“From our research, we know it doesn’t make sense for an upstart company to compete head on with a traditional institution,” Rhee-Weise said. “It’s just not going to work. It makes much more sense to go around that institution.”
But if the prevalent preference among HR departments is a recruit with a traditional degree, then MOOC platforms are still battling universities for attention, just in a different arena.
Michael Horn, also of the Clayton Christensen Institute, told eCampus News earlier this year that the success of Coursera’s Signature Track courses demonstrates that there is potential to going around the traditional college credit.
The question, he said, is whether employers will grow to respect MOOC certificates in a way that’s comparable to a college course or degree. Rhee-Weise said she can still see that happening, though the MOOC companies will have to do more than send resumes to specific companies.
Much of recruiting, she said, is currently managed through computerized searches that look for certain keywords — keywords still tied to traditional degrees and “name-brand” schools.
Many of those searches don’t yet include markers that reflect alternative learning paths like MOOCs.
“Over time, however, we may see that programs, and I don’t just mean MOOCs, that partner directly with employers and companies to design specific learning pathways for their existing workforce will become validated and trusted by employers,” Rhee-Wiese said. “Many competency-based programs are already doing this, creating distribution channels of students through companies looking to skill up their workforce.”
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