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It used to be simple. If a university wanted to create an online program, they had two choices. One was to outsource to an Online Program Manager (OPM). The other was to do it in-house. Neither was perfect, but both had advantages.

Management consultants sit prominently on the leading edge of business — which explains why so many of them have implemented online learning programs.

Educational outreach that teaches basic and advanced business skills can not only be a profitable venture in its own right, but it can also help a consultancy to differentiate in the market, leverage their intellectual property or brand, generate new client relationships, and consolidate long-term relationships with existing clients.

Recently I was on a panel at the LearnLaunch Across Boundaries conference. The panel — titled “Outsourcing Online Programs: The Shape of Things to Come or a Bad Moon Rising?” — was moderated by Howard Lurie, Principal Analyst at Eduventures and author of a soon-to-be-released research report on the state of the Online Program Management (OPM) market.  

Extension Engine, a leading provider of Custom Learning Experiences, announced that it was selected to help create Kauffman FastTrac®, an innovative online learning program. FastTrac equips aspiring entrepreneurs with business skills, resources, tools and insights, and enables affiliate groups to create peer networks and provide community members with the confidence and information they need to start and grow businesses. FastTrac is a program of the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, the largest foundation in the world devoted to entrepreneurship.

I recently attended the 2018 ELI Annual Meeting, a conference dedicated to progress in higher education innovation, as most of them are these days.

One of the best sessions I went to was “Effective Educational Applications,” and it wasn’t the best just because we were introduced to an interesting application of virtual reality in the classroom.