Now it is possible to participate in a business classroom from nearly any place. What’s more important is how those standards go along with you in that classroom.
A working professional could attend an online session, implement a concept into their organisation and do an assignment between work activities. A researcher may be studying a business issue in a country and be studying at an institution in another country. There are multiple places, people and systems that are connected within the learning.
This is where the discussion of global accreditation for professionals taking an MBA or DBA at Royale Business College comes into play. Flexibility of access equals opportunity. Quality assurance can contribute to the setting of the conditions for that opportunity to become worthwhile learning.
Accreditation is an external assessment to a set of standards. Quality assurance is the on-going activity by which an institution strives to sustain and enhance its provision. The evidence to consider is evolving, from the online learning environment to the authenticity of assessed work, with digital education.
The big news in my opinion is that quality in education must be proven, everywhere that learning takes place. RBC’s professional MBA and DBA provision provides real-life examples of the importance of this.
The digital classroom is part of the quality evidence
This shift of a lecture to online alters the way students experience it. A viewer of a recording can pause and review a challenging explanation and also needs to be able to ask questions. Flexibility is best suited when the support around it is geared towards that way of learning.
For years, quality assurance has been evolving to meet these questions. The ENQA guidance on e-learning 2018 focuses on e-learning course design, staff preparation, student support and secure assessment. It also suggests the use of learner feedback and learning analytics for informing improvement. These are tangible ways to consider the question of digital provision supporting learning. ENQA’s guidance on quality assurance of e-learning
The broader European framework is in the process of being revised to ESG 2027 and will be formally adopted in 2027. The ongoing review is an example of how quality systems are rethought in the evolution of education. ENQA’s framework revision
This discussion is made real in the student experience in the published learning model of RBC. It is a blend of recorded lectures and live interactive sessions, practical assignments and academic support. Those features can link independent study and opportunities for discussion and application for a working learner. RBC’s learning model
The question is the quality, or how well those elements work together. Is it possible for a student to learn a concept, apply it and get feedback and improve? It’s a good sign of the learning that has been undertaken in an online programme.
AI is changing how achievement needs to be demonstrated
Generative AI is one more level of this development. If the software can generate a reasonable business analysis, then evaluation of student understanding must be carefully thought out.
QAA has released guidance around the reconsideration of assessment in the ChatGPT age, as well as guidance around maintaining standards and designing authentic assessment. The focus is on the assessment of learning in the context of generative AI being available for students. AI and assessment. QAA’s advice on AI and assessment
This is especially helpful when it comes to business education, where the reasons for a recommendation are most important. Which option was chosen and why? What is the evidence for it? What would make a difference to the conclusion?
RBC’s Executive MBA is hands-on, with real-world business projects. This gives students a context to relate concepts of management to organisational decisions. The Executive MBA program at RBC is evaluated through an assessment. RBC Executive MBA assessment
Suppose a project has been undertaken to investigate the possibility of automating a section of a company’s customer service. The learning is in balancing the costs and service quality, and in knowing the impact on the employees and being able to provide a viable recommendation. A well-thought-out assessment can show more about judgement than a well put together answer.
The same applies in research at DBA level. Research methodology and thesis or applied business transformation project are part of RBC’s Global DBA. The educational value is related to the way the learner is able to formulate a question, to deal with evidence and to explain the consequences of the findings. RBC Global DBA structure
These examples illustrate why assessment design should be a part of the conversation on accreditation. The changing nature of digital tools necessitates credible means for institutions to show that learners have reached the desired outcomes.
Cross border learning is making recognition more explicit
A learner, a teaching institution and a workplace can be linked together in an online programme across national borders. The ease of access makes information on qualifications particularly valuable.
The Global Convention on the Recognition of Qualifications concerning Higher Education, which came into force for UNESCO in 2023, is in effect. It helps to ensure fair and transparent recognition and to deal with qualifications acquired through recognised non-traditional learning modes with comparable quality assurance. Recognition continues to be in the context of the Convention and applicable national regulations. UNESCO’s Global Convention
The direction is good for me: learning delivered differently should be evaluated by clear information about the quality and outcomes of learning. There is a difference between accreditation and recognition and it is important that learners are aware of who is accrediting what to enable them to make choices.
In this discussion, there is a specific external quality assurance record of RBC. RBC is independently institutionally accredited by QAHE, and separately accredited for its Global MBA in Business Management and Global DBA in Business Management programmes. Those records render the body and the scope of the name for recognition visible. QAHE’s RBC accreditation record
RBC refers to its awards as a professional postgraduate qualification within the framework of its institution. Knowing what purpose, it serves and having the appropriate accreditation record will enable a professional to think about the programme in relation to their future career or learning objective. The information about awards and accreditation for RBC. RBC’s award and accreditation information
Qualifications are becoming easier to verify digitally
Trust must also go with the learner after he or she has left business school.
One of these developments is European Digital Credentials for Learning. They employ electronic seals and verification checks to verify the origin of a credential and if it has been modified. They can also include details of learning outcomes and assessment. Europass digital credentials
RBC has its own online certificate verification service that enables certificate information to be verified against the college’s records. This is a practical means for a graduate to aid in confirmation of the authenticity of an award. RBC certificate verification
There is no automatic recognition for all purposes as a result of verification. It does, however, bring an important piece of evidence to light. It is used in conjunction with accreditation records to assist individuals to identify who is behind a qualification.
What this evolution means for an RBC learner
These developments render the quality discussion more relevant for those who are thinking of pursuing an RBC MBA or DBA. It extends to the support offered while studying, the chance to show business sense and the documentation that accompanies the award.
The flexibility of delivery, assessment and external quality recognition provided by RBC provides prospective learners with features to consider in that discussion. The purpose of the management application in the MBA and the research focus in the DBA are different, and both require a learning experience that is meaningful in order to achieve.
I think that’s where the guidance should start: It should start with the relationship between what a learner wants to do and the education that he or she will receive as a programme coordinator. Global Career Pathway’s RBC programmes, offer professionals the opportunity to review the pathways and talk with them about the pathway expectations that align with their experience and plans.
Business education can become more relevant to a working professional’s life with a digital classroom. The role of quality assurance is to support that access to become effective across the learning trajectory.
By Mamoona Sikandar
Program Coordinator at Global Career Pathway
