Corporate learning at scale: lessons from a large online course at google

Abstract

Google Research recently tested a massive online class model for an internal engineering education program, with machine learning as the topic, that blended theoretical concepts and Google-specific software tool tutorials. The goal of this training was to foster engineering capacity to leverage machine learning tools in future products. The course was delivered both synchronously and asynchronously, and students had the choice between studying independently or participating with a group. Since all students are company employees, unlike most publicly offered MOOCs we can continue to measure the students' behavioral change long after the course is complete. This paper describes the course, outlines the available data set and presents directions for analysis.