Enroll in a Massive Online Open Course During The COVID-19 Pandemic


Monday, April 20, 2020

MOOCs are free and inexpensive massive open online courses. Find out more about them!



MOOCs, massive open online courses, are virtually open to anyone through online distance learning portals. While the U.S. economy continues to suffer the consequences of the continuous spread of the novel coronavirus, many professionals keep their skills sharp through a series of massive online open courses.

When Tim Lewis left his job in November, the former associate director of engagement and strategic partnerships for the NCAA in Indianapolis thought he’d wait until after the holiday season before looking for a different full-time job. After spending months consulting, he was ready to jump back into a full-time job search.

Then, the coronavirus pandemic hit. Lewis, who already has multiple advanced degrees including a doctoral degree (PhD), hopes to help his chances when the job market recovers from the pandemic.

As the U.S. faces record unemployment, Lewis is not alone.

A new study by nonprofit organization Strada Education Network found that 55% of Americans have either lost jobs or had their hours or income severely reduced. Two-thirds of Americans are worried that they may lose their jobs. Approximately one-third of Americans believe that if they were to be laid off, they would need more education to find a similar job. Gen Xers and millennials report feeling increased pressure to gain more education.

With the coronavirus causing vast economic hardship, continuing education might seem out of reach to many. That’s where MOOCs, which are often free or low-cost, can help bridge a gap.

According to the Class Central December 2019, a website that provides a list of online courses, MOOCs had 110 million students around the world excluding China, which was left out of the analysis for data purposes. More than 900 online universities offered 13,500 of these online, virtual courses. Class Central found that there was a total of 820 microcredentials, which are digital certificates that certify competence in a specific skill or set of skills, and 50 MOOC-based degrees.

And that was all before a global pandemic.

According to Shravan Goli, MOOC provider Coursera’s chief product officer, between March 17 and April 16, there was an overall U.S. enrollment increase of 607% from the same period last year, with the greatest increase in online enrollments in public health; social science; arts and humanities; and personal development courses.

Anant Agarwal, CEO of edX, another popular MOOC provider, wasn’t able to answer questions about MOOC usage during the coronavirus pandemic, except to note the site has been additional traffic in the past few weeks, and wouldn’t speculate to the cause.

Many MOOC platforms have made online course offerings available for free during the pandemic, including Coursera, which offers free virtual courses through May 31 in everything from public health—including classes on COVID-19, the disease caused by coronavirus—to mental health and wellness; Spanish; and career development.

Coursera also makes the entire campus catalog available for free to any college or university in the world affected by COVID-19. Online schools may enroll students in 3,800 courses through July 31 and student can complete them through September 30, but extensions may be available.

MOOC provider Udacity, which has both free online courses and paid online programs, is offering what it calls a “quarantine special”: free access for one month to its microcredentials programs, which focus on developing job skills and normally cost $399 per month.

Udacity saw a 44.8% increase in weekly activity in the four-week period from March 9 to April 6. Over the same time period, the platform saw a 73.3% increase in new enrollments.

Class Central has also put together a list of more than 400 free Ivy League online courses available as MOOCs. Some even lead to certification. The Ivy League is made up of Brown University, Columbia University, Cornell University, Dartmouth College, Harvard University, the University of Pennsylvania, Princeton University and Yale University.




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