HBS Online: Why Harvard Business School's Digital Rebrand Is Big News For Online Learning

Name change from HBX to Harvard Business School Online symbolizes a maturing market. We speak to Patrick Mullane, executive director of HBS Online, to find out more

Director of HBS Online, Patrick says 42,000 people have taken Harvard’s online courses since 2014

At first glance, it may have seemed like an inconsequential name change: Harvard Business School’s digital learning platform HBX would be called HBS Online.

But commentators have billed the recent rebrand as having the potential for a big impact on online education. For one, the makeover could help to further legitimize the market.

Online learning was initially considered second-rate to campus study, due to concerns about teaching quality and interactivity online. Nitin Nohria, the dean of HBS, saying in 2010 that the school would never go online in his lifetime, appeared to confirm the scepticism.

But he has since admitted he 'misjudged the potential of online education' and is slowly accepting it. Joshua Kim, an Inside Higher Ed blogger, told the publication that the Harvard rebrand suggests 'online education has well and truly arrived'.

The letter “X” has become synonymous...