In the 20th century, learning was something most people did till the end of schooling or higher education. After that, you started working till you retired.
Gone are those days.
Today, learning is a lifelong process, said Anant Agarwal, the founder & CEO of edX, who talked to FE post the ASU+GSV Summit (the Davos of Education) held in San Diego on April 17-19, 2023. “We all have to become lifelong learners. We have to keep pace not only with technology, but also with those at the workplace who are mastering technology,” he said. “Remember, technologies such as GPT won’t take away your job, but a person who can use such technologies better than you just might.”
Founded in 2012 at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) when Prof Agarwal’s MIT Circuits and Electronics course was launched online (on edX.org) and more than 155,000 learners from 162 countries enrolled in it, edX has pioneered massive open online courses (MOOCs). Today, it has 49 million registered learners and it provides MOOCs from 250 global universities and corporations (including IIT Bombay and IIM Bangalore in India).
How to keep learning
Learning while working requires discipline, and that’s why edX has started ‘modular learning’ and ‘stackable learning’ courses. “Imagine you are 30 years old and working, so being able to find time and money for a two-year MBA may be difficult. But pursuing a course such as the MicroMasters from IIM Bangalore that is available in modules (you can complete at your own pace) is easy,” Prof Agarwal said. “In fact, many people don’t even need to learn everything that is taught in a two-year MBA — learning a component is also enough. Such modular programmes are free and for about $2,000 you can earn a certification as well. This cost, however, is a fraction of what you may have to pay if you study on-campus.”
MOOCs such as MicroMasters — available on IIMBx — pay well, and data shows that 91% of those who earned MicroMasters saw career enhancement in terms of salary and promotion.
While modular learning implies taking modules (such as a module of an MBA or a Master’s) and learning at your own pace, stackable learning means stacking up these modules to earn a full degree.
How industry perceives online courses
While there is not enough data to show how industry perceives online courses vis-à-vis classroom programmes, Prof Agarwal said there shouldn’t be any difference. “The credentials students earn after studying with us are similar to classroom programmes,” he said. “Employers are hiring these people in record numbers, and it shows that industry doesn’t really differentiate in terms of the mode of learning. They just want the right people.”
Jobs and technology
Over the centuries, technology has been transforming jobs, not necessarily replacing them. “When steam engine got popular, it took away the job of the coachman, but those coachmen who learnt to drive a steam engine or prepared themselves for several new jobs that got created thanks to the steam engine, started earning much higher salaries,” Prof Agarwal said. “Every new technology transforms jobs, and creates better-paying jobs. You just have to be ready for those.”
edX and lockdown
Like most edtech companies, edX too benefited from the lockdown of 2020. In April 2020 alone, it added 5 million new registered learners, which was greater than the total number of learners in all of 2019. The number of new learners who came on the edX platform in 2020 grew by 561% over 2019. “As online education became not just optional, but essential, edX became the movement for the moment — and we seized the chance to give our community a place to grow,” Prof Agarwal said.
edX and post-lockdown
Now that colleges and universities have reopened offline, and most working population is working hybrid or physically from office, the exponential growth edX saw during 2021-21 has slowed down.
“But education has changed forever,” Prof Agarwal said. “The traditional higher education experience won’t continue as we knew it. Although there will always be a place for in-person learning, the pandemic has illustrated that online learning must be a key pillar of every university’s strategy. In this new normal of blended learning, no school has to do everything on its own. Rather, the entire education community can come together to make education affordable and accessible for all.”
MOOCs and completion rates
Several studies have shown that MOOCs have low completion rates, at a median value of around 15%. But Prof Agarwal said that completion rate should not be used as a metric for MOOCs. “When I was growing up in India, I used read the Indian Express newspaper every day. But I did not read it from cover to cover, so my ‘completion rate’ wasn’t high, but that doesn’t mean I didn’t benefit by reading it,” he said. “A better metric for MOOCs should be are people learning, are they getting value, what kind of certifications are there, and so on.”
However, under edX for Business, where over 1,000 companies use its courses for their employees, including the State Bank of India and Tech Mahindra, the completion rate is 79%. Learners who have signed up for a verified certificate on edX, their completion rate is as high as 60%.
ChatGPT and online education
With technology getting smarter by the day, humans need to keep learning to stay ahead of the technology adoption curve. Here, edX is coming out with newer courses to get people upskilled, and it is using generative technology to teach in a better way. “We’ve launched a new course called ‘Introduction to ChatGPT’. We are launching many more courses in artificial intelligence and machine learning,” he said. “We are also using generative technologies in our own teaching. We are launching GPT technology within our platform for helping students (when students have a general question, we use ChatGPT to interact with them), and have built video summaries (in case you don’t have a lot of time to watch entire course video, you can watch the 15-odd minute summary).