Employee Perspectives on MOOCs for Workplace Learning

Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) can be considered a rather novel method in digital workplace learning, and there is as yet little empirical evidence on the acceptance and effectiveness of MOOCs in professional learning. In addition to existing findings on employers’ attitudes, this study seeks to investigate the employee perspective towards MOOCs in professional contexts and to further explore the acceptance of MOOCs for workplace learning. In a survey study, N?=?119 employees from a wide range of enterprises were questioned with regard to motivation, credentials, and incentives related to participation in MOOCs. Findings indicate a high importance of on-the-job and career development learning purposes as well as a general interest in MOOC topics. Credentials are deemed necessary, yet their acceptance among the relevant stakeholders is considered rather low. Implications for design and implementation of MOOCs in digital workplace learning and for further research are discussed.