2007 IADIS International Conference e-Learning, EL 2007 - Part of the 1st IADIS Multi Conference on Computer Science and Information Systems, MCCSIS 2007, Lisbon, Portekiz, 3 - 08 Temmuz 2007, cilt.2, ss.101-104
© 2007 IADIS.The purpose of this study is to explore challenges and problems facing students in an online MBA program from their perspectives. The program is unique in that it is one of the partnerships formed between a large public Turkish university and an American university. We focus on identifying different dimensions of the sources of the challenges students are facing. A focus-group and semi-structured interviews were conducted by the authors with almost half of the students currently enrolled in the program. Focus-group results showed four main problem sources students faced namely: technology, culture, instructor and individual. These four dimensions were investigated further using in-depth, semi-structured interviews in order to highlight the reasons behind them. The authors provide some guidelines about how the challenges faced by students can be overcome.