????資深教授道格拉斯?沙克爾福德是一名研究著作頗豐的權威學者。在他的簡歷上,，發(fā)表的論文,、國會證詞和學術榮譽密密麻麻的超過了六頁之多。作為稅收研究方面的權威專家,，他已在北卡羅萊納州大學（t the University of North Carolina）凱南-弗拉格勒商學院（Kenan-Flagler Business School）執(zhí)教將近25年,，同時被斯坦福大學（Stanford）和牛津大學（Oxford）這兩所全球頂級大學聘為客座教授。

????因此,，三年前當凱南-弗拉格勒商學院院長小詹姆士?W?迪安開始認真考慮推出在線MBA課程時,，沙克爾福德的震驚之情可想而知?！芭?，我的老天。我當時想,，學校的預算狀況一定糟透了,。我告訴院長，這是一個非常大的賭注,，不成功便成仁,。如果成功了那他就是英雄，一旦失敗,，他在學校的形象就會毀于一旦,?！?/p>

????迪安一馬當先，毫不畏懼,。他任命最初對在線教學項目持懷疑態(tài)度的沙克爾福德擔任“MBA@UNC”在線MBA項目的副主任,。隨著時間的推移，沙克爾福德的想法有了真正的改變,。他放棄了原來的想法,，變成了在線教育的真正信奉者。現在,，凱南-弗拉格勒商學院正在為今年7月首批MBA在線班學員畢業(yè)做準備,。這位現年55歲的教授承認，凱南-弗拉格勒商學院開設網絡教學真的是高瞻遠矚,。他感慨：“這個決策太英明了,。”

????畢竟,，全球頂級的一些商學院現在都提供在線MBA學位教育,。例如，卡耐基梅隆大學泰珀商學院（Carnegie Mellon's Tepper School of Business）將于今年八月招收第一期網絡班MBA學員,。印第安納大學凱萊商學院（Indiana University's Kelley School of Business）,、西班牙IE商學院（IE Business School）、巴布森學院奧林商學院（Babson College's Olin School）以及亞利桑那州大學凱瑞商學院（Arizona State University's Carey School of Business）的在線MBA項目也在蓬勃發(fā)展,。每隔一周似乎就會有一所商學院宣布新推出在線MBA課程,。在印第安納州和亞利桑那州等地區(qū)的學校，在線MBA班的學員數量甚至多于新錄取的全日制在校學生,。

????就像卡耐基梅隆大學泰珀商學院院長羅伯特?戴蒙說的：“未來教育的趨勢就是利用科技手段多方位地為人們提供更廣博的教育,。很多人都希望獲得名校MBA學歷，但不想脫產學習,?！?/p>

????從沙克爾福德的角度來看,，凱南-弗拉格勒商學院兩年前開始網絡教學不僅作為教學模式的創(chuàng)新先驅為學校贏得了喝彩,，更啟迪教學者從不同的角度去看待教學。該校的在線MBA課程已經吸引了一批出類拔萃經驗豐富的專業(yè)人士,，其中一部分學員的年收入已經超過25萬美元,，他們對教學質量的滿意度非常高。幾乎每個季度,，當凱南-弗拉格勒商學院網絡課堂開始招生時,，錄取的新學員人數都會有所增加。

????Douglas A. Shackelford is a professor's professor. He's a widely published scholar whose CV overflows with six densely packed pages of published papers, Congressional testimonies, and academic honors. A highly regarded authority on taxation, he's been a visiting professor at two of the world's best universities, Stanford and Oxford, and he's been teaching at the University of North Carolina's Kenan-Flagler Business School for nearly a quarter of a century.

????So when Kenan-Flagler Dean James W. Dean Jr. began to seriously consider going into the online MBA market three years ago, Shackelford was understandably aghast. "Oh my God," I thought, "the budget situation must be desperate. I told the dean that this is such a big bet that either he will be a hero for doing it or burned in effigy on campus if it fails."

????Undaunted, Dean plowed ahead, appointing his initially skeptical colleague as the associate dean of the online program, MBA@UNC. In due time, Shackelford shed his reservations and has since become a true convert. Now, as the school prepares to graduate its first class of online MBAs this July, the professor believes that Kenan-Flagler's move into the online space was not only prescient. "It was brilliant," concedes the 55-year-old professor.

????After all, some of the best business schools in the world now offer MBA degrees online. Carnegie Mellon's Tepper School of Business will enroll its first online class this August. Online MBA programs are flourishing at Indiana University's Kelley School of Business, IE Business School in Spain, Babson College's Olin School, and Arizona State University's Carey School. Every other week, a new business school seems to be announcing the launch of yet another cyber-MBA program. At several schools, including Indiana and Arizona State, incoming online MBA classes outnumber the new full-time students enrolled on-campus.

????As Robert Dammon, dean of Carnegie Mellon's Tepper School of Business, puts it, "The wave of the future is the use of technology to deliver education more broadly to people. There [is] a large group of people who don't want to leave their jobs and still want an MBA from a top-tier school."

????From Shackelford's perspective, Kenan-Flagler's move into the market two years ago has gained the school plaudits as an educational innovator and has challenged the faculty to think differently about teaching. The program has drawn an exceptional group of working professionals -- some of them already earning more than $250,000 -- and their satisfaction with the experience has been high. Nearly every quarter, when Kenan-Flagler opens its Internet doors to a new cohort, the size of its incoming classes grows larger.