MicroMasters: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 03:35, 18 October 2022

Revision as of 13:14, 10 March 2023

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{{short description|Series of online graduate level courses offered by universities}}

'''MicroMasters''' programs are a series of online graduate level courses offered by universities through [[edX]] that one can take to develop standalone skills for career advancement or earn graduate level credentials.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/adamgordon/2018/02/13/voice-of-employers-rings-out-as-moocs-go-from-education-to-qualification/#3b27ffd2564b|title='MicroMasters' Surge As MOOCs Go From Education To Qualification|last=Gordon|first=Adam|work=Forbes|access-date=2018-03-01|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2018/04/college-online-degree-blended-learning/557642/|title=The Future of College Looks Like the Future of Retail|last=Selingo|first=Jeffrey|website=[[The Atlantic]] |date=2018-04-16|access-date=2018-08-09}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.thoughtco.com/micromasters-degree-4149968|title=MicroMasters: The Bridge Between a Bachelor’sBachelor's Degree and a Graduate Degree|last=Williams|first=Terri|date=2017-11-19|website=ThoughtCo|access-date=2018-09-27}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.goodcall.com/news/micromasters-next-stop-graduate-degrees-09048|title=MicroMasters: The Next Big Thing After a Bachelor’sBachelor's Degree?|last=Williams|first=Terri|date=2016-10-21|website=GoodCall|access-date=2018-09-17}}</ref>

First launched in September 2016 with 19 MicroMasters programs from 14 different universities as an extension of its MOOC programs.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://campustechnology.com/articles/2019/02/27/moocs-and-the-masters-degree.aspx|title=MOOCs and the Master's Degree|last=Schaffhauser|first=Dian|date=2019-02-27|website=Campus Technology|access-date=2019-03-27}}</ref> As of February 2019, 52 different MicroMasters programs are offered, with 48 in English, 3 in Spanish, and 1 in French.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.edx.org/micromasters|title=MicroMasters Programs {{!}} edX|date=2016-08-15|work=edX|access-date=2018-03-01|language=en}}</ref> Each MicroMasters program is sponsored by at least one industry partner, including [[General Electric|GE]], Microsoft, [[IBM]], Hootsuite, [[Fidelity International|Fidelity]], Bloomberg, Walmart, [[PricewaterhouseCoopers|PWC]], Booz-Allen Hamilton, and [[Ford Motor Company|Ford]].<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/adamgordon/2018/02/13/voice-of-employers-rings-out-as-moocs-go-from-education-to-qualification/#39c0fc72564b|title='MicroMasters' Surge As MOOCs Go From Education To Qualification|last=Gordon|first=Adam|work=Forbes|access-date=2018-03-08|language=en}}</ref>

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=== History ===

The development of the MicroMasters was originally conceived at MIT by Sanjay Sarma, with Erdin Beshimov becoming the Founding Director of the program. In its early stage MIT offered the MicroMasters as a pilot within its supply chain management program, consulting industry leaders. The idea of the MicroMasters program started out as an iteration of the existing MOOC model when [[Coursera]] first started offering specializations for its various disciplines and a response to the changing nature of work as well as the [[Skills mismatch|major skills shortage]] impacting businesses around the world.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Reflecting on the Original Big Idea for MOOCs {{!}} Inside Higher Ed|url=https://www.insidehighered.com/blogs/technology-and-learning/reflecting-original-big-idea-moocs|access-date=2018-03-16|website=www.insidehighered.com|language=en}}</ref> edX subsequently applied for a trademark for "MicroMasters" in response to [[Udacity]] registering "nanodegree" as its trademark in 2014.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.edsurge.com/news/2016-11-03-why-udacity-and-edx-want-to-trademark-the-degrees-of-the-future-and-what-s-at-stake-for-students|title=Why Udacity and EdX Want to Trademark the Degrees of the Future—and What’sWhat's at Stake for Students|last=Young|first=Jeffrey|date=2016-11-03|website=EdSurge|access-date=2018-05-30}}</ref> The first 19 MicroMasters programs were subsequently launched in September 2016, in collaboration with 14 different universities. This also included [[Rochester Institute of Technology]]'s MicroMasters in project management, allowing learners to use it to fulfil the prerequisite of project management education for the [[Project Management Professional|PMP certification]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://wiki.rit.edu/pages/viewpage.action?pageId=140249596|title=What is the difference between the PMP certification and the Project Management MicroMasters certificate?|last=Bush|first=Katie|date=2018-01-17|website=RIT Confluence Wiki|access-date=2018-09-17}}</ref>

In 2017, [[General Electric]] promised to interview any [[Massachusetts]] resident who completed a MicroMasters program in [[supply chain management]], [[cybersecurity]], [[cloud computing]], or [[artificial intelligence]].<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://news.elearninginside.com/ge-will-interview-massachusetts-resident-completes-edx-micromasters-program-certain-fields/|title=GE Will Interview Any Massachusetts Resident Who Completes an edX MicroMasters Program in Certain Fields {{!}} eLearningInside News|last=Kronk|first=Henry|date=2017-11-28|work=eLearningInside News|access-date=2018-03-01|language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.mass.gov/news/baker-polito-administration-establishes-new-commission-on-digital-learning|title=Baker-Polito Administration Establishes New Commission on Digital Learning|date=2017-11-20|website=Mass.gov|access-date=2019-03-19}}</ref>

In 2018, [[Massachusetts Institute of Technology|MIT]] admitted its first batch of 40 students into its blended supply chain management program from graduates of its MicroMasters program, reducing its usual 10-month program to 5 months.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://scm.mit.edu/program/blended-masters-degree-supply-chain-management|title=SCMb Program Details {{!}} MIT Supply Chain Management|website=scm.mit.edu|language=en|access-date=2018-03-01}}</ref> This pilot also saw 200,000 people signing up, 19,000 earning certificates and 800 sitting for the final proctored examination.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.timeshighereducation.com/opinion/moocs-are-solution-search-problem|title=Moocs are a solution in search of a problem|last=Fellingham|first=Chris|date=2018-04-26|website=Times Higher Education|access-date=2018-05-02}}</ref> It was reported in July 2018 that the students who were admitted into the blended program had better than average scores across the board than those who were in the residential program.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://news.elearninginside.com/mits-hybrid-micromasters-program-reports-early-success/|title=MIT’sMIT's Hybrid MicroMaster’sMicroMaster's Program Reports Early Success|last=Etherington|first=Cait|date=2018-07-17|website=ElearningInside News|access-date=2018-07-23}}</ref>

=== Funding ===

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== Demographics ==

According to a report by Columbia University's [[Teachers College, Columbia University|Teachers College]], a typical MicroMasters student is well-educated and employed, with almost 80% having an undergraduate degree or better.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://docs.wixstatic.com/ugd/cc7beb_5803e625ebee463ebc6f4796027366f1.pdf|title=Benefits and Costs of MOOC-Based Alternative Credentials|lastlast1=Hollands|firstfirst1=Fiona|last2=Kazi|first2=Aasiya|date=October 2018|access-date=2018-05-19}}</ref> The majority of the learners are between the age of 22 and 44, with the United States and India forming 16% and 14% of the learners, followed by Brazil, Colombia, and Nigeria forming the next 3%. The majority of learners have also shown fluency or proficiency in English.

== References ==