If like me, you have completed a course or courses (i.e. MOOCs) on Coursera, then you will be pleased to hear the following.

In the last three years, over 25 million people from around the world have enrolled in Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) offered by Coursera, EdX, and other platforms. More than one million people have completed a Coursera course since its inception in 2012, with over 2.1 million course completions as of April 2015. However, just 4% of Coursera users who watch at least one course lecture go on to complete the course and receive a credential.

A first-of-its-kind study (52,000 respondents from 780,000 who were sent a survey) published by the Harvard Business Review found that, of Coursera learners pursuing academic or career objectives who completed a course, almost 90% say Coursera helped them succeed.

Other benefits included:

• 87% of career builders report career benefits.
• More than 50% of learners are taking Coursera courses to advance their careers. Of those:
  • 62% are now better equipped for their current job.
  • 26% found a new job.
  • 9% started their own business.
• 88% of education seekers report education benefits.
• Nearly 30% of learners are taking Coursera courses to further academic ambitions. Of those:
  • 64% gained knowledge essential to a field of study.
  • 38% decided on a field of study.
  • 36% refreshed concepts before going back to school.

It is a very interesting article which I recommend everyone to read.

Reference

Zhenghao, C., Alcorn, B., Christensen, G., Eriksson, N., Koller, D. & Emanuel, E.J. (2015) Who’s Benefiting from MOOCs, and Why. Available from World Wide Web: https://hbr.org/2015/09/whos-benefiting-from-moocs-and-why. [Accessed: 15 November, 2015].