¿Have you ever heard the word MicroMasters or nanodegrees?

Those are postgraduate courses that are certified and that anyone can take in order to obtain valuable credentials in a specific professional field.

This initiative was developed by EdX. EdX is a website co-created by the university of Harvard and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) which collaborate with other prestigious universities in order to offer massive online courses (also called MOOC courses). In EdX you can find universities such as: Berkeley, Georgetown University, the Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Caltech, Dartmouth College, Columbia University, etc.

 

They emerged from the need to adapt to the new educational requirements

MicroMasters emerged from the need to connect the educational world to the professional world and with the purpose to adapt education to new training requirements that are in line with the actual digital era. These courses attempt to train people in order to prepare them for the labour market, creating work-specialised profiles.

In 2015, the MIT launched the first MicroMaster of the world, which represented the 30% of the total amount of credits that a traditional master usually has.  The completion of a MicroMaster can facilitate gaining access to a classroom-based master since the credits coursed are validated in other masters, or to access to other postgraduted certificates.

 

There is no certification required to course a MicroMaster

The main advantage that the MicroMasters present is that there is no condition of admission. In other words, regardless the preparation that one has, one can access to this kind of education which can fit to a further audience, a wider public.

Furthermore, this kind of masters present economic facilities. Generally those are free, although you will have to pay honoraries if you want to get an official certification that endorses the training and the required competencies. Nevertheless, the fees are lower than what you would pay for an official master in the most prestigious universities that offer this kind of courses.

 

The number of universities that offer the possibility to course online micromasters is constantly increasing. In fact, in the edX website you will be able to find more than 1900 especializad courses about different subjects.

 

¡Train yourself for the future; the online future!