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Since the beginning of the 20th century, the world has evolved at a much faster pace and in a more complex way as a consequence of globalisation. Rapid economic growth, increasing competitiveness and innovation were influenced by evolving information and communication technologies (ICT). This impacted on all sectors, including higher education. Given that around half of the global population (3.5 billion people) are regular users of the Internet, largely due to the expansion of mobile networks and decreasing prices, online content and interaction with a global audience have experienced a remarkable consolidation (ITU, 2016). The advances of Internet use have considerably contributed in changing the living standards of many people, their communication channels and their working habits and tools (Patru & Balaji, 2016).
ICT, and in particular web based technologies, has had an increasing impact on our personal and professional lives over the last decades (Dumitrescu, 2015). MOOCs, as part of ICT, were able to become a hot topic in education through the combination of ICT, faculty presentations, subjects and the funding of initial courses (Billington & Fronmueller, 2013). An increased democratization and efficiency of instruction, as well as the transformation of teaching and learning processes are some of the consequences of using MOOCs within an educational context (Dumitrescu, 2015). Consequently, MOOCs are considered by some to be potentially the disruptive innovation of higher education (Hardesty, 2013). Even if some researchers stipulate that MOOCs are a challenge for some HEIs (Smutz, 2013) – as not every HEI can cope with the development of MOOCs, as there are no sustainable business models, quality assurance issues etc. –, others argue that MOOCs are just another ed-tech bubble that will not transform education (Crispin, 2012). However, even if the technologies and tools might change, the impact of MOOCs on higher education will last.
Global Opportunties
Frequently mentioned motives for developing MOOCs, as given by HEIs, are: boosting student recruitment; creating flexible learning opportunities (for new students); increasing institutional visibility and reputation; using MOOCs as areas of innovation (e.g., to improve the quality of on-campus offerings, contribute to the transition to more flexible and online education, improve teaching); responding to the demands of learners and societies (Jansen, Schuwer, Teixeira & Aydin, 2015). In addition, MOOCs are perceived as a tool enabling students to obtain their educational credentials more rapidly in addition to being a more flexible educational provision and a way of lowering the cost of education (Walton, Coningham & Horn, 2015). MOOCs are therefore an important global trend for both producers and students.
One of the most attractive aspects of MOOCs is their internationalism, both in terms of content and geography (learners and course facilitators can come from all over the world). MOOCs enable anyone, regardless of educational attainment, to participate. In addition, MOOCs are a good marketing tool: providing an experience for learners that may influence their decision to enrol at a particular institution.
Data from BizMOOC
16 out of 50 HEIs interviewed within BizMOOC believe formal recognition of participation and/or learning was needed for online courses such as MOOCs. Still, as MOOCs are not recognised by the formal accreditation system and education is not standardised across Europe, it is unclear as to how, and whether MOOC could fit with qualifications such as Bachelor or Master´s degrees or high school diplomas/GCSEs, etc. Most interviewees thought that some kind of separate accreditation was adequate and it should be appealing to a broad range of learners. In addition to certification, online badges (such as those developed by Mozilla) were also considered important by some interviewees. Language was considered a potential barrier to the use of MOOCs, particularly as many are English language only.
Our research shows that a rather low number of the BizMOOC sample is familiar with MOOCs, but more than 94 per cent agree with the definition offered, with some interviewees offering suggestions for furthering that definition. More than 71 per cent of the organisations interviewed are already involved in online professional development, especially in Western European countries. Yet less than 20 per cent of those interviewed are involved in producing or using MOOCs. There is therefore room for improvement, particularly when comparing Eastern and Western Europe.
Education is becoming more personalised: from face-to-face courses to open and online offerings, technology can facilitate the sharing and exchanging of experiences. As one indicated in the interview of one large organisation, MOOCs in general are a good way of offering learning opportunities, largely due to the “human factor”. For example, fora offer students from around the world the opportunity to interact and learn together; potentially creating a learning community.
According to McPherson & Bacow (2015), there is an increased interest in blended or hybrid concepts (e.g. the use of both face-to-face and online learning in a course). This could be an advantage for enlarging the awareness of MOOCs underlining their benefits and cost efficiency. MOOCs have the potential to widen access to education, particularly in a climate of where the role of education is under question, there is an increase in unemployment and funding cuts are impacting on resources. Interviewees highlighted a number of opportunities for the use of MOOCs within a corporate context. In particular, MOOCs were viewed as particularly useful for human resource development, customer training or as a marketing and recruitment tool.
Some of these tools would need to be created by the organisations themselves whilst others could utilise existing MOOCs. The creation of MOOCs depends on available resources, existing training structures and a willingness to examine the possibility that MOOCs could offer the organisation. When taking into account the differing levels of the use of eLearning in organisations, it is clear that MOOCs have the potential to complement traditional face-to-face offerings, particularly in, but not limited to HRD. Further MOOCs for business need to be focused on practical activities relevant to the organisation concerned, be up-to-date and reflect current best practice.
Another expectation was that MOOCs could help building confidence of learners (students, employees or unemployed). A number of interviewees highlighted that MOOCs currently appear to offer no employability benefits to learners who have never had a career or have a low level of education. However, MOOCs were perceived as potentially widening the network of learners in addition to providing quality and up-to-date information, which could make a difference when looking to apply for a job or advance one’s career.
MOOCs are not just a way of offering employee training free at the point of use, but also provide a complementary tool for higher education, vocational education and lifelong learning as well as a complementary education tool that might facilitate continuous development of the employees. MOOCs can be used by secondary schools, at work, within lifelong learning contexts etc., but should also be used to educate at scale and could be used for public service announcements and as a tool for businesses to engage with their customers and potential customers. MOOCs are suitable for large organisations that have offices in multiple locations. In the instance of small to medium sized organisations, MOOCs could be a way of ensuring up-to-date training as offered to employees in instances where there is limited or no available budget for training, or no HRD/eLearning unit.
Findings from our interviews showed that a large number of organisations are considering MOOCs as a way of training their employees, particularly in health and safety where standards are informed European legislation and therefore training materials can be easily reused in different contexts. However, creating MOOCs on health and safety would need to involve expertise and services that would initially need to be paid for.
Collaboration with Business
Regarding the potential collaboration between HEIs and businesses, a number of topics were highlighted covering both soft and technical skills. However, to enable potential collaboration between these two sectors, work would need to be done to address prior negative experiences of eLearning and the association of free of charge courses as being lower in quality.
Other issues that need to be addressed include digital literacy, Internet connectivity and a lack of experience with online learning. In addition, perceptions of existing MOOCs as not addressing core business competencies, but being focused on “trendy” topics (such as e.g. artificial intelligence – however, the authors of this paper observe a strong shift towards business and management topics offered by MOOCs; for example, Class Central (2017) lists at the time of writing this report 1.125 business & management courses, almost twice as much as topics in other categories), privacy concerns and existing policy around eLearning and training were also cited by participants as possible barriers to collaboration between HEIs and businesses with regard to MOOC production and use.
To enable collaboration between businesses and HEIs, the role of regional/national legislation and initiatives to promote MOOC use/creation could be useful. Initiatives would contextualise, promote and incentivise collaboration and endorsement from regional and national government would help strengthen and reveal the relevance of MOOC to businesses.