Free MBA taster courses launched by Imperial College Business School on edX for online learners

Imperial College Business School today launched its first series of MOOCs (Massive Open Online Courses), designed to provide essential skills to people who are considering an MBA degree. It will be the first time that Imperial is offering a free online taster of its MBA to students who have yet to meet its rigorous entry requirements.

The free courses are offered as part of a new agreement between Imperial College London and edX, a non-profit online learning destination founded by Harvard and MIT that offers free courses from the world’s top universities to over 8 million learners all around the world. Imperial will join more than 100 global institutions to offer subjects to online learners that reflect its world-class expertise in science, technology and business.

The new Essentials of MBA Success courses have been created by Imperial College Business School and will provide learners with a solid grounding in the foundation topics needed to embark on an MBA. The four courses will cover maths, finance, data analysis and accounting. The courses are now open for enrolment and will start on 17 October.

Drawing on Imperial’s world-class expertise from its Global Online MBA degree, the MOOC courses are targeted at people who are ready to start an MBA degree and want to identify any gaps in their knowledge before they undertake a full degree.

The courses are also designed to appeal to learners who have studied management topics in the past and are considering applying for an MBA. Students will get a flavour of what studying for an MBA at Imperial is like and the preparation needed to succeed in their studies.

Dr David Lefevre, Director of the Edtech Lab at Imperial College Business School said: “As an active participant in the use of edtech and online programmes, Imperial College Business School keenly recognises the growing need for flexible learning programmes that cater for people’s busy lifestyles. MBA programmes, and business education generally, can change lives and through the edX partnership we are enabling more people from all over the world to access our renowned world leading expertise in business education.”

Each course features leading academic experts from the Business School and combines an active, social approach to learning with extensive multimedia. The courses also feature a personalised learning plan highlighting the areas that students need to focus on to acquire the base level of knowledge needed to undertake the core subjects on an MBA.

Anant Agarwal, edX CEO and MIT Professor, said: “We are honoured to welcome Imperial College London to edX. With an expertise in research and teaching designed to tackle real world challenges in business, Imperial shares the edX mission to help learners everywhere gain the knowledge and skills needed to succeed in the evolving workplace.”

The courses are designed to provide a flexible learning experience. Students can study the courses in the order they choose, fitting them around their work and other life commitments. Each course will feature a mixture of academic theory and the ‘real world’ skills needed for business. The subjects are brought to life through interactive exercises and video content. Students also benefit from an expert online tutor to support through the learning materials and associated activities. The courses also foster a learning community and encourage students to connect with other peers studying the same subjects online.

The Essentials of MBA Success courses offered by Imperial College Business School will start on 17 October and run until 2 December 2016. For further information or to sign up for the courses please visit the Imperial College page on the edX website: https://www.edx.org/xseries/essentials-mba-success

ENDS

For more information or interviews please contact:

Laura Singleton, Media and PR Officer
Imperial College Business School
Email: l.singleton@imperial.ac.uk
Tel: +44 (0)20 7594 6127
Out of hours duty media officer: +44 (0)7803 886 248

Notes to Editors
About Imperial College London
Imperial College London is one of the world's leading universities. The College's 16,000 students and 8,000 staff are expanding the frontiers of knowledge in science, medicine, engineering and business, and translating their discoveries into benefits for society.

Founded in 1907, Imperial builds on a distinguished past - having pioneered penicillin, holography and fibre optics - to shape the future. Imperial researchers work across disciplines to improve health and wellbeing, understand the natural world, engineer novel solutions and lead the data revolution. This blend of academic excellence and its real-world application feeds into Imperial's exceptional learning environment, where students participate in research to push the limits of their degrees.

Imperial collaborates widely to achieve greater impact. It works with the NHS to improve healthcare in west London, is a leading partner in research and education within the European Union, and is the UK's number one research collaborator with China.

Imperial has nine London campuses, including its White City Campus: a research and innovation centre that is in its initial stages of development in west London. At White City, researchers, businesses and higher education partners will co-locate to create value from ideas on a global scale.
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