Online Continuing Education & The Modern Professional Profile

There has been a recent explosion in online educational options, from prestigious universities offering degree programs online and dubious for-profit colleges pumping out graduates, to more specific micro-focus courses on just a single topic.  Some are free, like Coursera (in exchange for labor) or Khan Academy, while others charge for access to a library, such as Lynda.com.  The platforms can be broad-ranging in content and tied to traditional learning institutions, like edX, or provide in-depth material on a niche topic, like CBT Nuggets* (IT training) or Code Academy (programming).  This does not even take into account the learning portals created by brands to aid users of their products, like the Google Analytics Academy.  The point is not to provide an exhaustive list of online education platforms (because that would be a hefty task on its own), but merely to illustrate that the recent vogue of MOOCs and self-directed learning has given everyone (or at least those lucky enough to have computers, high-speed internet, and the free time to use them) the opportunity to enhance their knowledge bases outside of the traditional classroom setting.  With this opportunity, however, come unexpected pitfalls.

The advantages and disadvantages of this type of learning have been debated extensively elsewhere, and I won't attempt to weigh in with any authority on the subject.  The issue that I am writing about today is regarding how these educational platforms are treated by us as individuals and by corporate entities, and specifically how this interaction plays out in the realm of the professional digital profile.  In this context, the "professional digital profile" that I am referring to comprises a person's LinkedIn profile, resume (at this point resumes exist almost entirely in the digital realm, whether as an attachment to an email or uploaded to Monster.com), github portfolio, blog, etc..  These profiles are how our respective industries and peers judge us, and how we are able to present ourselves to audiences that are interested in us as human capital.  Given their importance in today's professional world, however, there is also an inherent gravity to the manner in which we represent our skills and experiences on these platforms, and like all new frontiers, the world of online education is fraught with grey areas and unwritten rules.

Let's pretend that my own example is illustrative.  I have a four-year degree from a state university, which obviously gets included in all of my professional profiles, as do the classes I took while still working at an academic institution later on, though I was not in a degree program (and even those I barely mention, as the classes were not in a relevant field to my current work).  Now though, things get trickier.  I have a degree in history, which has nothing to do with marketing or data analysis (my particular lines of work), but it goes into my professional digital profile, because it is a degree earned from a traditional institution in a classical classroom setting.  Since that time however, I have been certified through the Google AdWords official program, at both the introductory and advanced levels, and yet I wouldn't list that under the "education" section of my resume, or on LinkedIn.  I list AdWords as a skill, but anyone can do that, and it doesn't mention that I ever achieved the certification.

I have been considering getting an MS in Predictive Analytics from Northwestern, because it could be done entirely online, but it would take a substantial time commitment over the next few years and cost over $40,000.  I took a look at the course requirements, then started to explore other options, knowing what the curriculum looked like and what knowledge I could expect to gain.  I realized that I could essentially take the equivalent of all of the same classes on other platforms, with substantially more flexibility and at a significantly lower cost.  Knowing that, I just finished my first course on edX, having signed up for the ID verified, graded version of the class (and paid the fee), which means that I received a certificate upon completion that I can print out.  And hang on the refrigerator?  The same goes for the Google Analytics Academy eCommerce certificate.

And there is the crux of the biscuit, so to speak.  These online courses are very relevant to my professional experience, and I have satisfied the requirements to verify that I in fact participated and learned the material enough to pass the given assessments.  However, what do I do with that information?  On edX, I could take classes from elite universities representing all of the knowledge that I would be expected to gain from the Northwestern program, in a virtually identical format, with the same amount of faculty interaction.  In one case, though, I would pay $40k and get an MS at the end, and in the other I would pay a few hundred dollars and get a series of PDF certificates.  Obviously, the weight that these respective tracks would lend to my professional digital profile would be remarkably uneven, but based primarily on cost and accredidation rather than the actual knowledge acquired.

Is this a flaw, or a feature?  Is the Northwestern program actually SO much more rigorous and effective, or does it simply benefit from the entrenched reputation of a legacy mode of thought?  Or is the answer somewhere in between?

Really, what matters in the context of this piece, is the question of what to do with these certifications issued by the new educational platforms.  Can I list a Google Analytics course alongside a degree from UMass?  Is a certification from a class on edX equal to a class taken at Harvard Extension in person?  How do we, as a generation of professionals in an age where the locus of learning shifts from the classroom to the livingroom, acknowledge the skills that we gain under the new system without undermining the old?  Should I tuck them under "Other Skills/Interests" on my resume?  Where do they fit in a LinkedIn profile?  In the summary? Are they "specialties?"  Do they go in "Skills & Endorsements," or under education?

Despite the proliferation of the educational options available to professionals today, the codification and weighting thereof has lagged behind.  As more and more platforms and institutions issue their own certifications like so many currencies, the relative valuation only becomes muddier, for both the student and the employer.  A consensus needs to be reached, or at least a convention, and LinkedIn is in a perfect spot to lead that movement.  All they need to do is add a new section to the profile, for "Additional Education and Certification" or something along those lines.

So what do you do?  Please take the poll on the right and let us know, or leave comments below!