OVERVIEW
The UCLA Anderson Center for Management of Enterprise in Media, Entertainment & Sports (MEMES) was developing a novel curriculum on sports management. As a first-of-its-kind program at the MBA level, it needed a unique and highly effective approach to content delivery that would engage a high-caliber audience and set a new academic standard.
Involvement
- Curriculum Co-Creation
- Video-Based Learning Production
- Animation & Motion Graphics
- Learning Portal Design & Management
Challenges
The project required a blend of academic rigor and instructional innovation to create a truly world-class learning experience that would meet the high expectations of both the faculty and the students at a top-tier business school.
- Pioneering a New Curriculum: There was no existing template for this curriculum, requiring a deep, collaborative effort to structure and create content from the ground up.
- Engaging a High-Caliber Audience: The learning experience needed to be sophisticated and dynamic enough for top-tier MBA students, moving far beyond traditional, text-based methods.
- Lack of a Centralized Hub:< The program needed a dedicated digital home where students could access all course materials, collaborate with peers, and engage with the content seamlessly.
The OBLIQ Solution
OBLIQ delivered a complete digital learning ecosystem that brought the new curriculum to life, providing students with a rich and engaging educational experience that blended the best of digital and in-person learning.
- Curriculum Co-Creation: We partnered directly with UCLA professors and Subject Matter Experts to co-design the curriculum, structuring it for a dynamic, video-first learning experience.
- High-Quality Video-Based Learning: We produced a series of high-quality educational videos enriched with infographics and animations to explain complex concepts in sports finance, marketing, and management.
- Interactive Activities & Collaboration: We designed hands-on activities and facilitated group discussions within a dedicated learning portal, allowing students to apply their knowledge to practical, real-world scenarios.
- Dedicated Learning Portal: We designed, built, and managed a centralized portal for students to access all videos, supplementary readings, and collaborative activities in one place.
Our Approach
Our approach was to function as an integrated academic design partner. We embedded our instructional designers and creative teams with UCLA’s faculty to ensure the final product was both academically rigorous and instructionally innovative.
Collaborative Content Structuring
We worked with professors to deconstruct complex academic topics and re-imagine them for a visual, video-first medium. This involved storyboarding lectures and identifying key concepts that would be enhanced with animation.
Adopting the Flipped Classroom Model
We strategically designed the digital content to be consumed by students before class. This enabled professors to use valuable in-person time for deep discussion, debate, and collaborative problem-solving, rather than for lectures.
Focus on Real-World Application
We recognized that MBA students are motivated by practical application. Every module was designed to connect theory to real-world sports business scenarios, culminating in activities that required students to use the frameworks they had learned.
Building a Community Hub
The learning portal was designed not just as a content repository but as a hub for the student community. Features like discussion forums and group project spaces were central to the design, fostering peer-to-peer learning.
The Results
The innovative program was a landmark success, establishing a new model for how specialized business education could be delivered and setting a new standard for academic-industry partnership.
- Successful Inaugural Program & Renewal: The innovative, video-based curriculum was extremely well-received by students and faculty, leading to the program's renewal for subsequent sessions.
- Set a New Benchmark: The course set a new standard for sports management education, establishing UCLA as a leader in this specialized field.
- Enhanced Learning Experience: Students provided overwhelmingly positive feedback on the interactive, multimedia-rich approach, which made complex topics more engaging and easier to understand.
