs? Or at least incorporate them into your curriculum? Here are half a dozen reasons why you should (come on, it wouldn’t be a blog post if we didn’t offer up a list):
1. Blogs are free!Having two in college, I’m faced with hundreds of dollars of used textbook bills each semester. A single book can cost up to $200.00! It sure would be nice to take advantage of the vast amount of expert information available on the web ease the financial burden a bit.
2. Diversity of thoughtAs Bret said, instead of 1-2 perspectives, you can expose your students to a broader range of thought leaders on any topic.
3. You can’t talk to a textbookWith blogs, you can leave a comment and get an answer. You can also participate in a dialog with “students” from around the world.
4. Blogs are more current.In many fields, by the time a book is published, it’s already reached its half life.
5. Administrative and learning efficiency
Bret points out many of the ways blogs have made it possible to keep a record of conversations and assignments, with less time on his part reading and grading, leaving more time for discussion, research, and learning.
6. Blogs can reduce back painAll those textbooks in a backpack are heavy! You can carry all of your blogs in a single laptop.
Is this a trend? I hope so, and I’ll bet most bloggers would welcome the opportunity to contribute to academic and corporate learning.
