The document summarizes a roundtable discussion hosted by the BizMOOC project. It provides an agenda for the roundtable including presentations on the state of MOOCs, lifelong learning in the workplace, and business strategies for using MOOCs. Reflections from participants acknowledge challenges like cultural shifts needed in businesses to recognize lifelong learning, and the need to demonstrate cost savings to businesses from MOOC implementation. Next steps include disseminating outcomes to stakeholders and promoting an upcoming webinar on MOOC design.
2. BizMOOC
Roundtable
Tuesday 23 October 2018
Ambient Laboratory, Jennie Lee Building
Institute of Educational Technology
The Open University (UK)
Dr. Rob Farrow, The Open University (UK)
Dr. Beck Pitt, The Open University (UK)
Prof. Martin Weller, The Open University (UK)
Content contributions from BizMOOC partners (CC-BY)
5. 1230 Registration, networking, lunch
1315 Welcome and introductions
1330 Roundtable objectives
1345 Overview of the BizMOOC project
1400 MOOC: state of the art
1430 Lifelong learning in the workplace
1500 Business strategies and advantages
1545 Concluding remarks
1600 Close
7. BizMOOC
Roundtable
Housekeeping
• We need to document everyone’s attendance
• Outcomes will be shared with project partners
• We will provide a 1-2 pp. written report to EU funders
• No one will be identified with their comments
8. BizMOOC
Roundtable
Overview of the BizMOOC Project
• What is a MOOC?
• Project partners & structure
• Project objectives, activities & outputs
10. BizMOOC
Partners
The Open University (UK), University de Alicante (ES), Burgas Free
University (BG), University of Economics Krakow (PL), AVL List GmbH (AT),
Hasso-Plattner-Institute (DE), DIDA srl (IT), Košice IT Valley (SK), The
National Unions of Students in Europe (BE), EADTU (European Association)
ByMadman2001(talk·contribs)(Ownwork,basedonImage:BlankMap-Europe-v5.png)[GFDL
(http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html),CC-BY-SA-3.0(http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/)orCCBY-SA2.5-2.0-
1.0(https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.5-2.0-1.0)],viaWikimediaCommons
11. The Aims of BizMOOC
• Raise awareness of MOOC and their
potential in Universities, businesses
and society across Europe;
• Provide tools and resources to
empower the use of MOOC for CPD,
increase employability and develop
entrepreneurship.
RandomnetworkbyscreenpunkislicensedCCBY-NC2.0andisavailableviahttps://www.flickr.com/photos/screenpunk/6871382961/
12. OPENLY LICENSED, COMMUNITY
RESOURCE DEDICATED TO MOOC FOR
BUSINESS, WORKFORCE AND
UNIVERSITIES
WWW.MOOC-BOOK.EU
THE MOOC BOOK
BIZMOOC CORE RESULT
13. Can MOOCs be used as a recruitment tool?
Are MOOCs really free for my
employees? What are potential
additional costs?
What topics are offered? Where can I find
MOOCs for certain topics?
How do I measure the quality of the MOOC on offer?
…and what about data security?
Will I get a better job? Do companies know about MOOCs?
14. 1. Learning with MOOC for Professional Development / Digital
Skills, Digital Learning
2. How to generate innovative ideas and how to make them work
3. Intrapreneurship: Make your Business Great Again
Pilot MOOCs
http://bizmooc.eu/pilot-moocs/
15. 1. Awareness and perception of
MOOCs
2. Involvement in online and MOOC
activities
3. Expectations, reasons, benefits
and barriers to engaging with or
creating MOOCs
4. Opportunities and interest for
collaboration with other institutions
BizMOOC Research Focus
Moocopoly by Alan Devine is licensed CC BY 2.0 and is available via
https://www.flickr.com/photos/cogdog/14097867845/
16. BizMOOC
Roundtable
MOOC : The State of the Art
• The vision of MOOC in Business
• Outcomes from MOOC research & evaluation
• Critical questions
17. MOOC in Business: The Vision
Boost employee productivity and profits
Improves employee retention rates
Addresses real world challenges to improve on-the-job performance
Organisations can identify motivated employees
Enlarge skill sets
Increase the confidence of employees
Support team spirit and cooperation
Promote intercultural competences
Ensure that employees are up-to-date with skills and professional knowledge
Free training
Possibility of enlarging employee and employers networks
Introductory training MOOCs can cover the basics or part of the introduction/new employee
processes (onboarding)
A variety of levels of training can be integrated into employee development plans
MOOCs provide flexibility in time and in knowledge to acquire
18. Collaboration between HEI’s and business
re: CPD/training currently limited
MOOC potential for training perceived as
not necessarily suitable for all contexts
Employees or potential employees who
undertake study via MOOC perceived by
as indicative of “motivation and desire for
continued learning than about
demonstrating specific knowledge”
(Radford et al, 2014)
MOOC currently utilised by specific
groups of learners
What other research says
Research Now! by Beck Pitt is licensed CC BY
https://www.flickr.com/photos/40959105@N00/
28738266343/in/dateposted-public/
19. Become a way of training employees on very specific and concrete topics
Facilitate rapid and efficient lifelong learning
Complement employee existing experiencee
Support personal educational interests
Promote interaction through online forums etc.
Educate new employees
Contribute to the continued modernisation of education
Promote corporative involvement in offering/producing MOOCs
Adapt higher education course material and training to the workplace at low cost
Expectations of MOOCs
20. “MOOCs are courses designed for large numbers of participants, that can be accessed by
anyone anywhere as long as they have an internet connection; they are open to everyone
without entry qualifications, and offer a full/complete course experience online for free”.
(Jansen & Schuwer 2015)
Awareness / Perception
23. The level of familiarity of EU companies with the MOOC concept is still rather low.
The main benefits of MOOCs are in relation to their application within Human
Resource Development (incl. on-boarding) and as a customer training, marketing
and recruitment tool.
High expectations in the fields of saving costs, better networking opportunities,
modernization of education, providing up-to-date knowledge, learning new
competencies & offering high quality in a flexible way
Huge interest in using MOOCs as complement to existing resources and materials
/ as a complementary education tool
Many unsolved questions with regards to legal limitations, unawareness, lack of
experience, confidentiality issues etc.
Key Findings
24. Reflections 1/2
Suitability and practicality of MOOC in business depends a lot on the
size of the business
Branding of MOOC as free/low-cost can be seen to imply low value
- there is an image issue here
Self-paced learning/resources can be more effectively integrated
into other business needs/activity
MOOC aren’t always aligned to business standards (which are not
always held in common)
Interest & engagement with MOOC dependent on stage someone is
at in their career
25. Reflections 2/2
MOOC may be more successful in business when pitched in terms
of competitive advantage rather than altruistic act – but this has
some implications for the commons
If not linked to tangible outcomes then MOOC are a ’hard sell’ in
business
Digitally badged courses may be of particular relevance here
cMOOC style approaches require a space for interaction – this
needs to be moderated, which may impact cost savings
NGOs and voluntary sector (like education sector) are less driven by
this commercial / profit imperative
26. BizMOOC
Roundtable
Lifelong Learning in the Workplace
• Closer look at MOOC potential for business
• The value of lifelong learning in 21st century workplace
• Pilot MOOCs focused on lifelong learning
• Identifying synergies and barriers to overcome
28. Lifelong Learning
“The illiterate of the 21st century will not be
those who cannot read and write, but those who
cannot learn, unlearn, and relearn.”
Toffler, A. (1970)
Future Shock
Global Human Capital Report (2017) suggests the
world has only developed 62% of human capital
Low confidence of global
CEOs in their own company
readiness for digital
activities: “The confidence
in their organizations’
digital abilities is at an all-
time low: Just over half
rate their Digital IQ as
strong or very strong (a
score of 70% or greater),
down from two-thirds of
executives in 2014 and
2015” (Curran et al., 2017)
29. 1. Learning with MOOC for Professional Development / Digital
Skills, Digital Learning
2. How to generate innovative ideas and how to make them work
3. Intrapreneurship: Make your Business Great Again
Pilot MOOCs
http://bizmooc.eu/pilot-moocs/
30. Society Focus
Results of quantitative & qualitative survey (N=1193, 10 languages)
85% of sample use the Internet for skills development
40% of sample currently use MOOC
55% of sample have never used a MOOC
85% planning to use a MOOC in future
The majority of those surveyed were aged 18-55 with at least an
undergraduate degree
31.
32.
33. Interest in the BizMOOC Pilot MOOC
Perceived value of sources of info/training
34. Reflections 1/2
Businesses tend to think in terms of training rather than learning –
without a culture shift the value of lifelong learning in unrecognised
Solutionism: MOOC branding has a habit of trying to be all things to
all people but this means it’s not seen as solution to specific issue
Many businesses need to be more proactive about lifelong learning
as we move into automation & more flexible career pathways
Tension between business objectives and lifelong learning needs to
be overcome in business strategies
35. Reflections 2/2
There’s a recognition that businesses need to get better at peer
learning, sharing – but this represents significant cultural shift
Need to strike balance between competition/collaboration
Voluntary sector already aligned to the language of lifelong learning;
also has more reliance on volunteers, etc. so fewer resources to
begin with. Perhaps more fertile starting point than business.
Similarly, smaller businesses also have fewer dedicated resources
for this and may need to focus more on lifelong learning and MOOC
can be a route to this
36. BizMOOC
Roundtable
Business strategies & advantages
• What does successful implementation look like?
• What can be gained?
• What are the major barriers to be overcome?
• What kind of collaborations are needed?
39. “From the company’s point
of view, MOOCs cannot be
accessible for all as soon as
company specific
knowledge is transferred…”
(Business based in Western Europe)
“As an employer,
unfortunately, there is still
little verification possible if an
employee is really studying
and if the learning is effective
enough for the individual”
(Business based in Western Europe)
“In our organization MOOC looks
particularly useful in supporting
communities (e.g., developers, project
managers or cloud dev ops), where there
is a need to increase skill, to learn while
depending on personal interactions
among the participants.”
(Business based in Eastern Europe)
40. “We have good relations with
different universities in
[Redacted]. I visit them to
recruit new interns. I can
imagine using them [MOOC]
to make our company
attractive to future interns and
employees. We can also help
universities deliver something
[based on] practice. We can
also reuse content which
saves time.”
(Business based in Eastern Europe)
“Our organisation has no resources
to develop MOOCs but we could
provide information for the
development of MOOCs connected
with standards and standardization
processes and procedures. It would
be helpful for the organisations and
for the individuals as well.”
(Business based in Eastern Europe)
“We might be interested, but it is [a]
top management decision”
(Business based in Eastern Europe)
41. MOOC: Good
Business
Pratice
Business by Christophe Benoit is licensed CC BY 2.0
and is available via
https://www.flickr.com/photos/christophebenoit/21666
276190 /College of DuPage Celebrates 50th
Commencement 2017 12 by COD newsroom is
licensed CC BY 2.0 and available via
https://www.flickr.com/photos/codnewsroom/3482212
1715/
42. Opportunity for targeted awareness raising regarding MOOC
Foreground detail on quality processes and alignment with
professional standards
Recognise that businesses and HEIs bring different strengths and
possibilities with regard to CPD provision and collaboration
Building trust, addressing perceptions of “graduate employability”
etc. become possible through collaboration
To broaden access to MOOC a collaborative, strategic approach
involving a wide range of stakeholders beyond HEIs and business
is needed
Recommendations
43. Develop the structure and content of the MOOC using proven
learning design principles and tools
Conduct research on the characteristics and needs of the target
groups in the early phase of the design process
Involve experts in the evaluation of the design and course prototype
well in advance of its launch
Take sufficient time for the design of the MOOC
Use linguistic tools to overcome language issues
Recommendations
44. Acknowledge and address unequal knowledge and experience with
MOOCs within the design team
Assign tasks and responsibilities according to team member’s
areas and levels of expertise
Establish the goals, learning outcomes, characteristics and quality
criteria of the MOOC before developing the MOOC
Select KPIs that are most appropriate for the MOOC
Plan the overall evaluation and quality process, including who will
review what elements using which template with applicable criteria,
before delivery
Recommendations
45.
46. Review a range of MOOC platforms
Ensure the accessibility of content and assets (such as videos) on
different devices
Provide the MOOC content in multiple languages and include
examples which reflect specific target audience(s)
localities/circumstances
Consider the medium- to long-term life of the MOOC
Whenever necessary, introduce flexible course options (fast track
and full track)
Recommendations
47.
48. Introduce e-tivities as good practice examples for ice-breaking
activities
Introduce self-training options
Host an online closing event which recaps the most important take-
aways and enables learners to reflect informally on their
experiences
Enable learners to become co-creators of the MOOC
Recommendations
50. Learning with colleagues can be good, but closed courses (e.g.
SPOC) inhibit learning from wider populations
Trust is a massive issue when it comes to linking competencies and
the recognition of learning. The undergraduate/bachelor degree
remains the recognised standard.
Human resources rarely interested in MOOC – this is a key area for
raising awareness. Distinction between elearning and MOOC is
muddy at best for most people in business.
Concluding Reflections 1/3
51. Businesses who already have an elearning platform are unlikely to
be interested in MOOC as they believe a solution is already in place.
MOOC branding needs to be less “academic” and more corporate
for maximum market penetration. There was a suggestion that
innovation was the overlap to focus efforts.
There are perhaps too many MOOC offerings out there – it can be
difficult for a business to know where to begin.
The idea of ‘fast-tracking’ makes sense for some but having
differentiated certification at the end raises questions about value.
Concluding Reflections 2/3
52. There was a perceived contradiction between some BizMOOC
recommendations – e.g. self-paced learning vs e-tivities. The
context for recommendations could perhaps be clearer.
The idea that businesses would not make their organisational
knowledge openly available was raised several times.
Presentation in multiple languages, accessibility and open source
code were all considered important for business uptake.
More work is needed on the real cost to business of training an
individual/group via MOOC and demonstrating the savings that are
possible.
Concluding Reflections 3/3
53. Feeding outcomes back to the project team and to EU
Blog post – November 2018
Letters of Support
Dissemination to our stakeholders
Check out the MOOC BOOK! http://mooc-book.dida.srl/
OpenUpEd MOOC Design Webinar Week
https://www.eventbrite.nl/e/tickets-webinar-week-mooc-design-
51454934093
Next Steps
54. Thank you!
www.bizmooc.eu
www.mooc-book.eu
facebook.com/Bizmooc
@Bizmoocbook
The European Commission support for the production of this publication does not constitute an endorsement of the
contents which reflects the views only of the authors, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which
may be made of the information contained therein.
Notas do Editor
IET based in Jennie Lee building – purpose built for research in education and educational technology
Why is it called an ambient lab?
Short intro to OER Hub -
No wrong answers – all contributions are welcome but please be respectful of others
Explain MOOC in terms of the letters
Examples of MOOC providers: MITx, EdX, Udacity, FutureLearn
Massive = a matter of interpretation, but the platfoms can accommodate
Distinguish xMOOC and cMOOC
Note other variations – e.g.
SPOC = small private online courses
COOC = corporate open online course
We’ll talk more about MOOC research outcomes shortly
BizMOOC is a Knowledge Alliance to enable a European-wide exploitation of the potential of MOOCs for the world of business
36 month project starting in early 2016 and finishing at the end of 2018. Led by FH Joanneum in Graz, Austria
11 full partners, 3 associate partners
Final conference in Krakow in 2 weeks
BizMOOC is aiming to…. the rationale behind this is that although MOOC have gained prominance in the mainstream press over the past few years their use is often siloed and there is a lack of information on their benefits etc.
So how are we doing this?
research done in 14 status-quo research discussion papers
…106 qualitative semi-structured, in-depth interviews with European Organisations and Higher Education Institutions
…1.193 survey responses from society/labour force/learners
…summarized in 3 needs & gaps reports for businesses, HEI and society
Live crowd-written document which is being updated regularly throughout project. Recommendations, Best practice, share experiences etc. Identifies the challenges and gaps for mainstreaming MOOC use in business, HEIs and across the workforce through research carried out via survey and interviews with HEIs and other organisations. . Needs YOUR contributions/feedback and promotion ... and it answers...
these sort of questions...
[How were these questions identified?]
Three pilot MOOC, hosted on a range of different platforms and using different systems of accreditation. Peer reviewed by experts. Based on Life long learning key competencies and relevant to business.
[Bit of background info on each MOOC… linked etc]
Professional development: self paced course which enables you to understand how you learn best, what MOOC can offer you and how to find resources online to help with your goals. Live now. Open Learn create.
Innovative ideas: Live next month, critical thinking and how to generate good ideas and collaborate to make them work. UniMOOC.
Intrapreneurship: for folks with innovative ideas within a company, what are the benefits for business, how can you successfully develop ideas and pitch them etc. Will be live in early 2018.
Aim: To identify the main potentials and barriers of MOOCs in the business community at European level
56 business representatives across 11 European countries were interviewed, range of business types – some multinationals other small and medium business enterprises etc. April to October 2016. Semi-structured interview with a short introduction to MOOC followed by questions regarding perception of MOOC, discussion on organisation’s online training needs and perceptions of MOOC as being suitable for this use, thoughts on collaboration in order to produce MOOC and what might be the barriers to doing so.
QUESTION: Are these reasonable expectations?
Application usually in tech, comms & entertainment companies (see Calonge & Shah, 2016). CEDEFOP report that more than 40% of graduate employers had never collaborated with HEIs. Also there’s a ideological tension between employers assuming that HEIs should be producing graduates who were totally skilled up for work and with soft/transferable skills – education system as providing for work rather than education for and of itself/public good etc.
MOOC are more suitable for certain types of training and not necessarily replacing F2F
QUESTION: What’s missing?
From BizMOOC - What experts told the project about the potential and impact of MOOC – more specific and useful?
Half of these respondents already familiar with MOOC
“Moreover, some of the interviewees who were familiar with MOOCs prior to the interview had further ideas for refining the definition:
The characteristic “for free” does not seem to be an essential component of MOOCs as many are not completely free of charge (for example they might charge for certificates of completion). This change in approach was described as being akin to a “freemium” business model (in which the basic course is free at the point of use, but additional services such as certification are paid for).
The definition could be developed further by the inclusion of examples showing what kinds of contexts could benefit from MOOCs.”
Concerns around applicabliity of MOOC to certain contexts
MOOC Book
56 businesses – almost 60% familiar with MOOC. 8 of these are already using MOOC either developing them or incorporating these
Just under 18% of businesses interviewed currently use MOOC – this slide shows current MOOC topic use by these businesses - largely for training
However, even though some businesses not using MOOC over 69% of business representatives interviewed would recommend MOOC to their staff - EXPLORE THIS
NB Eastern Europe sees more use only in Recruitment - why might this be?
More than 64% of the interviewees are interested in collaboration with other institutions in offering/producing MOOC.
Why is there a disparity between interest in MOOC and actual application?
QUESTION: Are these figures lower than anticipated? Aren’t we supposed to see higher uptake by now?
QUESTION: Are these figures lower than anticipated? Aren’t we supposed to see higher uptake by now?
Features: interconnection; information transparency; technical support systems; decentralized execution
Industrial trends:
Disruptive effects of automation – changes to roles and role-switching. Create new roles that don’t yet exist - how can we prepare when we don’t know what’s coming?
Ongoing learning throughout life; agility
- Greater need for lifelong learning strategies
We know that lifelong learning is increasingly important and that digital skills can act as a driver – but the workplace does not seem to keep up with change
Hence the idea of MOOC for lifelong learning – and key business competencies (might it be better to treat these seperately)
Three pilot MOOC, hosted on a range of different platforms and using different systems of accreditation. Peer reviewed by experts. Based on Life long learning key competencies and relevant to business.
Professional development: self paced course which enables you to understand how you learn best, what MOOC can offer you and how to find resources online to help with your goals. Live now. Open Learn create.
Innovative ideas: Live next month, critical thinking and how to generate good ideas and collaborate to make them work. UniMOOC.
Intrapreneurship: for folks with innovative ideas within a company, what are the benefits for business, how can you successfully develop ideas and pitch them etc. Will be live in early 2018.
QUESTION: Are these figures lower than anticipated? Aren’t we supposed to see higher uptake by now?
QUESTION: Are these figures lower than anticipated? Aren’t we supposed to see higher uptake by now?
MOOC ELEMENTS for Professional Development – Ranked
Massiveness least important?
MOOC ELEMENTS for Professional Development – Ranked
Massiveness least important?
Are these figures higher than expected? Is Western Europe
Invite responses – do any of these resonate or seem incorrect?
Openness Paradox: Will businesses always return to a closed MOOC to protect competitive advantage?
However although there are issues of confidentiality over 70% of interviewees identified the characteristic of ’openness’ as bringing the most “added value” out of all the MOOC characteristics
“Competition…all comtents should stay insight the group…” (L50 on tab 3 spreadsheet, Western Europe business) similarly when asked about their organisation’s view of MOOC “From the company’s point of view, MOOCs cannot be accessible for all as soon as company specific knowledge is transferred…” (L44, tab 1, Western European business)
Similarly to the top right comment other organisations commented that they did not have the technical expertise to create MOOC but could provide content .
Practical stuff.
So part of the work being done is to identify needs, gaps & reasons for businesses, labour force and HEIs to boost their MOOC activities, (this presentation/paper)
What’s missing?
Time = pays off in long run
Language = particularly relevant across the EU
Time = pays off in long run
Language = particularly relevant across the EU
The BizMOOC Evaluation Model – too complex? How can small businesses replicate?
Time = pays off in long run
Language = particularly relevant across the EU
Course pathways through MOOC 3 Intrapreneurship
Following the e-tivity model of Gilly Salmon, e-tivities need to have a clear encouraging title, a purpose (objective), a brief and straight-forward summary of the task, a spark (direct link with the topic of the week, interesting title etc.), an individual contribution (share), a dialogue encouragement (interact) and e-moderator interventions throughout the discussion (e.g. stimulate certain discussion by asking counter- or follow-up questions, providing short wrap-ups of discussion points etc.)
No wrong answers – all contributions are welcome but please be respectful of others
HEIs embed MOOC strategically
“think big” Simon Nelson of FutureLearn
HEIs embed MOOC strategically
“think big” Simon Nelson of FutureLearn
HEIs embed MOOC strategically
“think big” Simon Nelson of FutureLearn