Overview of papers on enhancement of European Higher Education as presented during the Online, Open and Flexible Higher Education Conference in Rome, October 2016

This paper discusses the preliminary outcomes of a European-wide research endeavour to identify opportunities and barriers for European universities and organisations to increase the uptake of Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs). It seeks to determine which support measures could unlock the full potential of MOOCs in Europe in relation to improving workplace training and the development of skills necessary of today’s labour market. MOOCs are now a feature of the European educational system, with European growth rates overtaking those within the United States. Nevertheless, most initiatives remain isolated, both geographically and by their sectors. MOOCs lack impact on the university system as a whole, and have yet to make their mark on the business community.

The aim of the EU-funded BizMOOC research project is to explore the challenges of maximising the potential of MOOCs across the European education and business landscape. In 2016, the project conducted qualitative interviews with 110 institutions (both universities and business organisations), as well as an online survey to address the learner's perspective. This paper discusses the findings from the first phase of this research.

Keywords

business · e-learning · higher education · MOOCs · skill development · workplace training