Saturday, November 28, 2015

And the MOOC Adventure Begins

Along with a few faculty colleagues here in the Center for Human Resources and Labor Studies at the University of Minnesota, I've been developing a series of Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) on Human Resource Management Principles for People Managers. This completely-online specialization, as Coursera calls it, will cover the basics of recruitment, performance management, and compensation, primarily with an eye toward non-HR managers who have been promoted into positions with people management responsibilities (individuals exploring career possibilities in HR, or updating their HR knowledge would also be welcome--indeed, anyone is welcome, and we don't have any way to screen enrollment in any case).

This turning into a lot of...wait for it...WORK! I'm preparing the first course which will launch in early February 2016. This course provides a foundation for developing an approach to skillfully managing employees by illustrating alternative human resource management (HRM) strategies, introducing the importance of the legal context, and thinking about what motivates employees. This is intended to give managers and others the factual and conceptual basis for developing specific, critical HRM skills in the subsequent courses on hiring employees, managing performance, and rewarding employees. 

This will primarily be delivered through on-demand video lectures. To fit into a YouTube world, the recommended video length is 4-8 minutes! This is unlike anything I've ever done. And to make all of this engaging in a completely online course with no instructor interaction, I'm trying to make my lectures rich in graphics, which further adds to the work. I used to think it was a lot of work to prep a regular face-to-face class. I still do, but this is even more! 

In any case, here is my first attempt (actually, it's a revision of my first attempt--my first attempt was 14 minutes...I like content!): The Evolution of HRM

Want to see more? You'll need to wait for the course. Look for "Preparing to Manage Human Resources" on the Coursera website in early February. 

Update (1/30/16): On Coursera, my course is here. For a complete list of videos, go to my MOOC page.

8 comments:

  1. A friend of mine is involved in developing MOOCs in my area. I love the idea! I hope you are successful with your plans and tell us about the progress :).

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  2. Thank you for your post. This is excellent information. It is amazing and wonderful to visit your site.
    Workmen’s Compensation

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  3. Thank you so much for your edutainment, #profJohn,W.Bubb.

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  4. Thank you so much for your edutainment, #profJohn,W.Bubb.

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  5. Dear Sir, thank you for your course. I have just finished the Lesson one and currently completely absorbed in it.

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  6. HR Policies For Efficient Output;

    Taking the advantage of one group of workers at the expense of others might effect other output leading to clashes amongst the labor force. A policy like tipping gives advantages to staff at work because workers are motivated by money in any market situation.
    Customer behaviors and practices producing no negative effect in company out rates but favors employees should be encouraged.
    Theories discouraging such activities might reduce employee zeal to service and low return and also affect companies demands. This will still reduce fairness to employees and can raise or benefit customers. So, HR should ponder on this principles and design better rules in future.

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