About MOOCs Massive Open Online Courses
Introduction
When innovators enter a market, they tend to shake things up. With the advent of Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs), considered by many to be the most important education technology breakthrough in two hundred years, education could potentially encounter a major disruption. Apart from the unprecedented opportunities MOOCs provide for students, let's explore the ways in which MOOCs could impact the business education industry and its value chain. Our analysis will mainly focus on lecture-related stakeholders by discussing business schools, their faculties, and educational publishers.
1. MOOCs and the value chain of business education
MOOCs are online video lectures from top universities around the world that are offered for free. The opportunity for students to have free access to content from the best professors in any particular field calls into question the relevancy of the traditional lecture-based model of education.
MOOCs
1/5
2013
SWOT: MOOCs
STRENGTHS
- Tested and optimized - More demanding and more rigorous lectures - From best universities - Free
WEAKNESSES
- Need specific and strong preparation - No degree, no certification - Mostly from U.S. Universities - High dropout rate - No practical application
INTERNAL FACTORS
OPPORTUNITIES
- New market - Strategic alliances with elite universities - Provide a degree - Democratize higher education in developing and emerging countries
THREATS
- Conditional to faculty's commitment - Several valuable competitors - Business education not solely based on lectures - Employers and students are demanding behavioral and societal skills - Business model not defined
EXTERNAL FACTORS
As highlighted in the SWOT analysis, daily lectures are demanding for professors and for students, but MOOCs allow professors to capture one perfect version of their lectures and offer it many times to countless students around the world.