Today is another exciting day to be part of the openSAP team – we’ve just reached our 300,000th enrollment! Since May 2013, we’ve reached almost 120,000 unique learners and delivered courses on many SAP innovations – SAP HANA, Mobility, cloud and much more. Thank you for taking this exciting journey with us, we’re looking forward to introducing many new topics in the near future.
Following on from some reports in late 2013*, we decided we’d take a look at a recently published preliminary results from the
European Commision to see where are MOOCs today and where are they going in the future. The report is part of a European project which aims to foster web talent in Europe by encouraging the use of Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs). (See the full report here)
As an Enterprise MOOC provider, we’re always interested in learning about the latest trends and expectations from participants in the MOOC area, enabling us to further enhance our existing offering. Some of the findings within the report help to reaffirm that openSAP provide the right format for developing skills on SAP’s innovations.
“Most potential MOOC participants are not seeking a university degree (because they already have one), but instead wish to simply upscale specific skills needed for current or future jobs”.
openSAP is targeted at IT professionals, students and others interested in learning about SAP’s latest technology. For most courses, an IT background is required openSAP do not offer any official certification upon completion of an openSAP course. Participants have the opportunity to earn a graded Record of Achievement as recognition of the participant’s achievement.
“Developers, entrepreneurs and innovation leaders stressed the fact that in the current market it is especially difficult to find employees with domain specific skills (especially iOS, Android and HTML5 experts). Similarly, they think that especially MOOCs and ‘on-the-job’ training could be the most effective training methods in providing
those skills and closing any skills gap”.
At openSAP, many of our courses are focused on development within mobile, cloud and SAP HANA environments. 85% of our unique learners are IT professionals which indicate that completing an openSAP course is generally completed in parallel to a busy work schedule. Often participants already have existing development knowledge but would like to learn specific skills related to HTML5, Android, iOS and native apps within SAP environments**.
The report also suggests entrepreneurs and potential learners would like to see more hands-on, practice/project based offerings to
develop specific skills, suitable for on-the-job professional development. openSAP courses often include optional access to development and trial system landscapes to offer learners the opportunity to further develop their hands-on skills throughout the course.
Overall based on this preliminary report, openSAP meets the requirements of typical European MOOC participants and with an
average completion rate 6-8 times higher than academic MOOCs, we’re happy to see participants enjoy our courses and stay with us until the end. MOOCs, although initially intended for Higher Education institutes to bring education to those who could not afford it, are an ideal format for companies to upskill their existing ecosystem with the latest knowledge to remain relevant in today’s marketplace. Let’s watch how MOOCs continue to evolve in the future…
Introduction to SAP HANA Cloud Platform begins June 11 and Next Steps in SAP HANA Cloud Platform begins June 12 on openSAP.
* Sample reference: Sebastian Thrun: MOOCs Not Effective for Undergraduate Education After All… | online learn...
**Courses such as Introduction to SAP HANA Cloud Platform, Next Steps into SAP HANA Cloud Platform, Introduction to Mobile Solution Development for the Enterprise
