Once upon a time (i.e., a few years ago), digital prognosticators predicted the demise of the traditional college experience via massive open online courses (MOOCs).
But that Nostradamus-induced vision has yet to be realized. Oh yes, MOOCs are growing in popularity, but it turns out that they’re not primarily targeting college students anymore.
All around the globe, business owners and entrepreneurs are delving into MOOCs to train and educate their employees. People conducting a job search are also tapping into the easy availability of MOOCs, earning some “secret sauce” while looking for that next employment opportunity.
Is there a MOOC in your future, either for personal development or companywide training? As a public service, I’ve saved you time by researching what the heck this MOOC business is all about.
Feel free to leave a (virtual) apple on my (social media) desk at the end of class…
A Brief Overview of MOOCs for the Uninitiated: According to the official entry supplied by my on-again off-again friend Wikipedia,
“A massive open online course (aka MOOC) is an online course aimed at unlimited participation and open access via the web…MOOCs are a recent and widely researched development in distance education, which was first introduced in 2008 and emerged as a popular mode of learning in 2012.”
The person credited with coining this catchy acronym is Dave Cormier of the University of Prince Edward Island, in association with a 2008 online course entitled “Connectivism and Connective Knowledge.”
MOOCs were originally proclaimed a cost-effective way to equalize and disseminate education to the student masses. However, it seems that MOOCs are segueing into a means of educating the educators who work with students in the classroom.
In 2014, Harvard University experimented with the MOOC platform by offering a course entitled “Leaders of Learning” (through its Graduate School of Education). At that time, two-thirds of the enrollees identified themselves as teachers.
The course, a partnership between HarvardX and edX, is currently archived. However, you can access the available features and explore them at your own pace. Per the online enrollment page, future live-run dates will be announced.
According to a very recent article in The Atlantic, MOOCs are perhaps best primed right now as vehicles of professional development for business peeps who already have a college degree. (See The Atlantic’s 6/23/15 article, “The Accidental Power of MOOCs,” for more details…)
Next up: an encouraging example regarding practical application of MOOCs in the burning-hot arena of…federal government cybersecurity!
If MOOCs Are Good Enough for Federal Employees, They’re Good Enough for You: One person who sees great potential in MOOCs for professional development is Ryan Corey, founder of Cybrary.
His start-up offers free online cybersecurity training and coursework to IT professionals, with an emphasis on assisting our government’s employees.
Here’s what Mr. Corey has to say about MOOCs (per an article from FCW: The Business of Federal Technology):
“Corey said he launched Cybrary in part because he thinks people–and federal workers in particular–shouldn’t have to pay big bucks for IT and cybersecurity training and because it was clear that cyber skills should be more broadly distributed.”
Corey, a thirteen-year veteran of the cybersecurity industry, started Cybrary in January 2015. So far, he’s able to continue offering free access to Cybrary’s MOOCs (in the true spirit of open online courses) by charging fees for certifications of completion and advertising opportunities on his website.
Interested in sprucing up your IT knowledge at no cost? Then check out Mr. Corey’s list of suggested MOOCs in the article (scroll down to “MOOCs to try.”)
Companies and Entrepreneurs Are Tapping into the Communal Power of MOOCs…: While college students were the original MOOC target audience, the benefits of offering these courses to business professionals and employers/entrepreneurs are potentially enormous.
Back in 2013, Forbes magazine assessed the potential of MOOCs in the business world for professional development and completion of certifications.
Some of the organizations dominating the shifting MOOC ecosystem in 2015 include edX, Udacity, Coursera, iversity, and FutureLearn. The methodology regarding MOOCs is that the MOOC “company” or organization partners with a university or huge corporation.
The industries adjusting their current training and education methods to include MOOCs range from IT and financial services to health care and general business/entrepreneurship.
Here’s a sampling of courses that intrigued my busy business eyeballs whilst researching this post:
“Health Literacy and Communication for Health Professionals” (via Coursera)
“Sustainability and Business Innovation” (via openSAP)
“Musician As a Start-Up” (via iversity)
“Software Security” (via Coursera)
“Becoming a Dynamic Educator” (via Canvas.net)
To explore the wide-open world (sorry, couldn’t resist!) of free MOOCs, start with the resource I used to find these courses: the Mooc List aggregator. The site is a bit convoluted, but you’ll be amazed at what’s available FOR FREE from the various MOOC organizations.
I suggest starting with the “Providers and Categories” search engine. You might even find a course with practical application for yourself (or for everyone at your company)…
Other MOOC search engines for your consideration include Class Central, MOOCSE.COM, and Mooctivity (currently in Beta).
Anant Agarwal, CEO of edX, Gave One Heck of a TEDTalk About MOOCs: Although it’s not a recent clip, check out this 2013 TEDTalk by edX’s CEO, Anant Agarwal. He provides persuasive support for the continued viability of MOOCs by explaining how an edX course actually works.
The good people at Tagoras claim that “If you have never participated in a MOOC, these visuals [in Mr. Agarwal’s TEDTalk] provide some useful background.”
If you’re still hesitant about the whole MOOC thing, I encourage you to read Jeff Kobb’s December 2014 article (on the Tagoras website), “Leveraging MOOCs for Professional Development and Continuing Education.”
Now that you know more about MOOCs, would you consider registering yourself or a group of employees at your company for this type of online training? If you’ve taken a massive open online course over the past few years, was your experience a positive or a negative one?
What other MOOC resources are available that I didn’t mention in this post? I intend to try a MOOC soon. The one that currently piques my curiosity is entitled “Storytelling for Change” (via +Acumen and The Ariel Group).
Regarding the future of MOOCs, it might be foolhardy to ignore Stuart Leslie Goddard’s predated words of wisdom (circa 1980). He’s better known to new-wave music junkies as Adam Ant of Adam and the Ants: “Don’t Be Square (Be There).”
Lori Shapiro is the owner of By All Writes LLC, a business-to-business (B2B) writing, editing, and research company in Marlton, New Jersey. She revels in shielding her clients from the pain of writing their own print or web marketing and educational copy. Please call Lori Shapiro at 856-810-9764 or e-mail By All Writes LLC at lori@byallwrites.biz for a no-obligation project quote today!
I’ll have to come back and explore the links in more detail, but what strikes me initially is how valuable this approach might be for nonprofits whose professional development resources are tight (like my current employer). Also my son, who is still paying the student loans on his solid liberal arts college degree, which gave him the critical thinking skills we hoped it would, but not a clear career path. Or novelists, creating characters and needing to develop some expertise in their professions. I will resist the impulse to MOOC like a cow with the hiccups.
Hi Paula,
First: I apologize for my delayed reply; the e-mail notification for your comment landed in my Spam folder. Merde!
Next: I agree with you–various niches in the business world have yet to explore the potential of MOOCs. (Also, I couldn’t resist blogging about a means of professional development tagged with such a great acronym!)
Thanks for “grazing” in my blog’s verdant pasture…
Regards,
Lori
(p.s. Kudos to your son for learning how to think critically. I envision the same type of college education for my son in 7-8 years. I heart liberal arts!)