Rise Of The Corporate MOOC

For corporations, massive open online courses, or MOOCs, matter because they might become a major source of technical talent and training. No matter if 140,000 out of 150,000 students in an online programming class drop out -- there are still 10,000 people being trained, a substantial potential resource in a world desperate for technical talent. More to the point, companies can run their own MOOCs, tailored to their own needs. That's one goal for EdX, which released its code as open-source back in June and has also released its hosting scripts.

Some vendor organizations have used EdX's code to develop training classes. Earlier in November, the specialty steelmaker Tenaris said it would use EdX's software for its Tenaris University, used to train the company's global workforce.

There are more such deals with companies on the way, Rob Rubin, VP of engineering at the education tech startup, said in an interview with InformationWeek.