CEO Of The World’s First MOOC Provides Hope To Former Prisoners Through Education

Mike Feerick leads a company that has been credited as being the first ever massive open online course or MOOC. He founded Advance Learning Interactive Systems Online, better known as ALISON in 2007. Unlike other prominent MOOCs such as Udacity, Coursera, and edX, ALISON’s content is not drawn from elite US-based universities. Rather, the Galway, Ireland based company focuses on practical workplace skills that can be tested by employers to gauge growing competencies. Since I last spoke with Feerick, the company registered its three millionth user, and much of the growth has been in the developing world. India, for instance, is the company’s fastest growing market. ALISON has thrived on serving traditionally underserved education marketplaces.  
Forbes – Tech