HBR Guides to Managing Your Career Collection (6 Books)

CHAPTER 22

Three Ways to Use MOOCs to Advance Your Career

by Walter Frick

The vast majority of people who sign up for a MOOC—a massive open online course—never complete it. More than 50% consume less than half of the course’s content. This is wrongly viewed as evidence that MOOCs don’t work, that people are dropping off and not getting value. The assumption behind that conclusion is that you have to complete a whole, semester-long course to get value from online education. As a MOOC addict, I can tell you: That’s not true. Instead, I’ve found there are at least three good ways to learn from MOOCs, depending on your goals and the time you plan to spend.

Complete the course

In some cases, it makes sense to go for a certificate, which means completing ...