Situation: you are in charge of training, and this morning, it's in small form. Bad night, headache. However, no rest for the brave! So you get up: congratulations, you have earned a good coffee. Too bad you forgot to buy some again. In short, it's time to get started. Where are your car keys?
In fact, they slipped behind the cabinet, but you don't know that, and it takes you 15 minutes to find them. So you arrive late to the office, you still rush to the coffee machine and, ah! The cup didn't fall, and the machine sprayed it all over your pants. When suddenly, your assistant jumps on you: you have to decide, in what form will the next training be organized elearning, SPOC, MOOC, COOP? You're sighing. What is the difference already?
Well, have a coffee at the other machine, sit down, everything is fine: we have the answer.
The MOOC or e-learning online training
The MOOC or Massive Online Open Course is a free online course, available to the general public. It is the first digital learning model that paved the way for other, more targeted formats. Now a reference, this acronym is the most used to refer to this type of digital training.
MOOC: What are the goals?
Initiated by international universities, the MOOC was set up in order to facilitate learning and offer free access to knowledge. The training can cover various topics, such as marketing actions, communication techniques, or bank loans, for example. It aims to develop skills among learners, who are free to choose from thousands of MOOCs. At the beginning of 2018, more than 10,000 MOOCs were broadcast across various countries in the world.
MOOC: For whom?
The MOOC is open to everyone. Students, professionals, job seekers or simple individuals can register for the MOOC to acquire knowledge. SMEs that want to train their employees, but do not have the resources to develop internal training, can also benefit from the advantages of the MOOC. Access to training has been greatly facilitated in order to recruit as many participants as possible. Those enrolled in these types of online courses number in the thousands and are scattered all over the world. Hence the “M” in MOOC, which means “Massive.” In the sense of “involving a massive number of people.” This does not mean that the courses are cumbersome. A lot of them are very good.
MOOC: What formats?
The MOOC is a complete educational path. It includes several modules, punctuated by various activities such as webinars, practical exercises, as well as assessment systems. In general, a MOOC lasts several weeks, but the duration of the courses depends on the theme addressed. At the end of the training, the learner is awarded a certificate of achievement, which he can include in his CV to promote his skills.
It should be noted that “MOOC” is pronounced “mouque”, and written like that, it sounds a bit like a seafood name.
The COOC
The COOC or Corporate Online Open Course is the private version of the MOOC. Delivered by a company, this online training is dedicated to a targeted community, generally linked to the company's activity.
COOC: What are the goals?
The COOC is designed to meet the goals of a business. It can be set up in order to support the company in its digital transformation, to develop the skills of employees, to train customers or the company's new collaborators. Thus, the themes addressed relate to business problems. This may involve, for example, promoting work tools, services or products, recruiting partners, strengthening team spirit, or developing company culture.
COOC: For whom?
The COOC comes in two versions: the internal COOC and the external COOC. The internal COOC is dedicated to a private community, which may include employees, collaborators, customers or prospects of the company. The external COOC, for its part, is accessible to all Internet users. Most of the time, the external COOC is part of a company loyalty program and aims to improve its e-reputation. In this case, the themes dealt with are often oriented around the expertise of the organization.
COOC: What formats?
More targeted than the MOOC, the COOC often includes technical and interactive modules. On the program, webinars, scripted content, videos, exercises, as well as collaborative work. The internal COOC values exchanges between participants, and supports learners throughout the training. In order to facilitate sharing, interactive spaces such as discussion forums are set up on the platform, in a social learning spirit. This type of digital training also includes an evaluation and reward system. Badges, medals or certificates of achievement are awarded to participants at the end of the course.
“COOC” training and “cook” have nothing to do with each other, but you might consider going out to a restaurant as an award in addition to the certificate. Or just like that, it's nice to offer a restaurant to your employees, it creates links, all that... Or maybe chocolates. Or champagne. (Pay no attention, the editors are trying to get a message across.)
The SPOC
The SPOC or Small Private Online Course is a specialized digital training course, organized in a small community. Mainly used in businesses, these are targeted online courses, dedicated to specific stakeholders.
SPOC: what are the objectives?
The objective of this private training is toprovide solutions to problems related to jobs in the company. Focused on a technical level, SPOC is often about practices, as well as ways of working in society. It is a solution implemented in order to identify and resolve sources of unproductivity in one or more services. Depending on the objectives of the training, the SPOC can deal with various topics, such as project management techniques or community management, for example.
SPOC: for whom?
Unlike the MOOC, which is “Massive”, the SPOC is “Small”, that is to say that the courses are intended only for a limited audience. In general, the training brings together about fifteen students per trainer, but some formats allow up to 50 learners to be brought together. Stakeholders may include experts in a specific field or employees in the same department. They are selected according to their skill level and profile.
SPOC: What formats?
The courses are mainly focused on practices and the sharing of experiences. They are similar to a coaching system, allowing participants to be supported individually, while evolving in a collective framework. Webinars, practical exercises, quizzes, forums... the SPOC can also include several levels of difficulty. Training can be 100% digitized or combined with face-to-face courses, which is similar to blended learning. At the end of the course, learners are symbolically rewarded by the presentation of medals or certificates.
The choice between a MOOC, a COOC or a SPOC will therefore be defined by the needs of the company and/or employees in terms of training. Of course, it is possible to use several of these types of training: they can very well coexist in the same training plan.
You will therefore know what to say to your assistant when it comes to choosing between mouque, couque or spoque. Definitely, it's much funnier written like that.
