The slides I used during the August 8 webinar for the Training Magazine network. Covers: "The state of the MOOC", "What's in a name" and "Imagine all the MOOCs"

1. What can MOOCs mean for the
corporate world?
by Bert De Coutere from the Center for Creative Leadership
for Online Learning webinars
Here’s a question:

2. Nice to meet you!
Bert De Coutere lives in Belgium, works for the Center for Creative
Leadership, blogs on homocompetens.blogspot.com and is one third of
the core team behind LeaderMOOC.net.

3. WHY ARE WE TALKING MOOC TODAY?
Here a MOOC, there a MOOC, everywhere a MOOC MOOC

4. Poll: MOOC experience
Who particpated in a MOOC before?
– What are you talking about?
– I did not participate in any MOOC
– I participated in a MOOC on Coursera, EdX or
Udacity
– I participated in a MOOC on canvas.net
– I participated in a cMOOC / other MOOC
A
B
C
D
E

5. A MOOC example
Usually a MOOC runs over a number of weeks and offers short
video, readings, discussion and assignments.

6. MOOCs are the talk of the town
... at least in the education world
My feed reader explodes with MOOC related posts. Much is written about
it, little (but more and more) is researched or validated at this point.

7. Sometimes I think academic education and
corporate training live in parallel universes...
• Did you know: around 70% of participants in MOOCs have a degree
• “When combined with the fact that MOOCs to date have not been applied
for academic credit, it is apparent that the primary usage of MOOCs has
been for professional development or lifelong learning.” (M Feldstein)

8. So that is why we in the ‘corporate parallel world’ should
take a look at the other side and learn what the MOOC
experiences in the academic world can mean for us...
What we will talk about today.
The state of the MOOC
The state of the MOOC is that we are making sense out of it all as we move along the
hype cycle. Is it a bubble or here to stay?
What’s in a word?
In the MOOC alphabet soup, the acronym means different things to different people.
What could it mean for your organization?
Imagine a corporate MOOC
Corporate interest in MOOCs has only just begun and may lead to yet another MOOC
family. When do MOOCs make sense in a corporate setting?

9. THE STATE OF THE MOOC
Here a MOOC, there a MOOC, everywhere a MOOC MOOC

10. Recent headlines indicate MOOCs are still on the
rise – and still controversial. MOOCs seem to have
spread faster than any previous learning
technology.

11. The MOOC existed before the MOOC
mania started.
MOOC history lesson: about cMOOC and xMOOC

12. As with any disruptive innovation, moods
swing from one side...
Revolution or dissillusion?
“We are moving away from the model
in which learning is organized around
stable, usually hierarchical institutions
(schools, colleges, universities) that,
for better and worse, have served as
the main gateways to education and
social mobility. Replacing that model is
a new system in which learning is best
conceived of as a flow, where learning
resources are not scarce but widely
available, opportunities for learning
are abundant, and learners
increasingly have the ability to
autonomously dip into and out of
continuous learning flows.”
- Marina Gorbis (IFTF)

13. As with any disruptive innovation, moods
swing from one side to the other...
Revolution or dissillusion?

14. As with any disruptive innovation, moods
swing from one side to the other...
leaving us with a lot of FUD
Fear, uncertainty &doubt.

15. Poll: Where on the hype cycle
do you think MOOCs are right
now?
A
B
C
D
E

16. The MOOC hype cycle: getting passed
the path of disillusionement

17. It’s not because it is a hype it is not
worth exploring.
The hype cycle learns the predictable pattern, and 2013 grows into the year of
the MOOC scepticism. That’s healthy.
“I’ve said this many times over
the past six months: If 2012 was
the year of the MOOC, 2013 will
be the year of the anti-MOOC.”
(George Siemens)

18. Let’s illustrate one of the major
FUD discussions
Who also completed a MOOC?
A - Never participated in a MOOC
B - Enrolled but never participated
C - Participated but never finished
D - Finished
E - Finished and got credits
A
B
C
D
E

19. Reframing our expectations: the
emerging new ‘normal’ for MOOCs
Only about 10% will finish the course. Is that bad? There are a lot of lurkers. Is that
bad? We can’t judge new formats with old mindsets, metrics or expectations.

20. State of the MOOC: we are finding
things out as we move along.
Experimentation is at full swing.
We get more data on participation and participants which gives us a baseline to
work from. In areas such as business models experimentation is ongoing.

21. WHAT’S IN A WORD?
MOOC, xMOOC, cMOOC, BOOC,

22. An attempt to a definition
What’s MOOC to you?
“MOOC is a fuzzy
term, it doesn’t really
mean anything” (Chris
Patton)

23. What’s in a name?
Are you a cMOOC or xMOOC fan?
Massive Open Online Courses
What do each of the four terms at a minimum mean?
People are starting to play with the words.

24. Maybe a good way to categorize MOOCs
is to look at purpose and pedagogical
approach.
Taxonomy : 8 different MOOCs based on pedagogy
• transferMOOCs
• madeMOOCs
• synchMOOCs
• asynchMOOCs
• adaptiveMOOCs
• groupMOOCs
• connectivistMOOCS
• miniMOOCSs

25. More important than the definition is to
ask what is really different from before.
And even more important: why does it
(seem to) work this time?
Start with everything you know about distance learning, focus on your area of
strenght and take it from there...
"The idea of a MOOC is
not so new, only the scale
is different.“
(Inge de Waard)

26. IMAGINE A CORPORATE MOOC
Imagine there's no classes
It's easy if you try
No blackboard in front of us
Above us only the cloud
Imagine all the peers
Learning for today...
Imagine there's no diplomas
It isn't hard to do
Nothing to cram or flunk for
No accreditation too
Imagine all the peers
Learning live on the job...
You may say I'm a dreamer
But I'm not the only one
I hope someday you'll join us
And the world will be as one
Imagine no proprietary knowledge
I wonder if you can
No need for access or obedience
A brotherhood of man
Imagine all the peers
Innovating all the world...
You may say I'm a dreamer
But I'm not the only one
I hope someday you'll join us
And the world will learn as one

27. Let’s now move to the
corporate parallel universe
Which of the MOOC features is most
problematic for the corporate world?
• Massive
• Open
• Online
• Course
A
B
C
D

28. The million dollar question. Shall we
‘wait and see’ or ‘do and find out’?
The FUD is different at the corporate side.

29. How different are MOOCs when we
look at them with corporate eyes?
What we don’t care so much
about
• Degrees and credits
• Disrupting and
disintermediating the
academic model
• Student semesters
• ...
What speaks to us on the
corporate side
• Scaling up
• Cost efficiency – more with
less
• Will it sell or cannabalize
our business? (providers)
• ...

30. Jay Cross organised a hangout on
MOOCs and corporate...
Are MOOCs and business by definition incompatible?
The proof of the pudding is not in talking about the recipe.

31. Poll: what do you dream about?
What are important areas for your training
department?
– Reaching more people with our programs
– Keeping costs down
– Let customers and partners learn how to use our
products and services
– Build up your brand in emerging markets
– Stop duplicating effort across the industry
– Other: in chat
A
B
C
D
E

32. We want a lot of people to learn to use
our products, don’t we?
Example of the Google Power Search MOOC.
The obvious candidate for corporate is always a ‘marketing’ purpose.

33. Imagine all the MOOCs
• What do we need to scale up?
• What do we need to open up?
• What can’t we do on our own?
• What do we need networked learning for?

34. So what will it take to run a succesful
MOOC in a corporate context?
MOOCs are another tool in the box, along with many other formats.
MOOCs are unlikely to be a good fit in a context of control, small-scale, self-
centered around institutions or experts,... There are plenty areas that would fit.

35. Final poll
So do you think your organisation should be
looking at MOOCs?
– Yes
– No
YES
NO

36. Key questions
• What can the corporate world learn from the
MOOC experiences of the education world?
• What does it take to design and run a MOOC?

37. Shameless promotion of our MOOC
www.leadermooc.net
See you in Chicago to talk about designing MOOCs!

38. MORE

39. Session description
MOOCs are the talk of the town in the higher education space, but what can
they mean for corporate training? In this session we’ll go over
• The ‘state-of-the-MOOC’ : the MOOC phenomenon has taken the higher
education world by storm, and seems to trigger as much debate as
participants. What are the emerging trends, platforms, proof of impact,
statistics and business models?
• What’s in a word? : What does MOOC mean to you? What is the essence
behind the acronym? What could it mean for corporate training?
• Imagine all the MOOCs : A few imaginary cases for MOOCs in corporate
settings
• What will it take? : What do we need to introduce a successful MOOC in
corporations? Some golden advice given to us by early MOOC adopters as
we were designing our LeaderMOOC (coming in September)

40. Sources
• Source: http://mfeldstein.com/moocs-beyond-professional-development-courseras-big-
announcement-in-context/
• http://mfeldstein.com
• http://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/04/education/edlife/massive-open-online-courses-are-
multiplying-at-a-rapid-pace.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0
• http://www.forbes.com/sites/georgeanders/2013/07/10/coursera-hits-4-million-students-and-
triples-its-funding/
• http://storify.com/derekbruff/prof-leaves-mooc-mid-stream
• http://onlinelearninginsights.wordpress.com/2013/02/05/the-mooc-honeymoon-is-over-three-
takeaways-from-the-coursera-calamity
• http://www.educause.edu/eli/events/eli-online-spring-focus-session/2013/2013/everything-you-
think-you-know-about-moocs-could-be-wrong
• http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2013/07/09/higher-ed-leaders-urge-slow-down-mooc-train
• http://allmoocs.wordpress.com/2013/04/16/gartners-hype-cycle-as-springboard-mooc-and-public-
policy
• http://www.elearnspace.org/blog/2013/07/08/neoliberalism-and-moocs-amplifying-nonsense
• http://donaldclarkplanb.blogspot.be/2013/04/moocs-whos-using-moocs-10-different.html
• http://www.educatorstechnology.com/2012/12/a-must-have-educational-technology.html
• http://www.educause.edu/sites/default/files/library/presentations/ELI134/OL01/FeldsteinHill_Ever
ything%2BYou%2BThink%2BYou.pdf
• http://donaldclarkplanb.blogspot.be/2013/04/moocs-taxonomy-of-8-types-of-mooc.html
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DGaUfWkJdi4&feature=player_embedded
• https://twitter.com/search?q=%23qmooc
• http://homocompetens.blogspot.be/2013/03/this-one-has-mooc-in-title.html

41. For more information
• Chronological overview of MOOCs in 2012:
http://www.hackeducation.com/2012/12/03/top-ed-tech-trends-
of-2012-moocs/
• Insights on MOOC participants: http://mfeldstein.com/insight-on-
mooc-student-types-from-eli-focus-session/
• 20 strategies to increase MOOC interaction:
http://ignatiawebs.blogspot.be/2013/03/mooc-research-20-
strategies-to-increase.html
• The most thorough description to date of university experience
with MOOCs http://mfeldstein.com/the-most-thorough-
description-to-date-of-university-experience-with-mooc/
• Coursetalk – MOOC reviews and learning http://coursetalk.org/

42. Sustainable business models are still a
work in progress