Business MOOCs and Online Courses

What Is a MOOC?

Emerging in the 2000s, Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) have played a major role in democratizing education, enabling students to learn remotely without enrolling in traditional college degree programs. Available entirely online, these courses cover topics as diverse as those in most traditional college catalogs, and many MOOCs are entirely free.

MOOC courses gather academic resources from more than 900 colleges and universities across the world, serving more than 110 million students annually.

This page offers an overview of business MOOC courses, including major online education platforms, typical course offerings, and factors to consider before enrolling.

What Are the Benefits of Business MOOCs?

MOOCs offer several benefits over traditional college courses. The convenience and accessibility of the MOOC platform makes it practical for many types of students, particularly working professionals who may not have the bandwidth for typical university coursework.

What Format Do MOOCs Follow?

MOOC courses resemble traditional online courses offered at four-year colleges, and many are organized by well-known schools like Harvard and MIT. Students complete all coursework remotely, including lectures, readings, and quizzes. Most courses occur asynchronously, allowing students to complete assignments at their convenience.

The key difference between most MOOC courses and traditional online college courses is the level of communication between students and faculty. Free MOOCs may enroll thousands of students across the world, making it impractical for faculty to evaluate individual student work. Some MOOCs include quizzes or tests, but students generally work through assignments independently, with no feedback from faculty members. However, some MOOC courses entail group work or peer review.

Paid-enrollment MOOC courses often feature live lectures, group chats, and regular communication with peers and faculty. These courses may offer additional student benefits, such as extra course content, graded assignments, increased faculty access, and professional certifications and other credentials. However, program formats can vary widely, and students should always research MOOC courses to determine their level of faculty and student engagement.

How Long Are MOOCs?

Course lengths for MOOCs vary as much as the course offerings themselves. Most take 1-16 weeks to complete, depending on the nature and depth of the subject matter. One-week courses might cover very specific topics, such as an introduction to Google’s BigQuerry cloud data platform. Conversely, more in-depth courses covering broad topics, such as innovation for entrepreneurs, might last 8-16 weeks.

Different courses call for different weekly time commitments. Lighter courses may require just 3-5 hours of work per week, while heavier courses entail eight hours or more each week.

How Often Are MOOCs Offered?

GIven the platform’s self-directed nature, many MOOCs offer open enrollment, enabling students to start courses whenever their schedules permit. Other MOOC courses may adopt more traditional, class-based models, with set start and end dates. These courses may feature more collaboration between students, requiring participants to engage in peer review and evaluate each other’s work. Courses resulting in certificates or other credentials may also maintain more structure in their start and end dates.

Popular MOOCs often repeat throughout the year, allowing students to enroll every few months. Some specialized courses may run only once per year, or even less frequently.

How Much Do MOOCs Cost?

While many MOOCs cost nothing, others feature enrollment fees or certain paid components. Programs resulting in credentials such as certificates, specializations, or MicroMasters credentials may cost hundreds of dollars, particularly for in-demand subjects such as business and information technology.

In some instances, MOOC platforms offer two versions of a course: a free audit, which provides readings, lectures, and other coursework, and paid enrollment, which offers access to additional paywalled content, such as expanded assignments, graded coursework, and faculty contact. Typically, students must pay for course content to receive certificates and other professional credentials.

Free courses offer a tradeoff in terms of accessibility and student engagement. Free MOOCs make online learning accessible to all types of students but often lack the engagement and feedback that paid MOOCs provide.

What Are MOOCs for Business?

Business MOOCs focus on specialized topics relevant to business professionals. These courses help students build marketable skills and competencies to advance in their careers. MOOCs distinguish themselves from other online courses in terms of accessibility and cost. Through MOOCs, students may build specialized skills or knowledge at little cost or for free.

Business MOOCs cover many topics, but they often focus on business and technology skills. Universities and MOOC platforms constantly introduce new course topics, with more than 2,500 new courses launched by more than 400 colleges in 2019 alone.

The following sections outline some major benefits of MOOCs in comparison to traditional college education pathways.

Why Should I Take a MOOC?

MOOCs feature democratized education, making courses from elite public and private colleges available to students around the world. However, institutions are still determining the best ways to use the unique MOOC delivery format. The following table highlights major pros and cons associated with MOOCs.

Comparing the Pros and Cons of MOOCs

What Is There to Show For Taking a MOOC?

In some instances, MOOC participants may receive professional certificates or other credentials, such as microdegrees, upon completing online courses. These options most commonly accompany paid-enrollment MOOCs, which require students to pay course fees before receiving certifications. Free MOOCs rarely confer certifications, and those free credentials may carry less merit.

Students typically list these credentials on their resumes or LinkedIn profiles, just as they would traditional certificates earned from in-person workshops. These credentials can help working professionals distinguish themselves for job opportunities, and they may help candidates advance in their current careers.

Comparing MOOCs to Formal Higher Education Options

Business MOOCs serve as practical options for students looking to develop their professional skills, and these courses closely resemble traditional degree options, with some exceptions. This list outlines traditional degree and certificate pathways as they compare to MOOCs, exploring the benefits MOOCs offer at each academic level.

Is a MOOC Worth It?

MOOCs offer notable benefits for students and business professionals. These benefits typically break down into three major categories: career progress, employability, and educational advancement.

What Do MOOCs for Business Look Like?

Business MOOC courses encompass a wide variety of topics, which generally break down into a few major categories. This list outlines several common types of MOOCs, grouped by categories such as subject area, institutional provider, learning outcome, and skill level.

Different Types of Business MOOCs

MOOCs can be categorized by:

Business MOOC Examples

How Do I Take a MOOC?

Enrolling in a MOOC serves as a practical choice for students looking to begin or continue their business education, and choosing the right course platform represents the first step.

Sites Offering MOOCs

With thousands of MOOCs available, learners may feel overwhelmed browsing course listings among various platforms. This list highlights four of the most popular MOOC platforms, all of which combine robust business course offerings with academic and professional reputability. Their offerings may vary widely, but students can trust their general quality.

• edX Founded in cooperation between Harvard and MIT, edX is known for its connections to prestigious colleges nationwide, with charter members including Stanford University, Georgetown University, Cornell University, and the University of Texas system. The platform serves more than 20 million students, with courses available in subjects including business administration, economics, and project management.
• FutureLearn Founded in 2013 by the UK’s Open University, FutureLearn offers courses to millions of students around the world. The platform’s university partners represent a broad consortium of global academic institutions, including the University of Glasgow, King’s College London, the University of Melbourne, and Johns Hopkins University.
• Coursera One of the leading MOOC platforms, Coursera offers more than 3,900 courses and specializations, with dozens of professional certifications available. Students can enroll in courses from major colleges in the U.S. and abroad, including the University of Michigan, Arizona State University, and Imperial College London.
• Udemy Describing itself as “the world’s largest selection of courses,” video-learning platform Udemy hosts more than 100,000 video courses, with thousands of new offerings added monthly. Students can explore a wide assortment of business courses, covering topics including financial analysis, digital marketing, and Microsoft Excel.

How To Find the Right MOOC

Online MOOC courses offer thousands of learning options, which can make it difficult to research and select a course. When exploring and selecting MOOCs, learners should consider the following:

Cost

Enrollment costs for MOOCs can range from totally free to hundreds or thousands of dollars. Always evaluate the cost of a course against its educational and professional outcomes, and look out for discounts.

Time Commitment

Some MOOCs last just a few weeks, requiring as little as 3-5 hours of weekly work, while others call for much heavier commitments. Busy students should make sure they do not take on courses with unrealistic requirements.

Prestige/Reputation of the Site/Educator

Particularly when enrolling in paid MOOCs, students should ensure they choose courses offered by reputable universities through reputable online course providers.

Frequently Asked Questions