Many thousands of unemployed youngsters in Europe cannot take advantage of jobs in the Internet economy because they lack the necessary skills. One option for addressing this digital skills gap may be massive open online courses, or MOOCs, short educational programs delivered free of charge over the Internet.

MOOCs have been a hot topic in higher education for several years now, as increasing numbers of universities put courses online through platforms such as Coursera and edX in the US and FutureLearn, Iversity and France Université Numérique in Europe. Information technology (IT) and computing have been at the forefront of this movement.

The European Commission was quick to spot the potential for addressing the digital skills gap, setting up the MOOCs for Web Talent Network in 2013. Its goal was to connect people providing MOOCs in IT and computing subjects, and to investigate how much MOOCs could achieve in this area. Its research conclusions, released at the end of 2014, were encouraging but also contained reservations.

“MOOCs can’t replace a structured education,” explains Yishay Mor of PAU Education, the consultancy that coordinated the work. “You can’t expect somebody to go through two or three MOOCs, a few hours a week over three or four weeks, and have that as a substitute for a university degree.”

But MOOCs can help address specific skill gaps. For instance, if a developer needs to learn a particular technology or development methodology, then a MOOC can help. Equally, if an entrepreneur or manager needs to get a broad overview of a topic in order to recruit or manage skilled workers, then a MOOC might fit the bill.

The important thing to notice is that these are already experienced learners who can use a MOOC in a self-directed way. That is not the case for many unemployed people hoping to break into the digital economy.

“We have a lot of young people in Europe who don’t have study skills, who don’t know how to manage their own learning trajectory,” says Mor. “That’s where we see the need for a complementary mechanism which would guide learners through their educational experiences using both formal and informal mechanisms, and help them build the skills they need.”

He also notes that it is important to see MOOCs as just one point on a spectrum of educational opportunities that can help address the digital skills gap. “MOOCs need to work together with other educational structures, whether that is blended learning (combining digital and real-life classes), university-based or work-based learning. We need to support that flexibility and fluidity, breaking down the barriers between different institutions involved in education.”

Last year’s research also identified a number of challenges that the Network is hoping to explore in future. One is that universities rather than employers are still setting the agenda when it comes to MOOCs, so that industry’s needs are not always being addressed. “Industry knows best what skills it needs in the coming years, so you have to get industry leaders on board,” says John Faas, project manager for the Network.

His experience in the Netherlands is that MOOCs are rather old-fashioned, looking backwards rather than forwards. “Students are working with content created a couple of years ago, and we really need to change that. We need extreme flexibility, so that industry can constantly upgrade the content that is being used in a MOOC, so that students can get the skills they will need in a couple of years time.”

Another problem is that it can be difficult to see what a MOOC represents. “First of all, there is no quality standard for the MOOCs themselves,” says Mor. “So, if you took a MOOC in C programming, HTML5 or Android programming, it’s hard for me as an employer to know if that was a good MOOC or a bad MOOC. With universities you have league tables, but with MOOCs we don’t have that.”

This is an area where policymakers could do more, he adds, helping establish quality standards and recognizing new certification schemes, particularly those provided outside universities.

A further obstacle is that the certificate of completion, which is the outcome of most MOOCs, does not say much about what someone has actually done. This has already been recognized as a shortcoming in the sector and some MOOC providers are working on a portfolio approach that would reassure employers that someone has gained hands-on experience. “You work through a project in the MOOC and you can demonstrate to potential employers what you have learned though your project work,” says Mor. “That’s one direction that we see as having huge potential.”

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