Dive Summary:
- After the meteoric emergence of massive open online courses (MOOCs) in 2012, MOOC providers are now striving to create sustainable business models for their services.
- While there is no gold standard just yet, MOOC providers are bringing in revenue in any way they can through course licensing, advertisements and sponsorships, subscription charges, certification fees and recruiting information for employers.
- According to experts such as Edward Rock, the University of Pennsylvania's senior advisor on open course initiatives, MOOC providers must focus primarily on creating a high-quality product and building a vast user-base; MOOC providers should emphasize long-term sustainable business models over short-term profits.
From the article:
"... All of this could well add up to the future of higher education — if anyone can figure out how to make money.
Coursera has grown at warp speed to emerge as the current leader of the pack, striving to support its business by creating revenue streams through licensing, certification fees and recruitment data provided to employers, among other efforts. But there is no guarantee that it will keep its position in the exploding education technology marketplace. ..."