ONLINE LEARNING
• Cost-effectiveness: smarter brains, smarter budgets Online learning eliminates costs associated with travel, facilities and materials, but it also enhances cognitive ROI. Digital modules can be designed for microlearning: brief, focused segments aligned with working memory limitations. Interactive exercises, branching scenarios and personalised AI tutoring systems ensure relevance and reinforcement. Neuroscience shows that the brain releases dopamine (also known as the ‘motivation molecule’) when tasks feel achievable and rewarding. Digital formats can create this dynamic constantly. Example: A module on ethical leadership includes a five-minute simulation where the learner must respond to a workplace dilemma. Immediate feedback triggers reflection and dopamine release – a double win for learning and behaviour change. • Personalisation: one size does not fit all The notion of standard learning for standard minds is obsolete. Every brain is uniquely wired, influenced by prior knowledge, emotional state and even sleep. Digital learning platforms now harness AI to adapt content to the learner’s pace, preferred format, quiz performance and engagement data. This means less cognitive overload, more optimal challenge and significantly higher retention. When learners feel seen – even if it’s only by an algorithm – they learn more deeply. Example: In our EMBA, one participant struggling with data analytics receives a set of optional foundational videos, while another with a stronger background in the subject skips ahead to applied projects. Same course, two pathways. • Innovation: novelty triggers neuroplasticity The brain thrives on novelty. New formats, surprising insights and engaging experiences stimulate neuroplasticity, ie the brain’s ability to reorganise itself. Multimedia tools, gamified quizzes, social discussion boards and real-time coaching add layers of stimulus that increase memory retention and emotional connection. Online doesn’t mean impersonal. In fact, properly designed, it can be more personal, more human and more memorable. Example: A digital storytelling assignment invites learners to film a 90-second leadership reflection. They receive peer feedback, while a coach comments live. The emotional and visual memory of that experience outlasts any slide deck. Executive education joins the revolution Once dismissed as second-best, online formats are now at the centre of the executive MBA evolution. Institutions such as Wharton, INSEAD and IESE, as well as our own UPF Barcelona School of Management, are redesigning leadership education for a digital-first world. Why? Because executive needs have changed; time is scarce and learning must adapt to packed schedules. Globality is essential;
cross-border cohorts aren’t a luxury – they’re a strategic asset. Outcomes matter: application and behaviour change – not certificates –are the currency of executive development. Research by Harvard, MIT and the World Economic Forum confirms that learning which is spaced, applied and collaborative is more likely to stick. Digital makes that possible. It enables learning in the flow of work, reflection at the moment of need and real-time community building. The neuroscience of change Let’s be honest. Digital transformation is rarely comfortable. That’s because the brain prefers certainty, routine and safety. New models of learning, especially those that challenge identity (as in “I’m a classroom learner”), activate the amygdala, our brain’s alarm system. But here’s the good news: the brain also has an override system. Prefrontal cortex focus and reframing can literally reshape our response. If we fixate on loss (eg “I miss in-person teaching”), we deepen resistance. If we focus on gain (“I’m expanding my adaptability”), we unlock new wiring for growth. Learning is change. Leadership is change. Therefore, the discomfort of online learning is not a flaw: it’s the training. Leadership in a digital era In 2021, the edtech market was valued at almost $255 billion. By 2027, it is projected to exceed $600 billion. But behind the market boom is a deeper narrative: we are shifting from educating for knowledge to educating for neural agility. This isn’t about memorisation; it’s about metacognition – learning how to learn, adapting fast, staying curious and leading through uncertainty. Leaders today don’t win because they know everything. They win because they stay open, reflective and ready. Digital learning is not simply a tool; it’s a mindset enabler. When we invest in online programmes designed with neuroscience and behaviour change in mind, we are not just training executives – we are upgrading human performance. A prepared mind for a changing world Louis Pasteur once said, “Fortune favours the prepared mind”. Today, the prepared mind is digital, adaptive and relentlessly curious. Online learning is no longer a plan B – it is a strategic lever. As we face complex, non-linear and global challenges, leaders must think differently, act differently and learn differently. That requires education to evolve – and that evolution is already here. It’s not about doing less; it’s about doing things differently. If we embrace that difference with scientific rigour, strategic intent and human empathy, we might just unleash the most powerful leadership transformation of our time. Leadership requires both courage and action. Leaders are like experts: they need to be competent, confident and have sufficient knowledge to act in ways that will benefit rather than harm, survive dramatic changes in circumstances or industries and motivate others to follow them. It is not a question of luck, but rather a prepared mind.
Ambition • ISSUE 5 • 2025 35
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