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ALISON
Type of site
Online education
Available inEnglish, Spanish, French, Portuguese, Russian. Arabic, Chinese, Hebrew, Hindi, Urdu
OwnerMike Feerick
Created byMike Feerick, founder and CEO
URLwww.alison.com
RegistrationRequired
LaunchedApril 2007

ALISON (Advance Learning Interactive Systems Online) is an Ireland–based e-learning provider founded in Galway in 2007 by social entrepreneur Mike Feerick. ALISON is cited in industry literature as the first MOOC, pioneering the systematic aggregation of online interactive learning resources made available worldwide with a freemium model.[3][4][5] Its stated objective is to enable people to gain basic education and workplace skills.[5][6] Contrary to other MOOC providers with close links to American third level insitutions such as MIT and Stanford University, the majority of ALISON's learners are located in the developing world with the fastest growing number of users in India.[7][8] It records 1.2 million unique visitors per month with 250,000 graduates of its 500+ courses as of January 2013.[4]

History

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Mike Feerick began his career as 'serial entrepreneur' in the capacity of assistant to billionaire philanthropist Chuck Feeney and credits him with instilling the awareness that 'money wasn't the most important thing'.[9] After several managerial and entrepreneurial roles, Feerick cites a 'eureka' moment in 2005, 'observing that the cost of servers and broadband provision was falling while one’s ability to monetise any one page of web-content was going up.'[3] He noted that the distribution channels for education had the capacity to change and founded ALISON in 2007 with 'six courses and no students',[8] 'before MOOCs got their name,'[10] as a for–profit social enterprise with the objective that education and training be freely accessible online worldwide. Feerick sought to develop a model centred on establishing a sustainable income from advertising which could be reinvested for the optimisation of the strategy driving ALISON: to cater for 'people marginalized from basic education and training, especially those in developing world countries.'[11] Its focus was targeted at courses that meet the practical skills needs of workers or employers in specific industries at a minimum of certificate level. In addition to English, ALISON's courses have subsequently been translated into French, Spanish, Portuguese, Hebrew, Arabic, Hindi, Urdu, Russian, and Chinese.

Business Model

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Contrary to celebrated university–centred MOOC providers based mainly in the USA such as Udacity and Coursera, ALISON's 'creative model' has been to redirect the large supply of for-profit courses. Their approach and goals are distinct from younger MOOCs,[4] centered instead on the provision of high-quality vocational courses—'practical courses to take into a job.'[8] ALISON invites publishers to put some of their courses on the platform, some who wish do to so for no monetary return, others in turn agree to provide their content for free on ALISON's website due to the shared revenue gleaned 'mostly from advertising and sales of certificates.'[5] The model has enabled ALISON to bootstrap its growth with less than $2 million in capital and reinvest in new 'free to learner offerings' without the ties to corporate investors.[12] According to The Economist, the company seeks to drive education through advertising in the manner of television and radio. Through the online pay per click advertising revenue model, ALISON has founded a business model whereby 'learners in the developed countries are essentially paying for those in developing countries' while providing the learning materials for free.[3]

Courses

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ALISON currently offers over 500 courses across certificate and diploma level in ten languages.[4] The certificate level courses necessitate 1–2 hours study with the more rigorous diploma level offerings requiring 9–11 hours study on the part of the learner.[5] ALISON note on their website that 'there is no time limit on completing a course, so learners can study entirely at their own pace' and that some of the courses such as the Microsoft Digital Literacy Program may take up to 20 hours to complete.[13] One of ALISON's most popular courses ABC IT, a 15–20 hour training suite is cited by the New York Times as 'covering similar ground' to the International Computer Driving License without the cost of certification.[5]

By Subject

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ALISON have targeted some well–known educators such as award-winning multimedia teacher Russell Stannard now at Warwick University to provide courses on specific areas of expertise. Stannard delivers their suite of web editing and design courses which according to ALISON, 'explore multimedia applications and examine webpage, animation and graphics editing and design' through formats such as popular image editing software Adobe Photoshop.[14]

Format and Testing

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ALISON uses an Adobe Flash interface to run the interactive multimedia courseware of its publishers and course providers. All materials for the courses are provided therein.[15] The courses offered are self taught and there is no work required for submission. Prior to embarking on a nominal course, a user is provided the learning level with a summary fact sheet displaying 'range of information including minimum age appropriateness, course duration, medium of delivery and estimated education compared with reputed frameworks in the UK (NQF) and Ireland (FETAC).'[16] Some courses hosted on ALISON have flash tests and assessments throughout but most feature a test of competency at the end.

Certification

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To receive certification, a user must complete all modules of an ALISON course and achieve at least 80% in the assessment(s) which may be taken multiple times. On successful completion of all assessment, the user is then eligible to purchase a certificate or diploma as proof of completion. This constitutes an important source of income for ALISON, with offerings ranging in cost from a simple PDF download to a full diploma parchment. David Bornstein reported that in 2011, 50,000 ALISON graduates purchased certificates or diplomas in this fashion.[5]

Premium Tools

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Users may opt to pay a premium fee for faster loading times with no advertising.[5] In addition to individuals, the company has targeted employers, education facilitators, and training professionals to provide courses for groups under their tutelage. As of March 2013, ALISON added an 'ALISON Manager' tool for their premium users to improve group training facilities for teachers, trainers, tutors and HR Managers. According to ALISON, this feature is a means for educators to invigilate and evaluate the learning of students under their tutelage as they progress.[17] This feature is also targeted at employers who may use it to test the skills of 'certificate-holding ALISON graduates' with a 20-question flash test of their own to assess 'knowledge and expertise' in a certain domain.[6]

Awards and Critical Reception

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David Bornstein has noted the novelty of ALISON's provision, without cost, of online workplace skills training. Though academic instruction has been made free in the mainstream by innovators such as Khan Academy and Coursera, Bornstein notes that 'practical skills training is usually expensive.'[5] He suggests that others in the marketplace such as Udemy charge for similar services.

Some have argued for the ineffectiveness of the MOOC model of this kind in delivering real educational impact, highlighting the lack of personal interaction with educators and the high drop-out rate of users with no incentive to commit without any material investment of their own.[18] As reported in the Los Angeles Times some high profile MOOC providers have seen suspension of their offerings in major institutions such as the University of San Jose.[19] ALISON's focus of workplace skills however has thus far circumvented direct critique in this manner. The social entrepreneurial credentials of ALISON have been recognised by the Ashoka foundation in 2010,[20] and with the receipt of a UNESCO 'Honourable Mention' award in ICT by Irina Bokova and representatives of the the King of Bahrain at a ceremony at the UNESCO King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa Prize.[21] ALISON was credited in the award citation for 'providing a new world of free online learning opportunities to improve employment flexibility and skills worldwide.'.[22] Other sources have noted the 'sustainable' manner of ALISON's operating procedure, The Economist noting the fact that ALISON generates 'plenty of revenue' on its website while still providing its learning materials of 'mostly vocational education' for free.[10]

Vision

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As of March 2013, ALISON announced that their new website interface had been redesigned to be 'readily accessible for learners using smartphones and tablets' as well as conventional computing to expand access of its resources.[17]

References

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  1. ^ http://www.ALISON.com
  2. ^ "alison.com Site Info". Alexa Internet. Retrieved 2013-07-22.
  3. ^ a b c Glader, Paul. "Khan Academy Competitor? Mike Feerick of ALISON.com Talks About The Future Of Online Education". Wired Academic. Wired Academic. Retrieved 25 July 2013.
  4. ^ a b c d Booker, Ellis (January 30, 2013). "Early MOOC Takes A Different Path". Information Week. Retrieved 25 July 2013.
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h Bornstein, David (July 11, 2012). "Open Education For A Global Economy". New York Times. Retrieved 25 July 2013.
  6. ^ a b Emmons, Gary. "Education Innovation — 5 Bright Ideas". Harvard Business School Alumni Bulletin. Harvard Business School. Retrieved 25 July 2013.
  7. ^ Goldmark, Peter (June 22, 2012). "A Website That Lifts People Up". Newsday. Retrieved 25 July 2013.
  8. ^ a b c Holden, Louise (March 21, 2012). "Special Report — Ashoka 'Change Nation'". Irish Times. {{cite news}}: |access-date= requires |url= (help)
  9. ^ McNamara, Denise (11 June 2013). "The Galwayman with the Midas Touch — and a social conscience". Connacht Tribune. Retrieved 15 July 2013.
  10. ^ a b "The Attack Of The MOOCs". The Economist. July 20, 2013. Retrieved 26 July 2013.
  11. ^ Stephens, Dale. "MOOC with a business model: taking a look at ALISON". UnCollege.org. Retrieved 26 July 2013.
  12. ^ Paromita, Pain (December 3, 2007). "For Wisdom On The Wing: Go For eLearning". The Hindu — Business Line. Retrieved 26 July 2013.
  13. ^ "How Long Do Courses Take to Complete?". ALISON: help. ALISON. Retrieved 30 July 2013.
  14. ^ "New Multimedia Certificate Courses to Develop your Web Development and Design Skills". ALISON: articles. ALISON. Retrieved 29 July 2013.
  15. ^ "Learning on ALISON". ALISON help page. ALISON. Retrieved 30 July 2013.
  16. ^ "How Can I Establish the Level of Education Within Course Before I Begin Them". ALISON: Help. ALISON. Retrieved 30 July 2013.
  17. ^ a b "Free Training and Certification Now Available on Smartphone and Tablet Helps Candidates Take Advantage of Growing Job Market". ALISON: articles. ALISON. Retrieved 29 July 2013.
  18. ^ Rees, Jonathan. "The MOOC Racket". Future Tense: The Slate. The Slate Group. Retrieved 29 July 2013.
  19. ^ Rivera, Carla (July 18, 2013). "San Jose State will suspend online courses offered with Udacity". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 29 July 2013.
  20. ^ Feerick, Mike. "New Learning and Earning Opportunities for 2011". ALISON: articles. ALISON. Retrieved 29 July 2013.
  21. ^ "Projects in Ireland and the Phillippines receive honourable mentions in ICT in Education prize". UNESCO. Retrieved 29 July 2013.
  22. ^ "Galway-based online learning provider wins top UNESCO prize". Galway Advertiser. January 20, 2011. Retrieved 29 July 2013.
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