You need to know about MOOCs. . . at least as far as educating yourself, upskilling your workforce, or pursuing online courses and certifications that your budget will love. MOOCs aren’t for everyone and don’t make sense in all circumstances. But used wisely and selectively, these free online courses can help enable students from all walks of life to access educational resources that have historically been restricted to a privileged few. While the MOOC model, which has been around since 2010 -2012, has its downsides—low completion rates and a general lack of regulation, for example—it still has the potential to deliver major benefits to a diverse learner base.
You may not be familiar with the term “MOOC,” but you've probably heard of a number of prominent open online course providers like #Coursera, #FutureLearn, #Udemy, #EdX, and #Udacity that offer free online courses taught by top university professors as well as certifications (typically for a modest fee). In general, MOOC courses range in length from one to sixteen weeks, with the average course lasting roughly six to eight weeks. Auto-graded quizzes and peer feedback assignments may be available, although certain elements—for example, graded assignments—may sit behind a paywall. Certificates of completion and nanodegrees may be available for free or for a modest fee.
Although originally created by universities and reserved for academic circles, MOOCs have now found their way into the mainstream business world. Applying Data Analytics to Marketing, Fundamentals of International Business, Diversity and Belonging in Businesses and Organizations, Supply Chain Design, and Best Practices for Project Management Success are actual courses available via a simple online search. Further, some MOOCs can lead to academic credit (usually with a fee payable), but this might only be recognized by the institution offering the MOOC coursework.
You can earn course certificates, a specialization certificate (after taking a series of courses), and even full degrees depending on your company and the MOOC associated with it. For example, Udacity launched its first MOOCs-for-credit in 2013 in collaboration with San Jose State University. Udacity announced the first entirely MOOC-based master's degree, a collaboration between Udacity, AT&T, and the Georgia Institute of Technology, costing $7,000, a fraction of its normal tuition. Following are some of the largest and most well-known MOOCs:
The Largest and Most Well-Known Massive Open Online Courses
MOOC | Typical Course Offerings | Cost |
|
|
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Coursera | Business & Management, IT, Languages, Creative Arts & Media, Healthcare, History, Law, Literature, Nature, Environment, Politics, | Most courses free to audit; certificates at different prices |
Future Learn | Business & Management, IT, Languages, Creative Arts & Media, Healthcare, Medicine, History, Law, Literature, Nature, Environment, Politics, | Free access to courses, paid certification |
The Great Courses | Better Living, Economics & Finance, Fine Arts, History, Literature & Language, Mathematics, Music, Philosophy & Intellectual History, Professional, Religion, Science. | Commercial as either a purchase per course or a streaming subscription for multiple courses |
Iversity | Business & Management, IT, Languages, Creative Arts & Media, Healthcare, Medicine, History, Law, Literature, Nature, Environment, Politics, | Free and paid courses |
Arts, Photography | Free | |
General Education. Early Childhood Education to University Level. | Free | |
Business, Technology | Free trial, then subscription | |
Open Classrooms | For Employers and Students: IT, Business & Management, Science, Engineering & Math. | Free & paid courses |
Open Learning | For Educators: Business & Management, IT, Languages, Creative Arts & Media, Healthcare, History, Law, Literature, Nature, Environment, Politics, Society, Psychology, Science, Engineering, Math, Teaching | Free & paid courses |
Shaw Academy | Business & Management, IT, Languages, Creative Arts & Media, Healthcare, History, Law, Literature, Nature, Environment, Politics, Society, Psychology, Science, Engineering, Math, Teaching | Free trial then paid |
Stanford Online | Innovation & Thinking Design, Cyber Security, AI, Leadership, Health, Medicine, Environment, Energy, Arts, Humanities, Education | Free & paid courses |
IT, Business, Product management, Career | Free & paid courses | |
Udemy | Anything from introductory tutorial to professional certification track | Paid (content longer than 2 hours), determined by instructor (content ≤ 2 hours |
MOOCs are for large numbers of participants, can be accessed by anyone anywhere as long as they have an Internet connection, are open to everyone without entry qualifications, and offer a full/complete course experience online for free. MOOCs from private, non-profit institutions originally emphasized prominent faculty members and expanded existing #distancelearning offerings (e.g., podcasts) into free and open online courses.
Today, MOOCs are widely seen as a major part of a larger disruptive innovation taking place in higher education with the potential to reduce rising tuition costs, while sharing knowledge with a global learner base. Because of massive enrollments, MOOCs require instructional design that facilitates large-scale feedback and interactive models. The two basic approaches are:
· Peer-review and group collaboration
· Automated feedback through objective, online assessments, (e.g. quizzes and exams).
Machine grading of written assignments is also underway. Models may vary considerably, so it's important you make this an important selection criterion when evaluating different platforms.
Massive Open Online Courses for Career and Professional Development
MOOC coursework and certification may go a long way in meeting your career and professional development needs by providing outstanding free or low-cost training. Companies are teaching their employees how to access MOOCs and other free or low-cost resources to reskill and upskill according to the market’s changing needs. Think of a Massive Open Online Course as a program aimed at unlimited participation via the internet. MOOCs typically offer educational materials such as videos, readings, and assignments, and they often include interactive user forums to support community interactions among students, professors, and teaching assistants. MOOCs can be free of charge or offered at a low cost compared to traditional university courses, making education more accessible to a global audience. They cover a wide range of subjects and are supported by various institutions and organizations worldwide.
Which online certification is most valued? While MOOCs are not limited to only IT- and computer-related coursework, the numbers indicate that the following courses and types of courses resonate most and are attended by the largest number of MOOC participants:
Cybersecurity
Data Science and Big Data
Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning
Digital Marketing
Web Design Certificate Programs
Google Analytics Certifications
Coding Languages and Computer Science Online Certificate Programs
Completing a MOOC course and earning a certificate can validate your new skills to potential employers. They’re good for networking as well since MOOCs often include forums or discussion boards where you can interact with instructors and fellow learners from around the world, leading to potential project collaboration opportunities. Likewise, MOOC platforms often offer courses that cater to both beginners and advanced learners, allowing you to continuously build upon your existing knowledge and skills. Most important, MOOCs are valuable tools for upskilling because they provide accessible, flexible, and current content that can help you meet the evolving skill needs of today's changing job market.
Displaying a MOOC certification on your resume or LinkedIn profile can help showcase your skills and commitment to continuous learning. On your resume, create a dedicated section titled “Professional Certifications” and include your MOOC certifications. Be sure to include the specific MOOC that awarded the certification. List the certification title, the platform or institution where you earned it (e.g., Coursera, edX), and the date of completion. If the certification is particularly relevant or prestigious, you can briefly mention key skills or topics covered in the course under your bullet points for the relevant work experience and skills sections. If no certification is offered, you can list instead, “Relevant Coursework Completed,” and include the titles of the courses you took. Likewise, on your LinkedIn profile, add the MOOC certification completion to the “Licenses and Certifications” section. (LinkedIn Learning makes this very easy with the push of a button.) Be sure to use the full title of the certification as it appears on your certificate to help recruiters understand exactly what you’ve achieved.
MOOKs for Upskilling Your Workforce to Meet Today’s Ever-Changing Market Demands
MOOCs can be highly beneficial for upskilling and meeting today's most pressing training needs because of their global accessibility. The variety of topics is amazing: think of everything from technical skills (like programming, data analysis, and cybersecurity) to soft skills and emotional intelligence (like leadership, communication, teambuilding, and time and project management). Following is a sampling of some of the most popular MOOC courses available:
Course | Joint Provider |
|
|
Introduction to Computer Science | Harvard / edX |
Learning How to Learn | UC San Diego / Coursera |
Machine Learning | Stanford / Coursera |
Justice | Harvard / edX |
The Science of Happiness | Berkeley / edX |
Intro to Artificial Intelligence | Udacity |
Likewise, if you want your HR or digital marketing teams to learn more about how Generative Artificial Intelligence (Gen AI) works, how to create effective prompts for Gen AI tools, or how to evaluate AI outputs for biases or inaccuracies, a MOOC course offering may provide a timely resource. Further, MOOCs are flexible in that your employees learn at their own pace and on their own schedule. They’re updated regularly to reflect the latest industry trends and developments and are typically free to enroll in with optional certificates for a small fee.
How can MOOCs help you upskill your workforce to meet the demands of today’s technological and global advances? Following are certain easy-to-identify benefits that permit you to scale learning in your organization quickly and efficiently:
1. MOOCs are accessible and flexible. Anyone with an Internet connection anywhere in the world can access content and learn at their own pace and on their own schedule. Learnings can then be discussed and reinforced in onsite training workshops using your organization’s tools and systems.
2. MOOCs are available for free or at a low cost compared to traditional in-person training programs. As such, high-quality content can be taught to large numbers of employees simultaneously.
3. MOOCs are often developed and taught by experts from top universities, authors, and industry leaders. Since the inception of MOOCs around a decade ago, major universities like Harvard, Stanford, MIT, UC Berkeley, the University of Texas, and others have entered this space, partnering with MOOC platforms to reach the largest audiences with expert content.
4. Certifications and Credentials: Many MOOCs offer certificates of completion (typically provided in PDF format), which can serve as a formal recognition of a learner’s new skills and knowledge, adding value to their professional profiles.
5. Scalability: MOOC courses can be rolled out to large numbers of employees, making them suitable for organizations of all sizes.
Combine that with the wide range of topics available, up-to-date content that reflects the latest trends and developments in a given field, and the opportunities for standardized training with a global reach, and you’ve got a potential solution that can help companies grow by becoming more agile, innovative, and competitive in short timeframes.
Disadvantages of MOOCs
With all this positive potential, it sounds like MOOCs may be too good to be true. On the one hand, MOOCS have continuously grown over the past decade. Coursera is the world’s largest free-study platform, for example, with over 129 million learners and over 16,000 course offerings from over 300 partners. Further, MOOCs had reached over 220 million learners by 2021 offering over 3100 courses and 500 micro credentials. MOOCs are expected to be a $25 billion industry by 2025.
Still, MOOCs aren’t for everyone, as evidenced by their low completion rates (typically under ten percent for most programs). So, what gives and what’s the catch?
First, the format provides limited learning support, so students need plenty of self-motivation and time management skills to stay on track (which isn’t always easy with an eight- or sixteen-week self-paced course). In many cases, courses demand a high level of commitment and self-motivation, which can clash with competing priorities.
Second, despite MOOCs’ attempts to make courses interactive and engaging, many tend to boil down to prerecorded lectures with limited human interaction. The absence of face-to-face interaction with instructors and peers can hinder the development of interpersonal and collaborative skills, which are crucial in many adult learning, professional settings. (Note that assigning mentors to students is an interaction-enhancing technique offered by some programs to combat this natural tendency toward isolation.)
Third, employers aren’t necessarily aware of what MOOCs are or what value they bring. While surveys of hiring managers indicate that they would view a MOOC positively (assuming they know what it is), they also state that they would prefer traditional degrees to MOOCs.
Fourth, while MOOC courses may be offered in different languages, most courses are taught in English. True, the increasing popularity of English as a global language has created a situation where it has more second language speakers than any other language in the world. But their English/American-centric foundation can be off-putting for those with limited English language abilities to stick with courses for extended periods of time.
Finally, critics argue that by offering courses that potentially lack academic rigor, often have no prerequisites, are near-impossible to fail, and charge upfront fees for certificates that may not be universally recognized, MOOCs are not a legitimate solution to the training and upskilling needs for 21st century businesses.
To address any potential concerns about these potential limitations, be sure to track the following features when evaluating and comparing MOOC platforms:
· Cost
· Student Reviews
· Instructor Profiles
· Course Layout / Instructional Design Methods
· Syllabus and Course Material Details
A side-by-side comparison of your final list of MOOC platforms should help you compare costs, benefits, and potential solutions to your workforce’s (and potentially your own) training needs.
A New Way Forward
MOOCs can be seen as a form of open education offered for free through online platforms. The philosophy behind MOOCs is to open up quality higher education to a significantly broader audience via its widely accessible educational format. MOOCs are regarded by many as an important tool to widen access to higher education for millions of people, including those in the developing world, and ultimately enhance their quality of life. MOOCs may be regarded as contributing to the democratization of higher education, not only locally or regionally but globally as well. As such, MOOCs can help democratize content and make knowledge reachable for everyone. Participants are able to access complete courses offered by universities all over the world, something previously unattainable. With the availability of affordable technologies, MOOCs increase access to an extraordinary number of courses offered by world-renowned institutions and instructors.
The next disruptor in MOOC development will likely mark a tipping point in the disruptive practices of Open Design in educational technology: an entirely free online curriculum leading to a degree from an accredited institution. With this new business model, students might still have to pay to certify their credentials but not for the process leading to their acquisition. If free access to a degree-granting curriculum were to occur, the business model of higher education would dramatically and irreversibly change.
One thing’s for sure: access to new educational resources surrounding innovative and groundbreaking technologies will likely continue to gain momentum as workforce upskilling demands skyrocket. Explore these resources to see if they’re right for you and for your organization as a cost-effective resource for skill acquisition moving forward. Combined with live, interactive, and engaging follow-up, the MOOC resource model may play a critical role in corporate America’s professional development surrounding technical, soft skill, and leadership training needs.
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