How Online Business Education Has Evolved

• The quality, scope, and legitimacy of online business programs have improved considerably since the pandemic.
• These advancements mirror a growing interest in online-adjacent programs, such as hybrid or flex options.
• We look at the most recent online learning innovations—and what the future could look like for them.

Online education is at a crossroads. After so many programs were hurriedly shifted online during the pandemic, many students were left frustrated with the end result. Schools hadn’t adapted their programs for an online audience, and in many cases they simply taught an in-person program on Zoom. It led to student protests and even refusals to pay tuition fees.

Now, however, things are much different. “Since the pandemic, when online programs saw a huge surge, we have had a chance to test all sorts of different formats,” says Barbara Stöttinger, dean of executive education at HEC School of Management Paris. “This has helped us to take our digital programs to the next level.”

According to Michelle Barton, academic program director of the Flex MBA at Johns Hopkins Carey Business School, the pandemic also helped to legitimize online study. “ Before COVID, online programs were often considered lower-tier programs. And I think it’s now quite well established that they can be a legitimate and high-quality approach to education.”

Here’s what you can expect from an online business program in 2025—and some innovations to look for in the next few years.

Programs Built for Online Study

One of the biggest criticisms leveled at online programs during the pandemic was that they were too passive; in other words, they were often just two-hour lectures transplanted onto Zoom. That has all changed.

 "Great teachers are always going to be thinking about their pedagogy, no matter what format they're in,” explains Barton. “But once we moved online, everyone now really has to think about, if you're doing a three-hour course on Zoom, lecturing for three hours is just not going to work."

It means that online business programs in 2025 are far more dynamic and participatory than they were five years ago. For instance, Cambridge Advance Online—the online branch of Cambridge University—is using a wide range of tools to transform online learning from a static experience into “active, social learning,” according to senior learning designer Madeleine Thorn.

As an example, she mentions Miro, an online whiteboard tool that students can use to brainstorm and map tasks together. Cambridge Advance Online students also have access to Hypothesis, an annotation tool they can use for live collaborative note-taking, and H5P, which generates automated questions during a class to keep students engaged.

These tech tools have all been integrated to keep students more interested and more invested during online classes.

More Gamification

As online classes have become more active and participatory, it’s probably not a huge surprise that they have also become more gamified. So rather than simply answering standalone questions or tasks, students might also collect points, follow class leaderboards, or even work toward achievements.

It’s a development that Barton believes is simply mirroring trends in wider society. “I think that we are increasingly teaching the gaming generation,” she says. “It’s not that education needs to be gamified—I’d be cautious of that. But I do think that students will continue to demand more interactive learning.”

Stöttinger, meanwhile, says that HEC Paris has also taken an approach to online study “enhanced by gamification”—and has adapted its class formats accordingly. Classes are now shorter and more impactful, delivering online content in bite-sized chunks instead of long lectures.

So while you shouldn’t expect an online business school lecture to be an extended gaming session anytime soon, you should be prepared to actively participate in a way that perhaps won’t always happen during in-person classes.

The Rise of Hybrid Study

Yet online study can only go so far. Realistically, you’re never going to fully replicate in-person interaction, so schools are increasingly merging the two formats. This is often known as hybrid or flex study, and it is steadily growing in interest among business school students.

Globally, preference for hybrid business programs has increased from 12 percent in 2019 to 17 percent in 2023. While that may not seem like a huge rise, it’s more significant when you consider that interest in both fully online and fully in-person study has fallen in the same period. Business schools are starting to respond to those shifts in student tastes.

 “We’re seeing lots of other programs where people are starting to say, Look, it doesn’t have to be all or nothing,” says Barton.

While the pandemic led to a greater interest in (and acceptance of) studying online, it also showed us how much we value in-person interaction. It’s another factor in the rise of hybrid learning. “We also experienced during the pandemic that spending time together physically inside and outside the classroom has a substantial value for learning and growth,” says Stöttinger.

AI as a Learning Aid

When ChatGPT first appeared on the scene in 2022, there were plenty of worries that students would use it to gain an unfair advantage. However, those fears haven’t quite played out as expected. So far, AI adoption has actually been higher among faculty than students.

Schools are now using AI to deliver online programs more efficiently, helping them save time and devote more resources to teaching. But they’re also starting to use the technology to improve the online learning experience for students.

For instance, Barton believes that one interesting potential application of AI in business education is to create better, more timely business simulations. It could, for example, analyze trending business topics and ask students how they would respond to them in real time. “I think there’s a lot of potential coming from that technology that we’re definitely going to see in learning,” she says.

For Stöttinger, innovations like this are only the beginning. “We will see a big boost through AI applications in learning journeys.” ranging from customizing learning paths according to individual learners’ needs and objectives, curating and customizing content to such learning paths, using AI applications in teaching to explore the opportunities and limitations.

“Like in other industries, there is a lot to explore around AI in education.”

A LEGO Approach to Learning

Yet one of the most exciting innovations we’re seeing is what Barton describes as the “LEGO approach” to online study.

“ I think we’re going to see just a lot more modularity and certificates that build to degrees; more flexibility and the modality and your choice of how you put electives together,” she says. “These programs will look more and more like LEGO [blocks] that we put together—that’s where I think we’re heading.”

Stöttinger agrees. She reveals that HEC Paris has invested “considerable amounts” into the modularization of their available programs. Essentially, as an HEC Paris student you can “build your own learning journey, on the topic of your choice, over a period of time that you choose, that takes you from a module to a certificate up to a degree program.”

“Building your own learning path customized to your current needs and interests has become a reality,” she adds.

However, Barton cautions that a complete build-your-own approach to online study may not always be feasible. “If we go too far then you could potentially lose the value of the degree. [A student may not] like accounting or finance, but if you’re getting an MBA then you’ve got to take it because it’s fundamental to understanding how businesses work.” If students opt out of such courses, they’ll lack essential knowledge, which will ultimately harm them in the workplace.

Regardless of how these scenarios play out, one thing is clear: online business programs are going to keep evolving and getting better. As for what they’ll look like in another five years? That’s anyone’s guess.