Real Life: MOOCs Filling Private-sector Skills Gaps

WhenBoston-based staffing firm Aquent recognized anHTML5 skills gap in their marketing, creative, and digital talent pool theycreated a MOOC. Known as the “Summer of Learning,” their course on HTML5attracted 10,000 participants in August 2012 and was specifically designed tobridge their known skills gap and fill open jobs. Now, less than a year afterthat first offering, Aquent has placed more than 200 candidates in newpositions and is building a course catalog of other MOOCs to offer freeprofessional education throughout the year and better connect talent withemployers.

According toAlison Farmer, Aquent’s VP of learning and development, the firm saw MOOCs asmore than a passing fad. “We saw an opportunity to leverage technology to reacha massive audience and, quite possibly, to help someone find a job,” saidFarmer. In the early days of web development, Aquent hosted a brick-and-mortarboot camp for people who wanted to learn how to build websites. Even then thecourse couldn’t scale, so they struggled to train enough new talent to meet themarket demand. When the idea of creating a MOOC on HTML5 first arose atAquent, they knewthe technology was available to scale the program, but they still didn’t knowif it would be viable. With an attitude of experimentation, Farmer and her teamassembled the HTML5 MOOC, offering four webcasts, student assignments, anonline forum, and a final exam.

One success story, of many

EuniceCorbin is an experienced designer, who, in her own words, “couldn’tfind the time or money to keep up with peers.” After participating in Aquent’sHTML5 MOOC, Eunice commented after the class, saying, “I found anaffordable way to grow without taking away too much time from my productionschedule! Aquent played a major role in providing the resources I needed to getmotivated and excited about learning HTML5, CSS3, and responsive design.” Andsix months after the course, Eunice let Aquent know that she was able to usethe course as a professional springboard. “Aquent’s MOOC helped me develop myunderstanding of responsive design and HTML5. I’ve started working onresponsive sites for a few of my freelance clients—and I’ve been on anaggressive knowledge quest ever since the class.” 

What made the difference?

Alison Farmerpoints to three factors that made a difference in the success of the AquentMOOC:

1. HTML5 is a hottopic—especially among Aquent’s client base. Aquent chose to begin with a MOOCon HTML5 based on quantitative and qualitative research among its clients. And,as with most buzzwords, the newest trends and topics also bring about confusionand a gap in knowledge. By offering a free course on HTML5, with activitiesdesigned to allow participants to practice their skills, Aquent was able toattract a vast audience who could put those new skills to work immediately.      
2. Peer-to-peerinteraction is key. Students participating in the MOOC watched a series of livewebcasts throughout the course. Although their audio capabilities were muted duringthe webcasts, the learners could interact with one another via chatfunctionality and with teaching assistants who could answer questions and offerinsights based on their own firsthand HTML5 knowledge and experience.
3. Course forumsenhanced the learning experience. For those participants unable to watch thelive webcasts, they could view a replay and read the transcript of chatQ&As in the online course forum. Additionally, participants used the courseforum to post assignments and receive feedback from one another and to post questionsthat arose during the coursework.

Although the student-to-instructorratio was still quite high in the “Summer of Learning,” Farmer believes thatthe participants, especially very motivated ones, were still able to have agood amount of interaction with one another and with the instructor. Like manyother experiences, the participants really got out of it as much as they putinto it. “The participants who ‘hung in there,’ sharing projects and how theyapplied the course lessons to real work, were most successful,” Famer says.  

Farmer also listsmany challenges that Aquent faced when putting the MOOC together. For one, theydidn’t capture as much data in every step as they would’ve liked. Specifically,they could not identify drop-offs from the original course roster. The generalcommunication approach around a MOOC is also challenging.

With a moretraditional online course or face-to-face training class, there are impliednorms, and most learners know what to expect. With MOOCs, on the other hand,much responsibility lies with the instructor to overcommunicate because manyparticipants don’t intuitively know how to approach the content, pacing, andinteraction within a MOOC. Recognizing the evolving nature of MOOCs and acontinuous improvement approach, Farmer credits her team and the courseinstructors with embracing a “good enough” attitude.

“At this point, wesee the MOOCs as an experiment to see if we can help people. We can’t beatourselves up if it’s not perfect, but we’ll know it’s working if it’s goodenough to help people get jobs,” says Farmer, “and we will make sure each MOOCis better than the one before it.”

Making a connection

John Moore, theinteractive director at Fish Marketingin Portland, Oregon, has struggled to find talented coders and front-endprogrammers, and to him, the HTML5 MOOC offered by Aquent was an exciting gamechanger. Historically, many programmers are self-taught, learning from books orother resources. Having seen early success with placements from Aquent who are skilledin HTML5, Moore sees participating in MOOCs as something his company willdefinitely promote to all staff in the future.

Personally, Moorehas participated in MOOCs and sees them as a great way to develop new skills orcatch up on continuing education to build on existing skill sets. In fact,Moore and other hiring managers at Fish Marketing tend to look more favorablyupon a job candidate who has completed MOOCs because it shows initiative,drive, and an eye toward the future. For those in the job market, Moore thinksit is wise to invest your time in MOOCs because they’re free or low cost, andthe education you get out of the experience is priceless. For hiring managersand others responsible for staff development, Moore encourages you to seekstaff keen on continuing education and MOOC participation because “your agencyis only as valuable as your people and the skills they possess.”

The recipe for success

Because MOOCsthemselves are still a relatively new approach to learning, Farmer doesn’tpoint to a single standard recipe for success. Rather, she believes “as long asyou focus on the end goal and deliver high-quality instruction, learners areforgiving and show a fair amount of goodwill because they want the content.”

Moore sees MOOCs asa key link for employees who need to learn new skills for jobs that are in highdemand and for others who may be looking for second careers. In Portland, whereMoore is based, there is high demand for talented coders and programmers, butit can be a challenge to find good candidates. With MOOCs, Moore sees anaccessible option for education that didn’t exist 18 months ago and is excitedabout the potential for people to learn new skills and find well-paying jobopportunities. According to Aquent, the salary range for HTML5 developers is$62,000 – $98,000.

Above all, theinstructor must be chosen carefully. According to a New York Times articlepublished late last year, Udacity rejects about 98 percent of faculty who applyto teach. For Aquent, this means finding practitioners who know the toolsinside and out, use them regularly, and can communicate how to use themeffectively. The instructors also need to be comfortable with the fact thatlast-minute glitches can—and often do—happen. The key, according to Farmer, isto “go with the flow and focus on the best experience for the learners.”

Nextup for Aquent is the Aquent Gymnasium, aseries of ongoing professional education courses addressing emerging skillsneeded for marketing and creative professionals and based on trends and needsin the market. Looking generally at metrics, Farmer believes their courses willhave a one- to two-year shelf life because they want to focus very specificallyon the emerging and mission-critical employee needs. Indeed, the AquentGymnasium is sure to become a “place for betterment,” as Farmer puts it, givinglearners the space and the place to challenge themselves in new and differentways.