With today's student debt exceeding US$ 1 trillion in the US alone, only 10%-20% of graduates in developing countries considered employable by international standards and increasing pressures for older workers to remain employable longer, the World Economic Forum (WEF) calls for an educational reform. In its report, Education and Skills 2.0: New Targets and Innovative Approaches, the WEF points out that Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs), which hold promise of increasing access to education, has as of yet failed to provide a comparable alternative to pay-for-credit education. MOOC courses tend to focus on lecture and material reference and lack the type of interactivity and assessment offered by traditional education. The same report, however, identifies the opportunities that is presented by MOOCs to academic institutions that seek new revenue sources. For example, online learning programs which can be moderately priced and offered to significantly larger prospective client-base, as well as credit transfer processing fees to allow students who take online courses from MOOC offerings and who wish to apply the course to an accredited program. Still, however, significant obstacles stand before MOOCs; namely costly investments required to provide rich learning experiences and the reluctance to recognize online learning within the educational industry.
With the advancement of natural language process technologies, machine learning and analytics it is possible to overcome such barriers to redefine educational models and open up new business opportunities within and outside of traditional learning institutions. In fact, businesses will likely be the champion of new approaches given the increased global competition for talent, their capacity to inject investment into MOOCs and the potential return that MOOCs present. Through Co-ops, joint training programs and research partnerships, businesses have demonstrated a willingness to partner with academia. However, MOOCs are not partnerships but distinct businesses that in addition to securing talent can help organizations claim training investments against capital assets, elevate revenue and improve cash flow. At the same time, new revenue sources will arise for academic institutes that position themselves as governing bodies in a new educational network to provide program accreditation, administration and record keeping, course development and facilitation services. Further, learning will become increasing accessible through virtual learning solutions and learners will be presented with new options to finance their learning (e.g., professional membership fees).
The natural evolution of today's educational system under current economic pressures and advancements in technology will result in businesses offering accredited programs. Companies will make the investment to build MOOCs on advanced network technologies to reduce transactional cost and scale quality education to the masses. These programs will be just what business ordered and will remain connected to existing eductational standards by placing educational institutes at the governance helm. Students, whether in developed or developing countries, whether entering the workforce, in the workforce or transitioning from one workforce to another, will no longer have to pay tuition up-front, but instead companies can offer a pay-it-upon industry entry or secure ongoing membership dues to retain degrees. The logistics of administering such a payment plan may have been unthinkable prior to advanced networks, but today it's completely possible.
Perhaps the biggest obstacle is breaking free from conventional thinking and beginning serious discussion regarding what educational reform looks like. Companies that can invest in infrastructure to help MOOCs realize their potential are perhaps the best positioned to take the lead in an industry that is larger than all other information industries combined, $7 trillion in the US alone.
For more information on the state of global education please see http://www.weforum.org/reports/education-and-skills-20-new-targets-and-innovative-approaches
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