Ireland had the opportunity to become the world’s new Open University, if our third-level system is the first to comprehensively champion the biggest game changer of modern education.

Massive Open Online Courses (or MOOCs) are published and promoted on the Internet and promise to do for education accessibility what iTunes did for music. Pioneered in Ireland, MOOCs are rapidly gaining popularity in the US and cover a massive range of topics that immediately address current urgent business needs such as the latest in predictive analytics.

They are aimed at unlimited participation and open access via the web. As well as traditional course materials, such as videos, readings and problem sets, MOOCs provide interactive user forums that help build an instant community for the students and teachers, thus building the body of knowledge.

E-learning provider Alison (Advance Learning Interactive Systems On-line) founded in Galway in 2007 by social entrepreneur Mike Feerick, is cited in industry literature as the first MOOC provider. It has delivered 60 million lessons and has 250,000 graduates of its 500-plus courses.

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