IRCA 2017. Chennai-based Ranga-
nath Kumar Sami was working as the
principal research engineer for Mo-
dine Thermal Systems. He was a re-
puted 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 enrol-
ment 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 pro-
fessor Sebastian Thrun and Google’s Director of Research
Peter Norvig uploaded on the Internet a free course on ar-
tificial intelligence. The aim was to bring the best educa-
tion to the remotest corners of the planet and help learners
expand their professional and intellectual horizons. It wasC
98 IBUSINESS TODAYIAugust 25I 2019