Employers see strong potential in MOOCs - new research

Excellent study on ‘The Employer Potential of MOOCs’ with 103 employers surveyed, followed up with deep-dive interviews of 20, on the use of MOOCs for:

1. Recruitment

2. Hiring

3. Personal development

This builds on the Duke study earlier in 2014 that showed employers welcomed MOOCs.

MOOCs for employment

I wasn’t surprised at the relatively low awareness of MOOCs by employers at 31%, as they’ve been marketed primarily at Higher Education and education in general. This is also why I’m non-plussed about the data that shows the majority of MOOCers being highly educated. This is typical of the early adoption profile for new disruptive technology-driven initiatives, Indeed, research from the University of Pennsylvania shows that more than two-thirds of MOOCers identify themselves as employees. Only13% take MOOCs towards a degree but 44% take them to gain specific skills to do their job better, a further 17% take MOOCs to gain specific skills to get a job (Christensen et al., 2013). It should come as no surprise, therefore that the MOOC suppliers have turned towards the professional market for revenues.

1. Recruitment

Most employers still use traditional methods of recruitment but the majority of those surveyed do now use LinkedIn. Once they had heard of MOOCs and understood what they were, they were positive about their use in recruitment (59%). Two sectors in particular were keen on the idea of using MOOCs for hiring; Technology (67%) & Manufacturing (79%). Engineers and developers were of particular interest. The least receptive were Retail and Finance.

2. Hiring

Nearly two-thirds (64%) viewed MOOCs in hiring positively, with those who had heard of MOOCs scoring even higher at 72%. Even in organisations that saw no role for MOOCs in recruiting, 53% saw them positively or very positively for hiring. None of the respondents saw MOOCs very negatively, with only 1 seeing them as negative.

HR staff saw the added value in MOOCs, compared to traditional qualifications as showing the following ‘plus factors’:

• Motivation
• Dedication
• Willingness to develop themselves
• Doing more for themselves
• Drive & ambition

Business and Communications organisations were the most positive (87%), with Education (78%), Technology (75%), Public administration (75%), then Manufacturing, Finance and Retail all at 75%. Health organisations were the least receptive at 56%.

3. Personal development

Despite MOOCs being the new kids on the block, 7% were already using MOOCs for personal development, an additional 5% had considered them and 71% could see their organization using them. Those who had heard of MOOCs were universally positive about their use in personal development. Only 3% were negative.

Desired MOOC content fell into three areas:

1. Soft skills in developing management, leadership, dealing with customers, account management

2. Basic computer skills

3. Highly specialized training such as software development

The positive features of MOOC taking were identified as:

• giving employees the ability to engage in their own development
• goal setting
• increase self-motivation
• refresher course
• stay up to date
• advance in their careers

An interesting approach by some, who were already using MOOCs, is to cluster employees into cohorts as they start the MOOC. This increases mutual support, company specific sharing and motivation to finish.

Another big plus for employers was that they could be seen as an ‘employer of choice’ attracting and retaining the best candidates by offering an approach that is contemporary and fits the expectations of younger employees.
Conclusion
The authors note that “the potential for employers’ use of MOOCs is strong”. I’d say, given the relative newness of MOOCs and the lack of awareness among employers of MOOCs, the evidence is overwhelming. The fact that they are free, flexible and accessible is a big plus in times of budget squeezes. But the one statement I found compelling was, that when it comes to personal development, “I don’t think you can have too many options to take and choose from”.

MOOCs: Research (Duke) shows employers love ‘em

Despite the sneers from a minority of academics, people continue to make and take them. The MOOC phenomenon is clearly driven by demand, and we can now add ‘employer needs’ to that demand.

Positive reactions

Research from Duke University and RTI International, funded by the Gates Foundation, shows that employers are positive about MOOCs for recruitment, hiring and professional development. In ‘The Employer Potential of MOOCs  (A Survey of Human Resource Professionals’ Thinking on MOOCs ) nearly 400  employers were researched from November 2013 and January 2014. Many hadn’t heard of MOOCs but even those who had the idea explained to them for the first time, 57% said they could see themselves using MOOCs for recruitment. When hiring, nearly 75% said they would treat job-related MOOCs positively. This was especially true of businesses, communications organisations and in education. While some were already using MOOCs, 71% could see their organisations using them in the future. This positive reaction was seen across all sectors.

7 indicators for employers

I can see why, as someone who was an employer for many years, they are seen positively. Taking MOOCs says something about you as a person. What takes them beyond the ‘rite of passage’ degree course are several impressive indicators:

1. Motivated learner

2. Self-starter

3. Organised

4. Perseverance

5. Interested in own personal development

6. Wants relevant knowledge & skills

7. Completer

What came through in the responses was a keen eye, not just for the course but what it indicates about a potential or existing employee.

“If [an applicant] is trying to educate themselves, it says something about the individual. [It shows that individual wants] to stay on top of what is going on in their field…”

“[I] see it as someone who wants to further their education and to do more themselves, to develop themselves (to develop) a higher emotional intelligence.”

“I can see people who want to advance, who need to advance their education. We have a tuition reimbursement program but it is limited. If someone thought that they could go online and take a course on something or take classes for certification I think people WOULD really jump on it.”

MOOCs tend to be focused, and practical courses, so the employer gets to see a specific set of skills acquired by the potential employee or employee.

Professional development

Some were already using MOOCs for CPD, and 71% could see their organisations using them in the future.

“[MOOCs have been] a great opportunity to provide variety and content to staff ... [We] made our staff aware of those opportunities to tailor learning to different topics they are interested in. “

 “We’re always looking for ways and options for team members to engage in ongoing learning to help the business grow. We have a small internal training and [human resources] staff; we’re only going to be able to deliver so much content. We know we’re not going to be the subject matter experts. We’ve encouraged people to have their own exploratory learning experience. “

“It could be applicable to everyone. Low level support staff [could take] classes on how to be more organized and have better time management ... all the way up”

Conclusion

It’s early days, and even though many hadn’t heard of MOOCs, when they did, they were impressed. MOOCs solve the sort of problems employers have long complained about on recruitment, hiring and professional development. They are one solution to the crisis of relevance in higher education, where a gap between supply and demand has, for many reasons, led to a loss of faith in the traditional degree course. Massively expensive, one intake a year, fixed location, fixed time courses, are seen by many as anachronistic. MOOCs not only bridge that gap, the provide an on-going solution to the skills gaps within organisations. All round this is a win-win–win-win situation, for Higher education, people looking for work, employers and employee looks set to continue.

MOOCs: Coursera moves towards massive revenues on certification

For all of those who say that MOOCs can’t be monetized, Coursera’s Signature Track is proving them wrong. After 700 years, Universities still struggle with monetization and funding models and most would agree that the current systems in the developed world are in a mess, of not broken. Here’s a system that not only matches demand with supply, but provides a way to match payment to product. Not only that, the cost for the course is free at the point of delivery, and because so many participate, it’s dirt cheap for assessment and certification.

Real revenues

Coursera took one year to hit $1 million on revenues from certification, 3 months to hit $2 million (Feb 14) and now report $4 million (Apr 14), that’s $2 million in the following two months. Impressive compound growth. This has been achieved through their Coursera certificate track, which, at $30-$100 per course, has seen an average 1.2% conversion rate double up to the current average of 2.4%, giving them $4 mlllion, driven by demand from employers. Note this last observation – ‘driven by employers’.

Employer demand

This week also saw some interesting research from Duke on the positive attitudes employers have towards MOOCs. This is important, as this is the sort of demand that seems to be fueling the unending interest in MOOCs. Despite what the nay-sayers say, people keep on taking them and keep on making them.

Coursera’s Signature Track

What makes Coursera’s Signature Track sing, is the cleverness of the software, not human assessment.

Biometric typing

When you register for Signature Track, you do some typing on your keyboard and it records your typing pattern, a sort of ‘fingersprint’. This is smart and it works.

Webcam photo

In addition, you take a picture of yourself on your webcam. Easy.

Photo of ID

You then take a webcam photo of your picture ID (driver's license, passport, national ID card, state or province ID card and international ID documents).These photos are securely stored and deleted once your identity is confirmed.  When you submit coursework you submit a matching typing sample and photograph to confirm your identity. This leads to a verified certificate. You’ve got to admit that this is getting places. In addition, you can also take a proctored exam, online or offline.

Shareable course records

On top of this, there’s Sharable Course Records, where you can share your electronic course records with employers, educational institutions, or anyone else through a unique, secure URL. Note that word ‘employers’ sneaking in.

Financial aid

There’s even some money available if you can show real need.

Sequenced MOOCs

Both Coursera and EdX also offer certification for sequences of MOOCs. This is interesting as it is a direct challenge to the traditional degree. Rather than wait for the system to accept them, they’re creating their own ecosystem of acceptance. Way to go.

Conclusion

MOOCs are proving to be a vast sandbox for real world experiments and research. The fact that they are ‘Massive’ helps, as they have the numbers. The fact that they are driven towards real world success, and not just the publication of paper research gives them the imperative to get things done. Right across the board, MOOCs are showing us some interesting new strategic models, such as ‘free at point of delivery’ and ‘openness’ as well as tactical advances, such as new ways to do video for learning, P2P review and online assessment.

But what is really interesting is the matching of learners with employers. Thrun may have been the first to spot the fact that MOOCs are not about HE but people who want real skills and personal development. Thrun and Norvig, were not academics, and understand what the real world needs in terms of highly skilled people. The fact that Coursera, Udacity and EdX have all been properly capitalised gives them a real advantage in terms of platform development, innovation and marketing. My fear is that Futurelearn didn’t learn that lesson and built what looks like a rather thin platform, while European efforts, like EMMA, seem structured to fail, with too many inexperienced partners in too many countries doing too many pilots.