Alison (company)

ALISON is a free online education platform for teaching workplace skills.[1] It was founded in Galway, Ireland, by Irish social entrepreneur Mike Feerick on 21 April 2007.[4]

Alison
Type of site
e-learning, online education
Available inEnglish, Spanish, French, Portuguese, Russian, Arabic, Chinese, Hindi, Urdu[1]
HeadquartersGalway, Ireland
OwnerCapernaum Ltd.
Created byMike Feerick (founder and CEO)
URLwww.alison.com
CommercialYes
RegistrationRequired
Users23 million (2022)[2]
Launched21 April 2007 (2007-04-21)[3]
Current statusActive

It has 23 million registered learners from 195 countries and, as of February 2022. The site's users have access to 3,500 courses, specializations, and degrees in a variety of subjects.[2]

Background

In 2006, Mike Feerick developed the platform and designed it. On 21 April 2007, Alison was launched with its first free customer and six courses.[4] The platform allows users registered users to access digitally-based education and skills training for free.[4] In April 2017, the company made a technical overhaul of the platform and launched its mobile application, which drives 50% of the website's traffic worldwide.[5]

On 5 July 2016, President Pranab Mukherjee of India announced the partnership between Alison and the National Skill Development Corporation.[6][7]

In March 2021, Alison announced the acquisition of Dash Beyond, an India-based edutech company that provides career development and skills training services.[8]

In May 2021, Alison announced an agreement to fund the hiring of a Regional Development Manager for Co-operation Ireland for the West of Ireland. The three-year sponsorship will seed the development of a Support Chapter for the North/South peace charity in the West of Ireland, and the development of an All-Ireland Online Schools Programme.[9]

Product and services

Business model

Alison income is generated from advertising and sales of certificates. According to The Economist, the company seeks to drive education through advertising in the manner of television and radio. The platform uses a online pay per click advertising revenue model.[4][10] It aims to make learning accessible to blue collar or "bottom of the pyramid" learners.[11]

Courses

Alison currently offers more than a thousand courses at certificate, diploma, and learning path levels across nine core subject categories. The certificate level courses require two to three hours of study while the more rigorous diploma level courses require ten to fifteen hours of study.[12] There is no time limit for completing a course.[13][4] One of Alison's courses is ABC IT, a fifteen to twenty-hour training suite which is cited by The New York Times as "covering similar ground" to the International Computer Driving License without the cost of certification.[1] In 2020, Alison published a course on the coronavirus and translated it into more than 50 languages.[14]

Accreditation

Alison is accredited by CPD UK Continuing professional development.[15][16]

Reception

Alison was among the four winners of the 2010 UNESCO King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa Prize, a Prize for innovation in ICT for Education.[17] In October 2013, Alison won an award at the World Innovation Summit for Education held in Qatar.[18] Since 2013 Alison courses have become generally recognized by many employers, particularly in occupations and disciplines where no external certification by professional bodies post-graduation exist. It is estimated that currently over 1.5 million people around the world have an Alison course on their CV.

David Bornstein of The New York Times noted that "practical skills training is usually expensive."[1] Initially some observers also predicted the ineffectiveness of the MOOC model in delivering real educational impact, highlighting the lack of personal interaction with educators and the high drop-out rate of users with no incentive to commit without any material investment of their own.[19]

In February 2021, Alison was awarded the Civil Solidarity Prize by the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) for its free course “Coronavirus – What you need to know”, which was published in February 2020 to inform people about the spread of the virus, its effects and how to protect themselves.[20][21]

See also

References
  1. Bornstein, David (11 July 2012). "Open Education for a Global Economy". The New York Times (editorial). Retrieved 6 January 2019.
  2. "Alison.com's Mike Feerick: 'There's a huge, soft underbelly in the education business – the model is broken'". independent. Retrieved 29 March 2022.
  3. Bushnell, Niam (16 March 2017). "Mike Feerick: a Meaningful Career on the Internet since 1991". Dublin Globe. Retrieved 6 January 2019.
  4. Glader, Paul. "Khan Academy Competitor? Mike Feerick of ALISON.com Talks About The Future Of Online Education". Wired Academic. Archived from the original on 31 May 2013. Retrieved 25 July 2013.
  5. High, Peter (11 December 2017). "Is Alison The Answer To The World's Education Needs?". Forbes. Retrieved 6 January 2019.
  6. Malapur, Deepak (18 July 2016). "NSDC and Alison collaborate for skill development across India". Career India. Retrieved 13 January 2019.
  7. "ALISON announces new partnership in India". RTE.ie. 15 July 2016. Retrieved 13 January 2019.
  8. "Alison Acquires Dash Beyond". Irish Telegraph. Retrieved 29 March 2022.
  9. O'Connell, Dave (13 May 2021). "Galway's global educator aims to break down border barriers". connachttribune.ie. Retrieved 29 March 2022.
  10. "The attack of the MOOCs". The Economist. 20 July 2013. Retrieved 6 January 2019.
  11. "Bottom of the Pyramid Learning". Alison. Retrieved 31 March 2020.
  12. "Understand the types of courses offered by Alison". Alison. Retrieved 6 January 2019.
  13. High, Peter (11 July 2010). "CEO Of The World's First MOOC Provides Hope To Former Prisoners Through Education". Forbes. Retrieved 6 January 2019.
  14. "Coronavirus - What you need to know". Alison. Retrieved 31 March 2020.
  15. "Capernaum (Alison.com) - Providers | The CPD Certification Service".
  16. "Alison Accreditation Explained".
  17. "Galway-based online learning provider wins top UNESCO prize". Galway Advertiser. 20 January 2011. Retrieved 19 January 2011.
  18. Coughlan, Sean (30 October 2013). "Biggest educator you've never heard of". BBC News. Retrieved 7 January 2019.
  19. Rees, Jonathan (23 July 2013). "The MOOC Racket". Slate. Retrieved 29 July 2013.
  20. "ALISON LEARNING PLATFORM WINS EESC CIVIL SOLIDARITY PRIZE FOR IRELAND". European Economic and Social Committee. 15 February 2021. Retrieved 29 March 2022.
  21. "Alison wins EESC prize for Covid-19 information course". TechCentral.ie. 15 February 2021. Retrieved 29 March 2022.
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