Employers & MOOCs

An exciting revolution is emerging among the online higher education world – MOOCs (massive open online courses).  MOOCs are free online college courses taught by top professors from distinguished universities (e.g., Stanford, MIT, Harvard) through websites such as Coursera, Udacity, and edX.  Colleges typically don’t grant academic credit for completing MOOCs; however, the self-motivated participant will find him or herself rewarded by gaining new or necessary information or skills, as well as connections with other students with shared interests.

Thomas L. Friedman, in his article for the New York Times, “Revolution Hits the Universities,” sees this new online platform for education as being an egalitarian force and as having the potential to “unlock a billion more brains to solve the world’s biggest problems” and to “enable us to reimagine higher education.”  Perks include:

• Free courses taught by top professors
• Courses can reach a much broader demographic
• Connection to students around the globe
• Ability to sculpt your own college education

Friedman goes so far as to say that MOOCs will change not only how we teach and learn, but also our pathways to employment.  Courses are offered that teach real-world skills that employers want to see in interviewees and improve in their current employees.  Practical computer-related instruction and business development are among many areas that MOOCs cover:

• Udacity offers courses in programming languages and software debugging
• Coursera offers business/management courses, such as “Surviving Disruptive Technologies” and “Foundations of Business Strategy”
• edX provides a Harvard-sponsored course in current copyright law

However, the usefulness of MOOCs for employers is still being ironed out.  Many MOOCs do award certificates of completion, and through Coursera, if you complete a course taught by a Stanford professor, for example, you receive a certificate from Stanford.  This certificate, stamped by a respected college or university, could show prospective employers you’ve taken the initiative to gain usable job skills, as well as further your self-improvement.  Still, MOOC providers have not yet completely established a process, upon which an employer can rely, to guarantee credible credentials that verify a student has mastered the subject (and without cheating).

MOOC providers do have employment in mind – Coursera is developing their Career Services program, a recruiting service that matches you to potential employers based on your interests, skills, and knowledge.  By opting into the service, you allow Coursera to share your good marks in applicable courses with interested employers.  MOOCs, as they change the way higher education is perceived, may inevitably change the way hiring and ongoing employee development is approached.  What do you think – do you believe this trend will be helpful for employers in hiring?  How can MOOCs be used to further employees’ continued education?