Massive open online courses or what are more commonly referred to as MOOCs are a relatively new revolution in education which organisations offer to address marketing and globalisation issues. In addition they are used to contribute to the corporate social responsibility agenda particularly for those educational establishments who want to engage in more philanthropic enterprises (Rhodes et al 2014). Nevertheless MOOCs vary in quality and with it the professionalism they demonstrate in terms of production features and level of sophistication (Billsberry 2103). Despite the diverse quality of these new educational tools and programmes the InCharge Education Foundation ICEF website reports MOOC enrolment surpassed 35 million participants in 2015 with 4 200 MOOCs currently offered by over 500 universities worldwide (ICEF 2106). Notwithstanding the high level of enrolment completion rates for MOOCs rarely attain numbers greater than 10% (Kizilcec Piech & Schneider 2013; Marcus 2013). So are they truly the shop window of an organisation showcasing what it is capable of offering or are they merely window dressing fripperies designed to entice individuals to “purchase” lucrative products without engaging in deeper organisational scrutiny (Lin 2010)? Are organisations genuinely interested in advancing the knowledge economy for the betterment of society in an increasingly global arena or simply painting a picture of the organisation that will enhance its image in the market place? If organisations are truly trying to better society via mass education programmes how can they realistically improve uptake/access rates while simultaneously enhancing MOOC completion rates given that by their very nature MOOCs require an individual to have access to the internet and a reasonable level of IT literacy?
