Accessible training on new technologies: MOOCs and online training platforms

The adoption of innovative technologies could bring great competitive advantages for companies, optimizing processes, improving the customer experience and even creating new products and services. Therefore, an increasing number of organizations demand professionals with knowledge in areas such as data analytics, business intelligence or Deep Learning, but where can we find qualified personnel who can lead and execute these initiatives?

According to a report elaboreted by the consulting firm B-Talent, 87% of surveyed companies think that there is a lack of qualified personnel to implement digital transformation in Spain. In the specific case of Big Data, we have already written about the lack of talent, highlighted in Generación de talento Big Data en España report: on 2015 the number of vacancies for Big Data professionals grew by 93%, but there were only seven candidates, on average, per vacancy. In addition, the situation is expected to get worse. In the next two or three years (2020-2021), Big Data analyst will be the most difficult position to fill in Spain.

The fact that there is no personnel prepared to face the new professional challenges is due, among other reasons, to the scarcity of educational offer. As COTEC indicated in the report, education is the main pillar to generate talent. Therefore, in order to avoid steps that could inflame the situation, it is necessary to adapt academic programs, so the new generations would have the required training in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics, known as STEM.

Universities and schools are trying to quickly update their offer to face this situation. In our country, training related to new technologies is beginning to emerge, such as the Degree in Science and Data Engineering of Carlos III University of Madrid or the Master in Artificial Intelligence at the University of Barcelona. But the lack of specialized teachers, as well as documentation related to these subjects, hinders the creation of new courses.

MOOC, the alternative to traditional training

In this context, MOOC courses (Massive Online Open Courses) are positioned as a good academic alternative for those professionals who want to acquire or improve their skills. A MOOC is an online course that allow free and unlimited access to content.

Usually accessible from mobile devices, tablets and computers, MOOCs allow a personalized and flexible training through a mix of different specialized courses. The wide offer includes different duration courses, both for beginners and experts who want to delve a little deeper into their abilities.

Two types of platforms can be differentiated: those belonging to academic centers, with their own digital training offer, such as HarvardX, and general-purpose platforms, with agreements with different university centers, foundations and companies, such as edX, Coursera or Udacity. The objective of these platforms is to democratize access to quality training for free or at competitive prices.

The main characteristics of each of these platforms are described below:

• Coursera

Founded in 2011 by Stanford academics, Coursera offers more than 2,000 general programs, more than 180 specializations and 4 online degrees, all of them focused on business, computer science and data science, through nearly 150 partner universities. Those courses include video lectures previously recorded with subtitles in more than 30 languages, real business cases projects, self-assessments and community discussion forums. A strength point is the academic and technical support by dedicated community of course mentors and the knowledgeable learner support team.

• EDX

EDX was created in 2012, thanks to Harvard University and MIT collaboration, as a non-profit organization based on open standards. EDX offers almost 2,000 courses in IT, languages, engineering, psychology, writing, electronics, biology or marketing, with specialties in Data Science or Deep Learning. They highlights MicroMasters programs, offered by prestigious universities and recognized by relevant companies such as IBM or Volvo.

• Udacity

Founded in 2012 by professionals previously linked to universities such as Stanford and companies like Google, it has eight million students worldwide. Udacity offers value training through free courses and its Nanodegree program: small masters oriented to avant-garde skills that have been designed together with leading companies in global innovation, such as Google, IBM, Facebook or Amazon. Udacity even has a Nanodegree Plus program, which guarantees a job (if a student does not get a job after six months after, the registration fee is refunded). Among its courses, there is a Data Science, Analytics or Virtual Reality Offer.

These are just three examples of the possibilities offered by this type of training platform, but there are more - some examples are included in the aforementioned report. Among other factors such as flexibility, its success is due to the fact that they can provide deeper specialization, difficult to find nowadays in other scenarios.

Even when universities and study centers expand their offer in data analysis and innovation technology, this kind of courses will not disappear: they just will be part of those new plans or an alternative to complete knowledge through micro-courses, accessible from any corner of the planet.