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Massive open online courses might be more beneficial for career advancement than educational advancement, according to a new report.
Students enrolled in MOOCs cite pay raises, promotions, and personal educational development as results, not a degree, according to Inside Higher Ed.
The study, conducted by researchers from the University of Pennsylvania, the University of Washington, and Coursera, a for-profit company that offers MOOCs, found that 72 percent of research respondents reported career benefits and another 61 percent reported educational benefits.
Those from less educated and less affluent backgrounds were more likely to report tangible career benefits, such as a promotion or a new job.
Almost 52,000 MOOC users responded to the survey, but 700,000 did not — a 7.4 percent response rate.
That hurts the significance of the study and could show a self-selection bias. If a student benefited from a MOOC course, more positive responses will be found in a study.
Some colleges, such as the Texas State University System, plan to use MOOCs as a way to reduce college costs. Their use for educational degrees should be understood as experimental, rather than a move that comes from rigorous empirical evidence.
More analysis will be needed to determine the broad use of MOOCs, but for some, it appears that there’s at least a limited use for them in specific capacities.
