The program's educational methodology involves blended learning, which blends conventional instructional methods with digital teaching and the use of the web. Thus, it blends the traditional educational method of classroom teaching with a variety of distance learning methods.
The program's six-monthly courses are arranged into four-hour Group Counseling Meetings (GCMs). The University of Athens MBA GCMs are held in Athens, either in person or virtually, during non-working days and hours. In addition to the written exams, each course requires the completion of a written assignment, which is valued at 30% in the computation of the final grade.
Furthermore, the educational program utilizes supportive teaching strategies such as virtual classrooms (virtual learning environments) and other technology-enabled methods. This includes potential personal contact with teaching personnel, during which students can receive tailored guidance or feedback on their progress. As a result, there is more real-time interaction, as there would be in any traditional classroom setting. 'Office hours', for example, are a common feature in which program instructors are accessible for 'one-to-one' sessions at set times, over the internet (e.g., Skype) or 'face-to-face'.
Online educational tools such as e-class, Microsoft Teams, Webex, and others facilitate communication between students and teachers in order to achieve the best possible learning outcomes. It is important that students perceive these options as opportunities to interact with the istructors. Each course's online classroom contains plenty of audiovisual material (videos) including lectures on the material taught and reviewed. Students can attend these lectures whenever they choose. Online education promotes the application of modern educational methodology and, when paired with lifelong learning, helps to ensure effective lifelong learning.
In online education, the program's teaching staff delivers high-quality instruction while utilizing technology communication tools to promote and monitor student progress. Consequently, students are not needed to attend conventional classes and lectures, save for the GCM courses. They can study at any time of day, from home, the office, or any other location, regardless of distance from the facilities of the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens. As a result, students can study and earn a postgraduate degree without affecting their jobs or having to travel far from home.
To acquire the Graduate Diploma, students must successfully complete twelve (12) courses. Each course holds Group Counseling Meetings (GCMs) during the academic semester.
Courses are taught live or remotely on non-working days and hours. In addition to the written tests given at the end of the semester, each course requires the completion of a written assignment in the context of that course. The written assignment accounts for 30% of the overall mark, with the other 70% coming from the written exam. As a result, the Graduate Diploma can only be awarded after successfully completing twelve (12) courses.
The working spaces of the University of Athens MBA courses are accessible at https://eclass.uoa.gr/ and will be quite valuable for the studies. Each student has access to the e-class for the courses he attends. In these online working spaces, someone can find:
- teaching material
- previous years' assignments and test themes, audiovisual material (videos) from each course's program of study, the study timetable, self-assessment tasks, and the course calendar.
Furthermore, in the e-class working space, the teacher of each course provides various information. In addition, students can find the written assignments and supplementary material (e.g., explanations, grading method), useful material (e.g., references to textbooks, addresses from useful websites), and answers to frequently asked questions ("FAQs").
In the online working space of the program courses, students have the possibility of using organizational tools (e.g. calendar, announcements, grades, notes), posting assignments and preparing exercises (e.g. individual and group assignments, multiple-choice and matching questions, exercises self-evaluation), exchange of opinions (e.g. discussion areas with teachers, small talk between trainees), as well as video conferencing.
Finally, we underline that our students can participate in a parallel skills and competency development program called the "Up-Skilling Program" for free.
