News【Trends: MicroMasters Vol.2】Regional/Disciplinary Trends in Offered Programs

In "Trends," we will present various topics related to the current form of education that uses Information and Communication Technology (ICT).

MicroMasters programs are educational programs combining MOOCs and offered by the MOOC distribution platform edX. The "Series: MicroMasters" consists of three articles that describe MicroMasters, which has become a focus of attention as a novel MOOC-based approach.

• Vol. 1: Shift from Individual Single MOOCs to MOOC-Based Programs
• Vol. 2: Regional/Disciplinary Trends in Offered Programs (this article)
• Vol. 3: First Graduating Students: MIT's Supply Chain Management

This article describes currently offered programs for each region and field.

As of June 11, 2018, twenty-five higher education institutions worldwide provide 46 MicroMasters programs. These institutions are mostly universities in English-speaking countries, such as the United States and Canada in North America and Australia (figure below left).

The MicroMasters program list (figure above right) reveals the following.

• Each program consists of five courses on average. Course periods and time required per week vary substantially from course to course.
• English is basically used for language. Some programs are offered in Spanish or French. Moreover, some programs come with Chinese or Hindi subtitles.
• Earning a MicroMasters credential costs about $1,000.

The following shows specific information on MicroMasters programs (excerpts).

U.S.A.

• "Supply Chain Management," MIT

MIT began this program on supply chain management as a pilot MicroMasters program. For more information on this program, please read Vol. 3 of the Series.

• "Analytics: Essential Tools and Methods," Georgia Institute of Technology

This is a data analysis program. It is a part of the master's program, ( Online Master of Science in Analytics (OMS)), a graduate study program offered entirely online by the Georgia Institute of Technology.

Europe

• "Solar Energy Engineering," Delft University of Technology

This program on solar energy engineering is provided by Delft University of Technology (DUT) in the Netherlands. The providers of this program include Professor Arno Smets, who lectured for the MOOC, "Solar Energy", which was offered by DUT and was awarded the edX Prize for Exceptional Contributions in Online Teaching and Learning in 2016.

Oceania

• "Human Rights," Curtin University

This program deals with solving human rights issues. Students can obtain knowledge about social welfare projects, development projects, law, health, education, and more topics associated with human rights issues. Knowledge obtained through this program is useful for activities at Amnesty International and other similar organizations.

Asia

• "International Hospitality Management," Hong Kong Polytechnic University

This program on hospitality management is offered by the School of Hotel and Tourism Management (SHTM) at the Hong Kong Polytechnic University. SHTM operates Hotel Icon, a five-star hotel, as an educational and research facility for the Hong Kong Polytechnic University. The hotel is featured in the MOOCs for this program.

The following table summarizes the available 46 programs by field, as of June 11, 2018.

The above table reveals that business- and technology-related programs, such as Business & Management, Computer Science, Engineering, Data Analysis & Statistics, and Economics & Finance account for the majority of the MicroMasters programs. The proportion of these programs is high even in comparison with MOOCs developed in recent years, in which business- and technology-related courses account for approximately 40%. These facts suggest that the MicroMasters programs place substantial importance on the acquisition of skills and specialized knowledge required for particular jobs.

MicroMasters programs have principally become popular in higher education institutions in North America. Meanwhile, as three programs have been offered from Asia, it is anticipated that MicroMasters programs will also become widely used in regions outside North America. Moreover, while there are many business- and technology-related programs, courses, such as "Human Rights" (Curtin University), "International Law" (Catholic University of Louvain), and "Leading Educational Innovation and Improvement" (University of Michigan), are also provided. It is highly likely that programs outside the business and technology fields will also increase.

Volume 3 will describe efforts associated with the Supply Chain Management program offered by MIT.