Presentation on MOOCs for employability, innovation and entrepreneurship by Rebecca Ferguson during the Peer Learning Activity, MOOCs for the labour market.

1. MOOCs for
employability,
innovation and
entrepreneurship
CC-BY 4.0
1
Rebecca Ferguson
Institute of Educational Technology
The Open University (UK)

2. CC-BY 4.0 2
 What are the most
effective forms of learning
with MOOCs?
 What is needed to support
employability, innovation
and entrepreneurship in
European labour markets?
 How can MOOCs
systematically support
continuing education (CE),
continuing professional
development (CPD) and
career development in
Europe?
How can MOOCs
best support
employability,
innovation and
entrepreneurship
in the European
area?

3. What are the most effective forms of
learning with MOOCs?
 Varying approaches to evaluating MOOCs
 Traditional methods don’t reflect the
voluntary, self-guided and non-formal nature
of MOOC learning
 Current best practice in MOOC provision is
characterized by an innovation mindset which
recognizes their disruptive potential while
being realistic about what can be achieved
CC-BY 4.0 3

4. What are the most effective forms of
learning with MOOCs?
 To maximise their potential, MOOC learners need
• digital skills
• self-determined learning skills
• peer learning skills
• skills for engaging with online resources
• time management skills
 MOOCs can therefore be understood as part of a
lifelong learning strategy
CC-BY 4.0 4

5. 5
Employability: Drivers
• Online learning tools
• Higher education policy
• Key competences framework
• Sharing labour market data
• (International) mobility of workers and learners
• Apprenticeships
• Training ICT specialists
• Agile & dynamic working partnerships
• Job application and workplace
• Individual self-efficacy, self-confidence and
self-esteem
• Wages and recognition

6. 6
Employability: Barriers
• Aging and shrinking EU workforce
• Skills mismatch
• Lack of adequate literacy and numeracy
• Lack of problem-solving, communication, digital and
entrepreneurship skills
• Shortage of digital specialists
• Quality of training options varies widely
• Poor-quality apprenticeships
• Low uptake of vocational qualifications
• Friction in transition between education and work
• Resistance to digitalisation
• Lack of focus on SMEs among employment agencies

7. 7
Employability: What is needed?
• Investment in national education systems
• Access to tertiary education
• Adequate and appropriate education and training
• Part-time training options and lifelong learning
• More credible CPD
• Improved management of work transitions
• New routes through education, training and work
• Validation and authentication of non-formal learning
• Recognition of prior learning
• Services for learning
• Real-time job data published openly
• Soft and digital skills
• Internet access

8. Innovation: drivers
 Policy as innovation driver
 Competition / co-operation / large-scale collaboration
 Protection of intellectual property
 Innovation networks and high quality business networks
 Technological change; digital experimentation
 Standardisation of protocols and technologies
 Organisations that generate and absorb knowledge
 Diversity and inclusion
 More flexible opportunities, accessible to all
CC-BY 4.0 8

9. Innovation: barriers
 Failure to provide evidence of need to innovate
 Inertia within tradition of vocational ed & training
 Slow access to market / lack of agility
 Lack of transparent data
 Lack of co-ordination across the European area
 Lack of collaboration
 Barriers to participation in higher education
 Resistance to change among institutions and staff
who do not wish to rethink basic assumptions
CC-BY 4.0 9

10. Innovation: what is needed?
 Visionary policy making
 Innovation mindset
 Greater transparency and sharing
 Opportunities for collaboration
 Engagement with a wide range of stakeholders
 Improved dialogue
 Reflective attitude towards technology
 Trust and familiarity in relation to massive open
online courses (MOOCs)
CC-BY 4.0 10

11. Entrepreneurship: drivers
 Economic growth
 Agile orientation
 Migrant businesses
 Supply of highly skilled labour
 Entrepreneurial mindset/thinking
 Promotion of collaboration between researchers and
practitioners in education and entrepreneurship
 Practice-based learning
 Entrepreneurial education
CC-BY 4.0 11

12. Entrepreneurship: barriers
 Lack of entrepreneurial mindset and skills
 Low motivation to engage with
entrepreneurial approaches
 Low uptake of entrepreneurial education
 Entrepreneurial education is in an early
phase of development
CC-BY 4.0 12

13. Entrepreneurship: what is needed?
 Motivate employees to engage with entrepreneurial
approaches, develop mindset
 Stakeholder collaboration
 Stronger connections between theory and practice
 Move beyond knowledge transfer model of
entrepreneurial education
 Modernise curricula
CC-BY 4.0 13

14. MOOCs to support the labour market
 Jobs are becoming more flexible and complex
 Vocational programmes are often seen as inferior
 Informal learning under-appreciated by employers
 MOOCs offer opportunities for flexible delivery of
education
 MOOCs can be change agents that balance the needs
of different stakeholders.
 Workplace collaborations can lead to more
authentic professional development
CC-BY 4.0 14

15. Learning in MOOCs
 Basic literacy and numeracy support
 Addressing identified competency shortages
 Training for automation
 Route to corporate training
 Reflective career management tools
 Strategic, local collaborations to enhance skills and
capabilities
 Development of recognised portfolios
CC-BY 4.0 15

16. MOOC possibilities
 Flexible and modular delivery of learning
 Could be key to training a flexible, adaptive and
qualified labour force
 Business and higher education institutions can work
together to develop MOOC curricula
 Offer continuing professional development at scale
and provide evidence of this
 Map and document skills
 Use MOOCs to identify talent
CC-BY 4.0 16

17. Business models
• Integration with mainstream education
supplementary courses, upselling, offering credits,
additional services
• Freemium
charge for additional services such as examinations
• Partnership with enterprises
focus on human resource development
• Involvement of target audience
peer assessment, moderation, support
• Philanthropy
(funded by charity/foundation/NGO/government

CC-BY 4.0 17

18. Features of business models
• MOOCs as multisided platforms
facilitating stakeholder interactions
• Certification model
retains degree as gold standard
• Freemium model
free learning followed by paid content
• Advertising model
using data to serve adverts
• Job-matching model
using data to address job market asymmetry
• Subcontractor model
outsources core HEI functions to MOOC platform
 CC-BY 4.0
18

19. 19
OPEN ONLINE LEARNING FOR THE WORKPLACE
EUROPEAN MOOC CONSORTIUM
http://oro.open.ac.uk/67478/