Alison (Advance Learning Interactive Systems Online), founded in 2007, now has two million registered learners worldwide, and more than 300,000 graduates of its courses. Each month, nearly 200,000 new learners sign up, many from developing countries, where access to traditional education and skills training is limited.

Thousands of colleges and universities are launching MOOCs (Massive Online Open Courses), though few are as profitable and fast-growing as Alison. The judges in the World Innovation Summit for Education (Wise) awards in Doha, Qatar, last week awarded Alison a prize for its outstanding quality and its “exceptional impact”. In the thousands of testimonials on Alison’s website, the phrase “you changed my life” crops up frequently. In a quiet moment after the glitzy ceremony – where Her Highness Sheikha Moza bint Nasser, the mother of the ruler of Qatar, presented him with the award trophy – Feerick reflected on how Alison has impacted on many lives. Read more...