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“Support services to foster Web Talent in Europe by encouraging the use of Massive Open

Online Courses focused on web skills” – SMART 2013/N006

CONTRACT NUMBER 30-CE-0597494/00-12

FINAL REPORT OR EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

A study prepared for the European Commission

DG Communications Networks, Content & Technology by:

A study prepared for the European Commission

DG Communications Networks, Content & Technology by:

FINAL REPORT

Digital Agenda for Europe

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This study was carried out for the European Commission by

Authors: Eulalia Canals and Yishay Mor

Internal identification

“Support services to foster Web Talent in Europe by encouraging the use of Massive Open Online

Courses focused on web skills” – SMART 2013/N006

CONTRACT NUMBER 30-CE-0597494/00-12

DISCLAIMER

By the European Commission, Directorate-General of Communications Networks, Content & Technology.

The information and views set out in this publication are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily

reflect the official opinion of the Commission. The Commission does not guarantee the accuracy of the

data included in this study. Neither the Commission nor any person acting on the Commission’s behalf

may be held responsible for the use which may be made of the information contained therein.

ISBN number

DOI: number

© European Union, 2014. All rights reserved. Certain parts are licensed under conditions to the EU.

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TABLE OF CONTENT

1. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY .......................................................................................... 4

1.1 OPPORTUNITIES AND CHALLENGES .............................................................. 4

1.2 RECOMMENDATIONS: POLICY MAKERS ......................................................... 5

1.3 RECOMMENDATIONS: INDUSTRY LEADERS .................................................. 5

1.4 RECOMMENDATIONS: MOOC PROVIDERS ..................................................... 5

1.5 MAIN FIGURES ................................................................................................... 7

2. INTRODUCTION ...................................................................................................... 8

3. MAIN FINDINGS ...................................................................................................... 9

4. LESSONS LEARNT ............................................................................................... 10

4.1 WEB TALENT MOOCS SUPPLY AND DEMAND .............................................. 10

4.2 MOOCS AND THE HIGHER EDUCATION INSTITUTIONAL CULTURE ........... 11

4.3 MOOCS CERTIFICATION AND ACCREDITATION ........................................... 12

4.4 KEY MESSAGES FROM PROJECT STAKEHOLDERS .................................... 13

5. BEST PRACTICES IDENTIFIED ............................................................................ 14

5.1 CERTIFICATION AND RECOGNITION ............................................................. 15

5.2 MOOC DESIGN PATTERNS ............................................................................. 16

6. BARRIERS TO FOSTERING WEB TALENT IN EUROPE ..................................... 17

7. FURTHER ACTIONS TO BE UNDERTAKEN ........................................................ 19

8. CONCLUSIONS ..................................................................................................... 20

9. PROJECT ACTIVITIES .......................................................................................... 21

9.1 THE NETWORK ................................................................................................ 21

9.2 OUTCOMES FROM THE INITIAL SURVEY & DESK STUDY ........................... 21

9.3 OUTCOMES OF THE FINAL MOOC CONFERENCE ....................................... 24

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1. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

1.1 OPPORTUNITIES AND CHALLENGES

The project ‘Fostering Web Talent in Europe by encouraging the use of MOOCs focused

on web skills’ explored the use of MOOCs as one of the ways of boosting web skills

amongst web entrepreneurs in Europe as part of the Startup Europe initiative of the

European Commission.

Below are the main conclusions based on the input from a study of the demand and

supply of MOOCs for web skills, an online survey, and the members of a network of

universities and business schools in Europe interested in developing MOOCs for web

talent, created and developed within the project.

MOOC opportunities MOOC challenges

Web and mobile tech-nologies are developing at an accelerating pace. To keep up with these changes, workers and potential wor-kers in the startup ecosys-tem need to constantly update their skills.

MOOCs are an important means to address the shor-tage in web talent as part of an ecosystem which in-cludes free and paid cour-ses, self-paced learning re-sources, learning communi-ties, and formal education providers.

In order to create sustainable and effective MOOCs for web talent, which address the real needs of web and mobile entrepreneurs, it is imperative that industry, educational provi-ders and MOOC platforms collaborate in dy-namic and agile partnerships.

Web entrepreneurs and their current and

potential employees need hands-on learning experiences, grounded in real-life problems. In order to provide such experiences, provi-ders need to work closely with eLearning pe-dagogy experts and industry partners.

Employers need mechanisms for validating

the quality and efficacy of MOOCs, and ve-ryfying the knowledge of participants either through formal credit systems, portfolios, or community credits.

This report lays out the key findings of the project, the lessons learnt including possible

barriers for developing web talent in Europe, the outcomes of the main activities

conducted, and a set of recommendations for MOOC providers, policy makers, and

employers interested in exploring the use of MOOCs to train the next generation of web

entrepreneurs.

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1.2 RECOMMENDATIONS: POLICY MAKERS

Although MOOCs are by now an established phenomenon, they still have not

realised their potential in redressing the expected shortage in a skilled workforce for

web and mobile innovation.

There is a need to raise awareness of this potential within the professional

community. Similarly, it is crucial that providers tune their offerings to the needs of

industry and the preferences of learners.

1.3 RECOMMENDATIONS: INDUSTRY LEADERS

MOOCs can help address the challenges that industry faces in maintaining a skilled

workforce and can be used for the initial training of high school and university

graduates to meet the requirements of entry level jobs.

MOOCs can also be used, perhaps even more effectively, for the continuous

upskilling of existing employees to meet the needs of a dynamic market.

Large companies could even develop their own MOOCs for internal training or to

support their ecosystem.

Industry players need to listen to the needs of employees and potential employees,

and partner with educational providers to guide them in the production of new

MOOCs.

1.4 RECOMMENDATIONS: MOOC PROVIDERS

The first issue that providers need to consider is the learner profile for MOOCs for

web skills. Most of the potential participants are not seeking a university degree, but

wish to acquire specific skills needed for current or future jobs. They are keen on

obtaining practical, hands-on learning experiences.

In terms of the business model, universities should not base their case on the

expectation of recruiting paying students from MOOC participants. Other possible

models could be based on supplementing existing study programs by offering

MOOCs on niche or emerging topics which cannot be covered by formal academic

programs. Another possibility would entail partnerships between different

institutions, where MOOCs would be produced by universities and sponsored by

industry or government bodies.

In terms of the pedagogical model, it is clear that neither the standard formulas of

academic courses nor the prevalent MOOC format of short video – quiz – forum are

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optimal for this area of study. MOOCs should succeed in providing the practical,

interactive and hands-on learning required for teaching web skills.

Still concerning the pedagogical model, there is a need for collaboration between

peers, team work, and the possibility of interacting and obtaining feedback from both

instructors and peers. MOOCs should offer opportunities for learner interactions that

allow actual group work and project-based interaction.

The quality of the learning experience, in terms of clarity, usability, and

appropriateness of content and activities should be also taken into account.

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1.5 MAIN FIGURES

This infographic shows the key findings and activities from the current project.

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2. INTRODUCTION

This report presents the final results of the EC funded project ‘Fostering Web Talent in

Europe by encouraging the use of MOOCs focused on web skills’ which explores the use

of MOOCs as one of the ways of boosting web skills amongst web entrepreneurs in

Europe. The project is part of Startup Europe, an initiative that aims to strengthen the

business environment for web and ICT entrepreneurs so that their ideas and businesses

can start and scale up in Europe.

Several activities were conducted over the course of the project that ran from January

until November, 2014. The first activity consisted of a scoping study to chart the

landscape in terms of demand and supply of MOOCs in the area of web development

which provided a precise mapping of the available MOOCs from European institutions.

Germany, Spain, and Switzerland were the three main providers of MOOCs for web

talent followed by France, the UK, Finland and the Netherlands. For comparison

purposes, an initial count of the MOOCs for web skills available from US MOOC

providers was made. It showed that as of March 2014, there was double the amount of

MOOCs for web talent available in the US than in Europe.

In addition to the desk research, an online survey was carried out amongst students,

entrepreneurs, leaders of innovation support programs, developers, and MOOC

providers. The survey aimed to identify the web skills which are most in demand and

evaluate whether or not these are being covered by the current MOOC supply. The goal

of this research component was to reveal insights that could help strengthen and

enhance the use of MOOCs for web talent across Europe. The first two activities were

published as a preliminary report where the main findings and recommendations were

laid out.

The rest of the activities conducted throughout the project contributed to the creation and

development of a network of universities and business schools in Europe interested in

developing MOOCs for web talent. The first networking activity, a webinar that took place

on July 1st, revolved around the topic of certification and recognition of MOOCs to

increase the employability of the European workforce. This was a topic that came up as

a major concern amongst the survey respondents. The second networking activity took

the shape of a workshop that was run on September 17th, during EC-TEL 2014, and that

included six paper presentations, a MOOC-platform panel discussion, and a response-

speech to the papers presented.

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The last activity of the project consisted of a one-day conference that took place in

Helsinki on November 17th featuring introductory presentations of the project, a keynote

address by Matt Walton of FutureLearn, and a panel discussion that gave the other

speakers a chance to recount their experiences with MOOCs.

3. MAIN FINDINGS

Web and mobile technologies are developing at an accelerating pace. To keep up

with these changes, workers and potential workers in the startup ecosystem need

to constantly update their skills.

MOOCs are an important means to address the shortage in web talent as part of a

learning ecosystem which includes free and paid courses, self-paced learning

resources, learning communities, and formal education providers.

In order to create sustainable and effective MOOCs for web talent, which address

the real needs of web and mobile entrepreneurs, it is imperative that industry,

educational providers and MOOC platforms collaborate in dynamic and agile

partnerships.

Web entrepreneurs and their current and potential employees need hands-on

learning experiences, grounded in real-life problems. In order to provide such

experiences, providers need to work closely with eLearning pedagogy experts and

industry partners.

Employers need mechanisms for validating the quality and efficacy of MOOCs, and

verifying the knowledge of participants either through formal credit systems,

portfolios, or community credits.

Although MOOCs are a widely recognized learning opportunity, some web

innovators are still not aware of their potential and both employers and employees

often prefer other forms of open education, such as self-study materials and

community hubs, as a means for building necessary skills.

Entrepreneurs and learners want hands-on, practice-based offerings which develop

specific skills, suitable for on-the-job professional development. There is a growing

ecosystem of campus, blended, hybrid, and open online courses which could

leverage the overlaps and synergies between different modes of delivery.

IT professionals indicated that one of the difficulties of the current labour market is

acquiring employees with domain-specific skills such as iOS, Android, and HTML5

experts and they believe both MOOCs and on-the-job training are the best ways to

develop such skills.

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We have observed a rise in awareness of issues of learning design, evaluation,

assessment and quality control, which are much more salient in on-line courses

because they are made available for anyone to see.

There are many concerns about the provision of accreditation and verification

schemes which would allow learners to demonstrate their acquired skills to potential

employers.

Educational providers should not take the move into the MOOC world lightly; the

teachers and designers assigned with the task need clear guidance and support to

achieve a high standard of quality in terms of pedagogy, resource production, and

user experience.

4. LESSONS LEARNT

4.1 WEB TALENT MOOCS SUPPLY AND DEMAND

The different activities carried out during the project suggest that we have passed the

“early adopters” phase according to the Technology Adoption Lifecycle Model, which

describes the adoption or acceptance of a new product or innovation based on the

demographic and psychological characteristics of defined adopter groups1. MOOCs are

a well-known phenomenon, both to people who are involved in them (providers and

students) and also to people in other sectors, such as leaders of innovation support

programs, corporate managers, and human resource personnel.

However, there is a need to facilitate better mapping of the supply and demand, and to

ensure a better fit between them.

Entrepreneurs and potential learners would like to see more hands-on, practice or

project based offerings which develop specific skills. These should be suitable for

on-the-job professional development. The supply does not always fit this model.

There seems to be an abundance of provision, yet learners are struggling to find the

MOOCs they need.

Since provision of MOOCs does not seem to be sufficient by itself, different measures

should be implemented to make MOOCs accessible as proper training possibilities to a

1 Beal, George M., Everett M. Rogers, and Joe M. Bohlen (1957) "Validity of the concept of stages in the adoption process." Rural Sociology 22(2):166–168.

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wider population beyond the one surveyed under this project. Additionally, better search

mechanisms are required, along with course metadata exchange standards to support

these. An example for course data exchange standards can be found here:

http://www.xcri.co.uk/. Different network members have embraced MOOC models that

have proven successful, such as University of Reading’s MOOC Mobile Game Building

MOOC now on its second iteration.

There are other approaches that address the aforementioned issues: The Webmaker

Training uses different modules to teach mentors on how to teach the web

(http://training.webmakerprototypes.org) or as they put it themselves, “creative ways to

teach web literacy, digital skills and open practices”. Another interesting example that

can serve as an illustration of the synergy between MOOCs and other open educational

formats is the Mechanical MOOC which operates without a professor and is built on

existing open educational resources and open courseware. Similarly, Code Academy or

the code.org initiative, although they cannot be categorised as MOOCs either, have been

brought up often during the course of the project by stakeholders, as they offer key

training opportunities for web and app developers.

4.2 MOOCS AND THE HIGHER EDUCATION INSTITUTIONAL CULTURE

Most current providers do not see MOOCs as profit bearing activities – the leading

motivations for conducting MOOCs were public image, philanthropy, and experimenting

with new pedagogies and technologies. Yet at the same time, they cited cost, quality

assurance and institutional culture as the main barriers to provision. While institutional

culture is likely to change as MOOCs become the norm, so will their impact on public

image. If we want to sustain and make the MOOC phenomenon grow, we need to offer

providers mechanisms that will help them reduce the cost and raise the quality of the

MOOCs they produce. As an example, the MOOC design project uses a methodology

that combines design narratives and design patterns to help MOOC providers share their

knowledge of how to design effective MOOCs. The Integrated Learning Design

Environment offers a suite of open and free tools for designing MOOCs.

Regarding the issue of the institutional cultures, Professor Pierre Dillenbourg, one of the

members of the advisory board of experts that reviewed the initial study, noted that

universities might not be the best agents to produce MOOCs for the basic skills surveyed

in this study. These skills are orthogonal to the curriculum of computer science

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departments, which focuses on foundational and theoretical aspects of computing, such

as algorithms and data structures, as well as advanced specialist topics such as

cryptography and signal processing. Professor Dillenbourg also suggested a “pyramid”

of skills required to stimulate the European market: at the broad base level are

elementary skills which could enhance any business, by opening up access to web and

mobile channels. At the next level, there are web and mobile design and development

skills required for web-centric companies, and at the narrow top end there are advanced

skills such as security and data-mining required by specialist companies. The first two

can be provided by MOOCs but the latter are only covered by formal academic

education.

4.3 MOOCS CERTIFICATION AND ACCREDITATION

Another critical issue is the availability of suitable certification schemes. The vocational

focus of learners and entrepreneurs suggests that MOOCs are not, and should not, be

modeled on the basis of academic programs. Most MOOC participants either already

have a degree or are not seeking one. However, they wish to acquire skills that will help

them to get a job, or to progress in their current job. Furthermore, they would like to have

these skills accredited in a form that would be recognized by their current or future

employers. Again, this relates to the design and quality control of MOOCs: providers

need to point their MOOCs to vocational objectives, establish mechanisms to ensure

their constructive alignment with these objectives, and collaborate with authorities to

approve their certification. An open badges system, such as Mozilla’s Open Badges, is

another possible solution, much more aligned with the open education philosophy than

recent developments in the MOOC ecosystem. Both Udacity and Coursera offer

certification possibilities that are available for a fee. Whereas the latter approach mirrors

the traditional university system in its methods of assessment (by tests, exams,

exercises), the open badges system offers students the possibility of displaying skills

they acquired by showing evidence to back them up.

For example, FutureLearn's certification scheme implies, in its most complete form, a

university-branded certificate that provides proof of learning on the course topic after

taking a proctored exam. According to FutureLearn, these certificates are a “good way

to show evidence of formal or informal Continuing Professional Development (CPD),

commitment to a career path, or your understanding of a particular subject.”

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The MOOC platform iversity has been long pushing for their MOOC providers and other

German universities to award ECTS credits. Iversity insists that beyond the certificate,

the importance of this step is that it serves as proof that a given MOOC is of sufficient

quality and that the learner achieved the defined learning objectives.

As the MOOC phenomenon goes beyond the initial hype, one interesting element is

emerging: MOOCs are being used by providers as a “techno-pedagogical laboratory”,

and the lessons learnt inform their main practice in paid courses. This dynamic should

be condoned, celebrated and encouraged. It suggests that the impact of MOOCs can

potentially go far beyond their immediate domain, as a catalyst for change across

educational systems.

The concern of the students and interest on the recruiter’s side about recognition of

MOOCs as valuable, albeit informal, learning practices should not be taken lightly.

Current policies should seek to implement measures that ensure such recognition in the

near future.

4.4 KEY MESSAGES FROM PROJECT STAKEHOLDERS

In this section stakeholders who were involved on the project at different stages provide

their statements responding and commenting on the conclusions of the project. We

obtained comments from Shirley Williams, Professor of Learning Technologies in the

School of Systems Engineering at the University of Reading, Pierre Dubuc, co-founder

of the French MOOC platform OpenClassrooms, and several testimonials from students

who took Hasso Plattner Institute MOOCs for web skills.

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. Best Practices Identified

Pierre Dubuc

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5.1 CERTIFICATION AND RECOGNITION

The main aim of the webinar that we conducted on July 1st was to contribute to the

expansion of the MOOCs for web skills network. Amongst its specific objectives, the

webinar was set to engage an active community of European Institutions, Business

Schools and web entrepreneurs interested in MOOCs related to web talent in a

discussion around a topic of interest to them. The topic of the webinar, MOOC

accreditation and employability, was chosen amongst several other topics proposed by

the network members. The topics suggested were regarded as topics of interest

expressed by the different stakeholders who took part on the MOOC survey conducted

earlier on in the project. The webinar’s own objective was to gather several MOOC

providers, MOOC professors, leaders from the private sector, web entrepreneurs, and

digital literacy experts to join a public roundtable discussion about the key concerns and

current developments in MOOC accreditation and employability.

Many presenters gave examples about certification best practices and examples from

their institutions. The University Relations Manager at Google, Michel Bénard, explained

the Activate project, a set of e-marketing courses at the University of Madrid which

provided 12% of its participants a certificate which can be used on LinkedIn. Open HPI

MOOC platform’s Thomas Staubitz spoke about the results of a user survey amongst

60000 MOOC participants and noted that the certificates of completion should be for only

those who proved to be engaged in the course. Mozilla Foundation’s Web Literacy Lead,

Doug Belshaw, noted the latest possibilities brought by open badges in terms of

recognition, issuing, and bundling badges together to form learning pathways. The value

of open badges is either in the name of the organization, the issuing body or in the

metadata. The badges have embedded metadata, including the issuer, the criteria, and

evidence.

Mattia Nelles, Academic Partnership Manager at iversity, claimed that MOOCs can

deliver academic knowledge and specific skills to improve recognition and employability,

for which they should focus on proctoring and verification, transparency of their learning

outcomes, and providing ECTS. The European Union has the advantage of the Bologna

Process – if students can obtain ECTS credits, it’s easier to get their universities to

recognize them. Prof. Oliver Vornberger, who taught the MOOC “Algorithms and Data

structures”, explained that his course ended with either a proctored online exam

(machine graded, leading to a certificate) or an in-person exam in Osnabrück, graded by

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students, leading to a certificate and 6 ECTS credits. From the developers’ side, Carol

Chen made a parallel between MOOCs and the open source community: both require

sharing knowledge and working collaboratively to advance. In open source projects, one

can demonstrate his/her skills and contributions by sharing code, and others who have

worked with that person can verify those skills. This same approach could work with

MOOCs: community-based skills recognition, with a tangible outcome.

The conclusions of the webinar stress the need to find a sustainable model for MOOCs

because as it is now, teachers sacrifice a lot of time and effort to create MOOCs and

universities invest on resources without a return. MOOCs can actually be a driver of

quality in education due to the fact that they are a transparent model of teaching (i.e. in

the open) provided that issues around internet access, basic literacy, digital skills, and

self-study skills are addressed.

5.2 MOOC DESIGN PATTERNS

One of the issues which is often noted by all stakeholders is the challenge of creating

high-quality MOOCs. Web entrepreneurs and potential employees demand active,

hands-on learning experiences grounded in real-world problems. Providers acknowledge

this need, but are also aware of the difficulty of providing such experiences in large-scale

online settings. MOOC design patterns, developed by the MOOC design project, set out

to explore, define and articulate the emerging design principles and patterns that

underpin the development and delivery of massive open online courses, and to

demonstrate them by applying them to the design of new MOOCS. They incorporate

input from diverse but complementary perspectives that will include designers,

deliverers, researchers, learners, and tutors who are engaged in MOOCS and open and

distance learning more broadly. Some of the best practices are gathered as design

narratives and design patterns derived from practitioners’ experiences.

Design narratives are accounts of critical events in a design experiment from a personal,

phenomenographic perspective. They focus on design in the sense of problem solving,

describing a problem in the chosen domain, the actions taken to resolve it, and their

unfolding effects. They provide an account of the history and evolution of a design over

time, including the research context, the tools and activities designed, and the results of

users’ interactions with them. They portray the complete path leading to an educational

innovation, not just its final form – including failed attempts and the modifications they

triggered.

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A design pattern describes a recurring problem or design challenge, the characteristics

of the context in which it occurs, and a possible method of solution. Two of the patterns

that can be highlighted are the fishbowl and the adjacent platform design patterns.

The former pattern simulates intimate interaction between teacher and students in a

large scale online course by broadcasting

sessions where selected students act as proxies

for the cohort, whereas the latter one offers the

additional MOOC features required to support rich

interactions and user-generated content. Rather

than shoe-horn the platform or restrict the

activities, it makes more sense to use additional

platforms for specialised activities and clearly

define the relation between them and the main

platform.

6. BARRIERS TO FOSTERING WEB TALENT IN EUROPE

The first point of concern is how to provide certification upon course completion that will

be recognized in the job market. Even the potential recruiters (entrepreneurs and

innovation leaders) were concerned about the fact that no official recognition was offered

for this kind of training that they value. MOOC providers and academics claimed that the

employers’ real needs should be considered when offering a MOOC, and the students

stressed the importance of real-world situations, examples and needs being taken into

account and addressed in MOOCs.

MOOCs are clearly not a substitute for a university degree, and it is important to dispel

any possible illusions. Anyone aspiring for a high-competence engineering job should

choose a suitable academic programme. However, when it comes to a wide range of

specific skills required for a particular task – most often “there's a MOOC for that”. The

first problem most potential participants encounter is identifying the skills they need and

the available MOOCs on those topics. Luckily, we are witnessing the emergence of

directories and search engines for MOOCs and other educational opportunities, such as

Mooky Skills and gradberry.

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Some of the issues that potential participants need to consider when selecting a MOOC

is the fact that MOOCs can be used to obtain specific skills, but those skills may not be

an asset to their employability unless they manage to obtain some sort of certificate or

some other way of proving or showing the knowledge they gained through this type of

training. The option of building e-portfolio could be an alternative worth exploring. The

good news is that there is a strong interest from employers and recruitment entities in

exploring and acknowledging the training value of MOOCs and other informal learning

practices, so that makes MOOCs one viable training option if a person is interested in

getting specialized in a specific area of web skills.

On a different note, potential MOOC participants should be aware that programming and

web development skills were not the only skills in high demand according to

entrepreneurs, leaders of innovation support programs and developers. These

stakeholders indicated their concern about the lack of other skills, such as graphic design

and animation, as well as adjacent web skills such as eLearning, gamification, and digital

art.

Similarly, even though MOOCs provide valuable training opportunities for potential

participants, one of the recommendations that both several survey respondents and

members of the advisory board pointed to are other initiatives or open online training

opportunities such as Code Academy, which recently reached 24 million users. Web

entrepreneurship in Europe is thwarted by a twofold gap between young Europeans’

(particularly women’s) attitudes, skills and competencies, and the requisites for

instigating new innovations in web and mobile technologies.

The first gap concerns the potential innovators’ self-efficacy and attitude, and

requires the promotion of an entrepreneurial mind-set.

The second gap regards the specific technical, design, business and management

skills necessary to initiate and sustain a successful enterprise.

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The first challenge is a matter of market intelligence: there is a need for a clear mapping

of needs, both of the entrepreneurs and their potential workforce, in terms of skills,

competencies, qualifications, and experience. This needs to be mirrored by mapping the

current and projected provision, to identify the critical gaps and channel efforts towards

their resolution.

The second challenge arises from the lack of clarity in provision in terms of business

models, pedagogical models, quality standards, and respective technological platforms.

At a first glance, it may seem that there are ample MOOCs, OERs and other educational

opportunities to address the skills that young people need to enter the world of web and

mobile enterprise. But what if learners’ accomplishments in these opportunities cannot

be verified by employers, or they cannot prepare participants sufficiently for the roles

they will assume? Then, this provision is ineffective.

7. FURTHER ACTIONS TO BE UNDERTAKEN It is imperative that industry, educational providers and MOOC platforms collaborate

in dynamic and agile partnerships to raise awareness, produce, and enforce the use

MOOCs for web talent in the framework of the MOOCs network which will provide

concrete ways to aid building these collaborative partnerships.

Both companies and academic institutions should commit to work together to create

possible schemes to offer credentials using a double-standard format where each

would certify the knowledge and skills attained in a given MOOC: the theoretical one

by a formal assessment and the practical one by virtual micro-internships.

These certificates should be easily shareable on existing e-portfolios or online

career-networks, and recruiters should acknowledge their value by giving extra

value to candidates with such credentials.

MOOC providers should mirror open access communities and should focus on

providing the hands-on learning experiences required for teaching web skills that

guarantee collaboration between peers, team work, interaction and feedback.

MOOC providers should tune their offerings to the needs of industry and the

preferences of learners and should supplement existing study programs by offering

MOOCs on niche or emerging topics which cannot be covered by formal academic

programs.

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8. CONCLUSIONS MOOCs have the potential to be one of the educational practices, alongside other

educational content delivery systems, that will help redress the skills shortage in an ITC-

savvy workforce provided that employers, policy makers and providers work together to

make them a viable, valorized, certified training option.

MOOCs can be used as initial training for university introductory courses (to provide

some hands-on practical knowledge), entry-level jobs, or for upskilling workers in on-the-

job training, but for that to happen they need to be able to satisfy the needs of the

students for practical, hands-on, specific learning experiences.

Universities and other MOOC-providers should focus on creating MOOCs on niche or

emerging topics which are hardly covered by formal academic programs. They should

explore the possibility of establishing partnerships between different institutions to

produce MOOCs in collaboration and sponsored by industry or government bodies.

For MOOCs to have a real impact on the learning side, they need to evolve pedagogically

and move on from the current content delivery format to allow for a more practical,

interactive, collaborative and hands-on type of learning required for teaching web skills.

The quality of the learning experience, in terms of clarity, usability, and appropriateness

of content and activities should be also taken into account.

The ultimate decision should be whether the purpose of using MOOCs to enhance web

skills of young adults in Europe is about preparing a “silicon generation” so that these

youngsters can work in web companies across Europe, or whether a more ambitious

goal should be achieved, that is, improving the efficiency of IT practices in any company

or business so that web components are widespread in all businesses in Europe. In other

words, one should have a clear idea about who needs specific training and for what

purpose before deciding what the best training option could be. However, and as this

report reveals, MOOCs offer a potential solution in both cases. The question of whether

MOOCs should mimic university courses or rather offer some practical training directed

towards fulfilling specific needs remains to be addressed, as well as which institutions

are best placed to design, develop and deliver them.

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9. PROJECT ACTIVITIES

9.1 THE NETWORK

During the course of the project, a network of institutions that had produced MOOCs for

web talent or that were interested in exploring and adopting a strategy to start producing

them was created.

The network is formed by close to 60 institutions comprising two business schools, six

polytechnic universities and 32 MOOC platforms or MOOC providing-institutions (mostly

universities) from 17 different European countries.

9.2 OUTCOMES FROM THE INITIAL SURVEY & DESK STUDY

The study is based on the analysis of over 200 MOOC providers and almost 3000 online

survey respondents from around the world. The objective of the study was to investigate

the supply and demand of MOOCs related to web skills and better understand the

potential of MOOCs to develop the skills needed in the current market. The survey

sample includes learners, MOOC providers, entrepreneurs, leaders of innovation

support programmes, corporate managers, and IT professionals.

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The desk research, conducted in March, 2014, provided a precise mapping of the

available MOOCs existing in

Europe in the area of web

development and laying the

groundwork to define the

essence of the survey to be

carried out. Through the desk

research, we were able to

identify 56 European and double

the amount of US MOOCs (115)

related to web skills. The initial

offering of European MOOCs

related to web talent across

European countries was not

evenly distributed as shown on

the map: Germany, Spain, and

Switzerland were the three main providers of MOOCs for web talent with 18, 13 and 9

MOOCs respectively. The other major players in the field were France, the UK, Finland

and the Netherlands with 6, 5, 4 and 1 MOOC related to web talent. The above-

mentioned listing of MOOCs for web talent was provided by 23 European and 41 US

higher education institutions.

According to a more recent count

made in November, 2014,

existing European MOOCs

dealing with web talent have

already surpassed one hundred

MOOCs and they are listed on

our web portal, which is updated

monthly. The distribution of

MOOCs per country follows the

trend observed in the beginning

of the project: the leading

countries remain Germany, Spain

and Switzerland with 34, 23 and

17 MOOCs respectively, whereas

France, United Kingdom and

Finland follow with 9, 8, and 7

23

MOOCs respectively. The Netherlands, Belgium, and Sweden are other early adopters

who have jumped on the MOOC bandwagon with one MOOC each.

The results of the survey confirm that MOOCs are well-known and valued learning

practices. The survey also revealed that there is a strong interest from employers and

recruitment entities in exploring and acknowledging the training possibilities of MOOCs

and other informal learning practices.

Contrary to what we expected, programming and web development skills were not the

only skill sets in high demand. Entrepreneurs, leaders of innovation support programs

and developers are also concerned about the lack of other skills such as graphic design,

animation, eLearning, gamification, and digital art.

Overall, students showed an interest in obtaining more information on where to find

MOOCs that are related to the aforementioned web skills. The current provision of

MOOCs seems to be sufficient, but the students do not necessarily know where they can

easily find the MOOCs they are looking for.

MOOC providers also value highly the benefits of MOOCs for their institutions and for

their research, although they struggle with the amount of resources required to develop

MOOCs within the current (higher education) educational system. The fact that cost,

institutional culture and quality assurance are among the greatest barriers potential

providers face in developing and delivering new MOOCs implies, that these concerns

need to be addressed if we want to support the growth of European web

entrepreneurship through this promising new educational instrument.

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The concern of the students and interest of the recruiters about recognition of MOOCs

as valuable (albeit informal) learning practices should not be taken lightly, and current

policies should seek to implement measures that ensure such recognition in the near

future.

9.3 OUTCOMES OF THE FINAL MOOC CONFERENCE

The key question of the conference that took place in Helsinki on November 17th as a

side event of Slush was: Are MOOCs providing the European workforce with necessary

web skills? Experts from educational institutions, multinational companies, MOOC

providers and MOOC platforms convened in Finland for the conference, where they

discussed the role MOOCs can have in training web entrepreneurs, whilst also exploring

ways to move the MOOCs for Web Talent Network forward.

The event featured a presentation of the project findings, a keynote address by

FutureLearn's Matt Walton, followed by a panel discussion and a MOOC design

workshop. Participants enjoyed ample time to ask questions, share their experiences,

and have their say in the discussion.

Matt Walton began the keynote address with the story of how FutureLearn began as a

startup and grew to the company it is now. As a side note, the company was recently

named Startup of the Year at the BIMA Awards.

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Walton also spoke about the three main challenges of offering MOOCs:

providing courses that are relevant to learners and employers

providing a return on investment for universities

gaining recognition for the skills and knowledge gained through the courses

He noted that MOOCs on programming are proving to be valuable to teachers, now that

coding is part of the UK curriculum.

Following Walton's presentation, a panel discussion gave the other speakers a chance

to recount their experiences with MOOCs. One of the themes that emerged was the

future of MOOCs in terms of additional features and developments. Some of the ideas

that came out of the conversation included:

continuing effort to secure accreditation for courses

the use of gamification to enhance learning

a possible digital Erasmus programme suggested by iversity's Mattia Nelles

more integration between online training and real-world applications

The panelists gave way to a lively discussion where Carol Chen, Community Chief of

Jolla, talked about her perspective from the world of mobile development. Davinia

Hernández-Leo, Lecturer at Pompeu Fabra University, talked about the institutional

stance regarding MOOCs from the point of view of the university. Zika Abzuk, senior

manager and business development at Cisco, stressed the importance of developing an

entire ecosystem that supports the type of learning that MOOCs call for. Finally, Tharindu

Liyanagunawardena, from the University of Reading, discussed business models, quality

issues, and the instructional quality of MOOCs.

The conference concluded with a presentation by Igor Tasic who gave an overview of

the Startup Scale-Up project that aims to build a European entrepreneurial ecosystem

focused on launching Internet of Things and Services (IoTS) start-ups integrating four

entrepreneurial ecosystems on an European Level. The MOOCs for Web Talent network

will be taken over by this project that will follow up on the concrete actions that will be

presented in the next section.

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© European Commission

Title

“Support services to foster Web Talent in Europe by encouraging the use of Massive Open

Online Courses focused on web skills” FINAL REPORT

Luxembourg, Publications Office of the European Union

2014 – Number of pages: 25

ISBN number

DOI: number

27

1.

IS

BN

: nu

mb

er