Wharton School

Web-Based Collaboration Enriches Learning at Wharton
99% of Wharton MBAs Use the School's Unique "webCafé" Groupware with a 97% Satisfaction Rating

June 2002 — The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania is reaping the rewards of its early adoption of web-based collaborative groupware into its MBA curriculum.

Wharton's webCafé, built on a digital workplace solution from eRoom Technology, provides virtual "meeting rooms" on the web in which faculty and students discuss topics of interest; share documents, group calendars and task lists; and collaborate on projects online, regardless of schedule or location.

According to the most recent annual student satisfaction survey of all Wharton MBA candidates, 97% of respondents categorized webCafé as "valuable," with 67% stating that they found webCafé "very valuable." Since Wharton began utilizing webCafé in the Fall of 1998 as part of the School's award-winning "SPIKE" student intranet, use of webCafé has expanded to 5200 users — 99% of full-time MBA candidates, all executive MBA students, almost all Wharton undergraduates, and a large percentage of doctoral and evening students, faculty, and teaching assistants.

"The Wharton School has pioneered the application of technology to enhance the educational experience," said Gerry McCartney, CIO and associate dean of the Wharton School. "webCafé supports the type of collaborative teamwork that is central to the Wharton curriculum."

Professors in almost every Wharton department now use webCafé's collaborative groupware features in their teaching. The number of MBA courses in which Wharton faculty use webCafé to augment their in-class instruction has grown 2860 percent since 1998.

While many business schools now use off-the-shelf course-management software, Wharton is unique in integrating a rich, collaborative learning tool throughout its curriculum that provides multi-way communication rather than the more traditional one-way, faculty-to-student communication.

Wharton's webCafé is one component of the School's ambitious plan to reshape the nature of business education. Wharton's Alfred West Jr. Learning Lab is exploring new methods of learning and instruction using interactive multimedia and real-time simulations. Jon M. Huntsman Hall, opening in August, will be the largest and most sophisticated instructional technology center at any business school. The 320,000 square foot facility will incorporate multiple-screen video projection, on-demand video and audio recording, and broadband video teleconferencing throughout the building's 48 classrooms and 57 group study rooms. High-speed Internet2 connections will link Wharton's Philadelphia campus with "Wharton West" in San Francisco and to allied institutions such as INSEAD in Fontainebleau, France.

"Wharton views technology not as an end in itself," said McCartney "Rather, Wharton's technology provides a platform for the School to explore new methods of research and learning that would not otherwise be possible."

The School's Wharton Research Data Services (WRDS) has already transformed the practice of academic data research by providing a web-based service that has become the standard for financial and economic data research. Wharton licenses WRDS to other top-tier business schools including Stanford, Harvard, MIT, and University of Chicago.

The School's 80-person technology team develops cutting-edge technology tools that differentiate Wharton from its competitors. "SPIKE," Wharton's award-winning student information portal, launches its eighth generation in July. And, a new Wharton^TM Lectern, unveiled last week at the NeoCon® World's Trade Fair 2002, received a "Best of NeoCon" Silver award for its innovative combination of design and technology.

Opinion Research Corporation of Princeton, NJ conducted the Wharton School survey. Every MBA student was queried on numerous measures of satisfaction about the Wharton School, including technology.

The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania is recognized around the world for its academic strengths across every major discipline and at every level of business education. Founded in 1881 as the first collegiate business school in the nation, Wharton has approximately 4,600 undergraduate, MBA, and doctoral students, more than 8,000 participants in its executive education programs annually, and an alumni network of more than 75,000 worldwide.