Business Today – August 25, 2019

EDUCATION SPECIAL > MOOCS

course.” Udemy claims to have 40 million students and
50,000 teachers globally who teach 1,30,000 courses
while fees range from 360 to12,800.
According to Raghav Gupta, India Director of Cours-
era, paid learners here have a completion rate of around
60 per cent, the highest from all countries as Indian
consumers seek value for money. Furthermore, it has a
strong focus on super-specialised programmes. Coursera
calls them MasterTracks, which cost 1.5-2.6 lakh and takes six-nine months to finish. However, other courses and specialisations offered by the company are competi- tively priced at3,500-5,500. Its competitor,
Udacity, offers a set of free courses apart from
several super-specialised technology pro-
grammes called nano degrees, each costing a
monthly fee of `22,299.
Working out the kinks may not be easy,
though, says Chatterjee of SNU. MOOCs get
the thumbs up for ease of access and scale.
But they may have misplaced focus or may not

be reaching the right kind of people, say, a first-genera-

tion college-goer. A look at the ground realities will also

confirm this. For example, 70 per cent of the users who

log in to MOOCs are from top Indian cities. Also, there

is a strong focus on topics such as analytics and data sci-

ence that can be easily monetised instead of broadening

and deepening the content across disciplines. “Currently,

even the introductory courses are designed after the US

system. As most of the lectures are in English and the

faculty often speaks with a strong foreign accent, it could

easily put off the non-native speakers here,” says Chatter-

jee. Besides, a lot of these professional courses

may not find many takers among the remote

learners, hailing from the small towns and

beyond. Unless the ecosystem evolves and of-

fers education at every level, in every major

Indian language, MOOCs may fall short of

Thrun’s vision.

@sonalkhetarpal7

BACK TO SCHOOL

C

hittaranjan Sahoo,
34, had joined IT
major Tech Mahindra
as a software developer.
But when he saw the de-
mand for data science skills
growing exponentially, he
decided to upskill via RIDE,
the company’s learning
and development platform.
Sahoo pursued an edX
course on data science,
developed by the University
of California at San Diego.
After completion, he was
selected to work for a telco
client and will soon move to
the US to work onsite.
According to S.V. Na-
than, Partner and Chief Tal-
ent Officer at Deloitte India,
“Employees today are as
good as their last learning.
With the rapid pace of tech-
nological advancements,
companies are expect-
ing far too much from its
workforce in too little time.”
However, most companies
do not have the resources
to ensure that up-to-date,
quality content reaches its

employees on time, at their

specific locations. “MOOCs

can synthesise all require-

ments and bring it in the

shape and form that people

can use anytime and any-

where,” adds Nathan.

Organisations, both new

and old, big and small, are

tying up with MOOC play-

ers to help their employ-

ees learn and grow. Tech

Mahindra has partnerships

with a handful of providers,

including edX, Plural-

sight, Udemy, FutureSkills

(promoted by NASSCOM),

SAP Learning hub, Mettl

and kPoint, among others.

Employees at Tata Com-

munications have unlimited

access to Coursera, Skill-

soft and Pluralsight, among

others via an on-demand

platform that enables self-

paced learning. Under-

standably, benefits here

are twofold. Employees get

personalised content and

learn at their convenience.

And companies can offer

some of the best courses at

scale and far lower costs.

As each company

has tie-ups with multiple

providers, does it lead

to a content overload?

Vaishali Phatak, Group

Function Head, Techni-

cal Learning Services, at

Tech Mahindra does not

agree. “The USP of each

player varies in terms of

content and focus area

and even functionality.

Hence, we have to meet the

requirements of all func-

tions which serve immedi-

ate needs or the needs for

future skills.” More than 75

per cent of Tech Mahindra

employees completed their

courses on these platforms.

Studies show when compa-

nies push for MOOCs, the

completion rate goes up.

For example, over 4,000

employees at Tata Com-

munications completed

various skills certifications

last year. Besides, several

business units of the telco

have functional academies

which provide customised

programmes. Managers

and leaders often ask their

teams to acquire specific

skills and pursue relevant

programmes.

Finally, do learners feel

motivated and engaged to

pursue their second innings

at school? According to

Nathan, companies must

enable and promote a cul-

ture of learning. “They must

get the point across that

their people need to work

on new skills. On the other

hand, organisations should

make sure that courses are

curated with the learners in

mind and offer an aspira-

tional value,” he says.

$3.9

Billion

The global MOOC

market in 2018

By SONAL KHETARPAL AND E. KUMAR SHARMA
ILLUSTRATION BY AJAY THAKURI

102 IBUSINESS TODAYIAugust 25I 2019