Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) are getting popularity among the stake holders of education as they are assets for the learners as well as teachers. The emergence of education hubs and the fast expansion of MOOCs is a reflection of the changing landscape of cross-border higher education. The online mode of distant education has become very easy and expedited using MOOCs. MOOCs are part of latest development in distance education benefitting learners from different locations and diverse academic backgrounds. This paper is an effort to give broader idea of perception of benefits of usage of MOOCs in Universities. Descriptive exploratory survey design was employed in the present study to answer the research questions. The study was carried out in private and government universities and institutes of higher education, selected region wise from eleven districts of Punjab, and also from the Union Territory of Chandigarh. There were a total of 67 heads 174 teachers and 1058 students who provided data for the study. The findings of the present study revealed that the percentage of government university students taking advantage of MOOCs is higher as compared to the students of private universities. Benefits and usefulness of MOOCs to students as highlighted by 68.09% private and 70% university teachers are: Wider exposure of knowledge from worldwide sources; enhancement of new techniques and skill enhancement was stated by private and government university teachers. MOOCs are required to cater the growing needs of higher education sector in development of skills. MOOCs help in bridging skill gap by providing job oriented training and skills.

Keywords

MOOCs · higher education · skill development · private and government universities · knowledge · employability · benefits