Abstract
Unlike MOOC platforms such as Coursera or edX, which typically partner with institutions of higher education, online knowledge marketplaces allow anyone to broadcast courses and charge for them. In this article, we investigate, through a mixed-method approach, the motivations and strategies of the instructors of Udemy and Skillshare. Semi-structured interviews and a quantitative analysis of the characteristics of Skillshare’s courses, obtained using a Web scraper, suggest that while a significant proportion of the marketplace’s instructors are outreach driven, the majority are income driven. They develop strategies to maximize their revenues, notably by adapting the characteristics of their courses, such as the number of videos, to the business model of the platform. Courses are shorter on Skillshare than on Udemy, where instructors’ incomes are proportional to the number of registrations. We hypothesize that the latter platform’s business model incentivizes instructors to create longer courses in order to attract wider audiences.
Highlights
Marketplaces, Business Models, and Instructors’ MotivationsWhile massive open online courses (MOOCs; Daniel, 2012) have attracted considerable attention from media over the past decade (Pappano, 2012), less publicized platforms for teaching and learning, known as knowledge marketplaces (KMs), have been gaining momentum (Author, 2019)
The statistics provided by the marketplaces themselves highlight the differences with what is usually labeled as a MOOC platform
On average, courses are shorter on Skillshare than on Udemy. We suggest that it is a consequence of the differences in Business models (BM) in which a pay-per-course model incentivizes instructors to create more content to attract additional learners
Summary
While massive open online courses (MOOCs; Daniel, 2012) have attracted considerable attention from media over the past decade (Pappano, 2012), less publicized platforms for teaching and learning, known as knowledge marketplaces (KMs), have been gaining momentum (Author, 2019). Represented by companies such as Udemy and Skillshare, KMs allow anyone to publish and monetize courses on various topics, ranging from data science to photography. Coursera and edX usually offer free access to courses, at least for a short time, but charge for certificates (Coursera, 2015, 2016) They make available yearly subscriptions, using a model that dates back at least to the early 2000s, when the iconic online learning platform, Lynda.com, was launched. The statistics provided by the marketplaces themselves highlight the differences with what is usually labeled as a MOOC platform
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