Abstract
The paper deals with the issue of application possibilities of MOOC platforms in IT specialist training. It is emphasized that this problem is urgent due to the coronavirus pandemic which caused reconsideration of educational approaches, means and tools. In the study the analysis of the most demanded massive open online course platforms in terms of IT specialist training is presented. Challenges of MOOCs for teaching and learning foreign languages are highlighted. Profession-related, soft skill mastering and English learning courses have been scrutinized in terms of their content and user-friendliness by teachers and students of two universities. Design, layout, topics, communities, documentation, and application availability have been evaluated and ranked. Three online English courses of similar purpose on Coursera, FutureLearn and Prometheus have been compared and ranked with the aim to advise the most efficient one to senior undergraduates striving to be employed in Ukraine and abroad in the multicultural IT environment.
Highlights
The coronavirus pandemic has drastically changed the way of living, education and entertainment all over the world [1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8]
According to the Massive open online courses (MOOCs)-BOOK, an open resource for business, higher education institutions and learners, in order to make use of MOOCs [17] these courses have made it possible to study at any suitable time, in any place, with lower costs or free, in a flexible mode
In order to ensure the impartial analysis of the mentioned above MOOC platforms concerning user-friendliness, design and layout effectiveness, as well as content relevance for prospective IT experts, three courses in cybersecurity have been recommended to the undergraduates of both universities
Summary
The coronavirus pandemic has drastically changed the way of living, education and entertainment all over the world [1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8]. Numerous attempts to continue learning and teaching have been made: new educational online courses have been developed, existing online courses have been rearranged and updated, new practices of teaching and learning have been introduced, TV-programs on different subjects have been created and broadcast on national TV channels, various websites, pages in social networks for teacher and student support have been initiated. The statistics [9] shows that registrations at Coursera and Udemy in March-April 2020 were correspondingly 640% and 400% higher than during the same period in 2019. These figures can be explained by presentation of free courses to university partners and consequent possible participation in courses by university students
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