Harvard Business School Debuts HBX Live, a New Kind of Online Classroom

Harvard’s new online classroom will combine the interactivity of a live seminar with the flexibility of online learning. Starting this summer, what once was a plain ol’ WGBH studio will become a virtual classroom that may revolutionize the way we think about online education. Dubbed HBX Live, the new Harvard Business School collaboration with the public broadcaster will use the space in the same manner as a traditional lecture hall—with a professor at the front presiding over a semicircle of 60 screens, each one a stand-in for an off-site student. The initiative will debut as part of the business school’s new online learning platform, HBX, which launches this month.