If you aim to gain new business skills, you’ve likely encountered the host of online course options.
One factor that sets some courses apart is interactivity—the extent to which you actively engage in the learning experience.
Harvard Business School Online’s certificate and credential programs are specifically designed to create an interactive experience on two levels: with course content and with fellow business professionals.
Free E-Book: Your Guide to Online Learning Success
Access your free e-book today.
DOWNLOAD NOWWhy Interactivity Is Essential to the HBS Online Learning Experience
While HBS Online courses boast world-class faculty, flexibility, and tangible outcomes, interactivity is one of the primary factors that sets the learning experience apart.
In a recent survey of past participants conducted by City Square Associates, 80 percent said the HBS Online experience was better than other online business programs, and 64 percent said the interactivity was better.
For Kaushal Khodifad, a senior systems engineer at Infosys, the active learning component of HBS Online’s Credential of Readiness (CORe) program changed how he looked at business.
“The virtual, interactive platform was unique,” Khodifad said, “I was continuously engaged with the course's material and learned a lot from my peers. The course's structure and platform continuously forced me to learn more.”
Opportunities to engage with course content and peers are crucial to an enriching educational environment. Here are eight ways HBS Online delivers on that need.
Related: What Makes Learning from Harvard Business School Online Unique?
8 Ways HBS Online Creates an Interactive Learning Experience
1. In-Course Activities
HBS Online hosts courses on a proprietary platform featuring a range of interactive elements. During your course, you’re presented with an activity every three to five minutes, which can be in the form of:
- Written short-answer reflection questions (for example, “What excites you about leadership? What concerns or worries you?”)
- Polls that allow you to compare your answers and opinions to your cohort’s
- Multiple choice questions
- Rating activities (for example, “How risky do you think this decision is on a scale of one to seven?”)
- Ranking activities (for example, “Rank these issues by the priority a manager should assign to them.”)
- Matching activities (for example, “Match the example to the term it best illustrates.”)
- Interactive graphs and charts
- Word clouds illustrating your cohort’s responses
With various activities integrated throughout the course, you consistently encounter new ways to process and apply course content.
2. Social Interaction
You not only interact with course content but with your fellow learners. Because HBS Online uses a cohort model, you take your course at the same time as other learners from around the world.
As you progress, your answers to most reflection questions, as well as rating and ranking activities, are shared with your peers. You’re encouraged to read each other’s responses, “star” answers you’re drawn to, and comment to dig deeper into conversations.
Some courses feature smaller group discussion boards in which you introduce yourself and weigh in on a thought-provoking question. In addition, there’s a “Peer Help” tab for posing and answering questions, allowing you to troubleshoot with and help peers in real time.
Melaine D’Cruze, director of the research office at Aga Khan University, found great value in Disruptive Strategy's social facet.
“I learned so much from the discussion forum and reading everyone else’s experiences,” D’Cruze said. “It’s just amazing. This model of learning—where people can respond to questions and comments and offer up their thoughts and views—was invaluable.”
Social interaction can bolster your connection to the material and open your mind to new perspectives and problem-solving approaches.
3. Real-World Case Studies
One hallmark of the HBS Online learning experience is its focus on real-world business examples. Pioneered by HBS in 1922, the case method is a learning technique that prompts you to assume the perspective of a business leader facing a real challenge. You’re asked to reflect on how you’d approach their situation and then learn how they handled it.
This exercise of imagining what you would do forces you to immerse yourself in the scenario and think critically. Rather than being told how to proceed, you must work through the problem before learning how your peers navigated it.
When leveling up your business skills, it’s helpful to remember that you don’t exist in a vacuum. In a survey of past participants, 74 percent said HBS Online featured better real-world examples than other online business programs.
Many business leaders have encountered the challenges you face; learning directly from their experiences can provide valuable takeaways for your career.
Learn more about HBS Online's approach to the case method in the video below, and subscribe to our YouTube channel for more.
View Video4. Cold Calls
Another unique interactive feature of HBS Online’s course platform is the “cold call.” Both exciting and nerve-wracking, it’s based on the technique professors use in HBS classrooms that involves calling on a student at random to answer a question without time to prepare. When put on the spot, can you make and defend your point?
In your HBS Online course, the cold call comes in the form of a pop-up with a timer, helping you stay alert and learn to articulate your opinions and make decisions with agility.
One learner who found this method useful was Raj Desai, co-founder and CEO of the School of Accelerated Learning, who took CORe to explore new perspectives and build his network.
“With so many things distracting us online today, it’s extremely difficult to keep somebody engrossed for longer durations,” Desai said. “CORe nails this part with its content and delivery. From the videos with guest business executives to the interactive elements to the way we're continually tested via cold calls, CORe keeps you engaged through and through.”
5. Personal Action Plans
Applying business concepts to your career is an overarching theme of HBS Online courses, and several guide you to create a personal action plan.
For instance, in Leadership Principles, HBS professors Joshua Margolis and Anthony Mayo teach the dimensions, functions, and drivers of leadership style to help you determine yours and craft a personal development plan.
Similarly, in Leadership, Ethics, and Corporate Accountability, HBS Professor Nien-hê Hsieh guides you through how to create a playbook for addressing specific legal, economic, and ethical issues within your company based on your personal strengths and weaknesses.
This level of interactivity requires reflection to apply concepts to your work and identify actionable steps to achieve your professional development goals.
6. Capstone Projects
Some HBS Online courses require completing a capstone project. These projects require connecting all the knowledge you’ve gained and applying it to a challenge you face in your career.
For example, the Credential of Leadership, Impact, and Management in Business (CLIMB) comprises seven courses:
- Dynamic Teaming
- Leading in the Digital World
- Personal Branding
- Leadership Principles (for New Leaders) or Organizational Leadership (for Experienced Leaders)
- Business Strategy (for New Leaders) or Strategy Execution (for Experienced Leaders)
- An elective in the finance subject area
- An elective in a topic of your choice
To culminate the yearlong learning experience, you’re asked to apply what you’ve learned through a capstone to solidify your knowledge and jumpstart your career advancement.
7. Simulations
Another feature of select HBS Online courses is the opportunity to engage in simulations.
Negotiation Mastery features four negotiation simulations—one per module. For each, you’re randomly paired with a fellow learner and given a set of guidelines, including background on the issue and what stance you should take. Using video chat, you engage in a negotiation using your course knowledge.
Leadership Principles features another type of simulation, in which you’re given a scenario and asked to record a video addressing your fictional team about the circumstances. Later in the course, you assess and rerecord your video before providing and receiving feedback from peers to strengthen your abilities.
These kinds of simulations enable you to practice your skills in low-stakes settings, learn from mistakes, and build confidence.
8. The HBS Online Community
Finally, interaction doesn’t need to end when your course does. By joining the HBS Online Community, you can engage with a global network of business professionals that offers numerous benefits. Featuring more than 30 Chapters, you can connect with others online or in person about your courses, industry, and interests.
For Bogotá Chapter Organizer Rosario Ariza García, being part of the Community has been immensely valuable.
“When you sign up for a course, you’re also signing up to expand your community,” Ariza García said. “We have a strong community of people interested in learning and advancing their careers. I couldn’t be prouder or more honored to be a part of it.”
Learn more about the HBS Online Community in the video below.
Beyond joining a Chapter, you can get involved in the annual Community Challenge and be part of a team working to help solve a nonprofit’s pressing business needs.
You can also attend Connext, HBS Online’s annual hybrid conference with opportunities to network, observe and participate in case studies, and learn from HBS faculty and leadership.
Staying engaged with a broader community can help you build your network, feel part of something bigger than yourself, and put your course knowledge to work.
Immersing Yourself in Business Education
If you’re ready to further your education, consider taking an online business course. HBS Online’s offerings span eight subject areas:
- Business essentials
- Leadership and management
- Entrepreneurship and innovation
- Digital transformation
- Strategy
- Marketing
- Finance and accounting
- Business in society
If you’d like to take your learning a step further, you can pursue a Learning Track, which enables you to earn a Certificate of Specialization by completing three courses in a subject area within 18 months. You can also explore the CORe and CLIMB programs.
Whichever learning option is best for your goals, rest assured that your experience will be interactive and engaging.
Are you interested in discovering how HBS Online can help advance your career? Explore our course catalog, and download our free guide—complete with interactive workbook sections—to determine if online learning is right for you and which course to take.
