Abstract:

In this study we describe the preliminary results of an ongoing development and trial project at Satakunta region in Finland. We also describe the development and implementation of the design process of a tailor-made training program - targeted to small and middle sized enterprises (SMEs) - that is based on using Massive Open Online Courses (MOOC). Also the experiences and feedback from the piloting companies of the trial are given with an initial analysis of the further development needs.

Many SMEs are lacking of proper competence development processes. The training of employees might be almost totally unsystematic and unplanned, based on ad-hoc needs or random staff training days. However, in rapidly developing industries like information and computer technology (ICT) the skills and knowledge to be needed are constantly both substituted and evolved. Our development project aims to explore the possibilities of various MOOCs in tailoring competence development activities of software developers in four pilot companies. All the companies in the pilot project produce software based products or offer software services to other companies.

At first it might to be seemed that there are a massive amount of available MOOCs which could be used as such and without any costs. However, the reality is not so straightforward and there are many aspects that must be balanced in order to get a Win-Win- Win situation for all actors of the play. Resource allocations, motivation of all parties and clearly identified development needs are needed for a positive outcome of the process. In this study we also make some initial observations of the challenges of overcoming those aspects. We believe that our earlier experiences of using MOOCs in academic education helped us to develop some proposals of the solutions for the many issues of competence development of SMEs.

Keywords:

MOOC, SME, Competence development.