Tailor-Made

Massive open online courses, or MOOCs, could be the most convenient way to upskill or reskill people and drive professional growth.

- Sonal Khetarpal

CIRCA 2017. Chennai-based Ranganath Kumar Sami was working as the principal research engineer for Modine Thermal Systems. He was a reputed technocrat and reporting to the CXOs. “But when I started climbing the leadership ladder, I felt I should have a better grip on other crucial business aspects such as marketing or finance.” A full-time, on-campus MBA course was ruled out as he was not willing to leave his family (or stay away from his job, for that matter). Then he came across an online programme conducted by the University of Illinois in partnership with Coursera, a provider of massive open online courses, or MOOCs. These short-format video lectures and self-assessment tests can be accessed remotely by all whether they are commuting to work or have managed to snatch some free time when their babies are napping. Now Kumar Sami puts in 10-14 hours a week from the comfort of his home and has finished six semesters over the past two years.

Unlike traditional online courses with limited enrolment opportunities and high tuition fees, MOOCs are the knowledge highways for self-motivated and evolving learners. They have been around since 2008 but became a global phenomenon three years later when Stanford professor Sebastian Thrun and Google’s Director of Research Peter Norvig uploaded on the Internet a free course on artificial intelligence. The aim was to bring the best education to the remotest corners of the planet and help learners expand their professional and intellectual horizons. It was an instant hit and saw thousands of enrolments within the first few weeks.