MOOCs:
A Campus Conversation
Division of Student Affairs
Monthly Meeting
March 12, 2013
So, What is a MOOC?
• Stands for Massive Open Online Course
• Coined by Dave Cormier 2008
• A MOOC is by itself a non-defined pedagogical
format online to organize
learning/teaching/training on a specific topic
in a more informal collaborative way.
• It is a gathering of participants, of people
willing to jointly exchange knowledge and
experiences for each of them to build upon.
http://moocguide.wikispaces.com/0.+Home+Intro+to+MOOC
MOOCs You Can Explore
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Khan Academy
Coursera
Udacity
edX
ITunesU
CS50x: Introduction to Computer Science
HarvardX
• “CS50x is Harvard College's introduction to the
intellectual enterprises of computer science and the art
of programming for majors and non-majors alike, with
or without prior programming experience.
• Online learners who achieve a passing grade in CS50x
will earn a certificate of mastery that indicates
successful completion of the course, but will not
include a specific grade. Certificates will be issued by
edX under the name of HarvardX. For CS50x in Fall
2012 – Spring 2013, certificates will be free.”
https://www.edx.org/courses/HarvardX/CS5
0x/2012/about
The End of the University as We Know It
by Nathan Harden
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Higher Education is in Trouble
Technology is the great equalizer
Prestigious Universities Flourish
The Value of MOOCs
http://the-american-interest.com/article.cfm?piece=1352
“Higher Education is in Trouble”
• In 50 years….
– 4,500 colleges and universities will cease to
exist
– Access to college will be free for everyone
– Residential college campus will be obsolete
– Tens of thousands of faculty will lose their jobs
– Bachelor’s Degree will become irrelevant
– Classroom will become virtual
– Live lecture replaced by streaming video
“Higher Education is in Trouble”
• Internet is a great destroyer of any traditional
business that relies on sales information
• Persistent public faith in the value in the
college degree has kept demand high but
that is going to change
• Biggest mistake a non-ultra-elite university
can make is to spend lavishly to expand its
physical space
“Technology: The Great Equalizer”
• Technology isn’t going away
• Like online dating, online education has
become the norm- not “creepy”
• Students are in a golden age
• Biggest barrier to mainstreaming online
education is the common assumption that
students don’t learn well with computer
based instruction
“Technology: The Great Equalizer”
• Tipping point:
– new interactive technology
– coupled with widespread access to broadband
internet service
– Increased student comfort interacting online
WILL SEND ONLINE EDUCATION MAINSTREAM
• Changes ahead: most beneficial, most
efficient and most EQUITABLE access to
education that the world has seen
“Prestigious Universities Flourish”
• Prestigious universities with endowments will
be in a position to dominate this virtual, global
educational marketplace
• Bottom feeders will disappear or turn into
vocational training institutions
• President s of MIT and Harvard have said that
“online education is not an enemy of
residential education”
“Prestigious Universities Flourish”
• Why would somebody pay tens of thousands
to attend “Nowhere State University” when he
or she can attend an online version of
Harvard?
• Elite programs that are among the first to
offer robust academic programs online with
real credentials behind them will be the
winners in the coming higher-ed revolution
“Prestigious Universities Flourish”
• Harvard and MIT- certificate of masterycomplete the course and can demonstrate
knowledge of course material
• 60 million of their own money- edX
• One potential source of cost savings for lowerrung colleges would be to draw from opensource courses offered by elite universities
• Community Colleges could effectively
outsource
MOOCs Have Value
• I-Tunes model- education for the future
• Legitimacy of MOOCs in the eye of employers
will grow especially as respected universities
take the lead in offering open courses with
meaningful credits
• Great remedy to the increasing need for
continuing education for non-traditional
students
MOOCs Have Value
• Real value of MOOCs is their scalability
• Universities will be extend their reach to
students around the world unbound by
geography or even by time zones
• Offered for the fraction of the cost
• Bring future students an array of new choices
about how to build and customize their
education
MOOCs Have Value
• Students could list the courses and
achievements on their resumes rather than
degrees and GPAs.
• Demand for instructors will decline because
good instructors could teach record #s
• Bad instructors squeezed out
• Large number of intelligent people will be
freed up from teaching and will be able to do
research
“MOOC mania”
Why the obsession with MOOCs?
• Rising cost of higher education
– middle-class anger over tuition costs
• Affordability
– State and Fed government want to reduce higher-ed spending
– MOOCs are deemed affordable
• Efficiency
– as education systems continue to grow
– MOOCs may be a way of teaching people efficiently
• Online courses have the ability to reach more people
– One course can reach millions of individuals worldwide
• MOOC model is financially attractive –
– everyone is chasing limited opportunities for high returns
What do the skeptics say?
MOOC proponents have created some false assumptions:
1. Students are homogeneous
2. Students are mere consumers of higher education
3. Education via MOOCs is free
4. MOOCs are accessible to everyone worldwide
What do the skeptics say?
• Students are not all the same
– There is great variation among students and what they want
• face to face interaction
• cheapest education
• whistles and bells
– There is great variation among institutions of higher education
• differentiated with various options
• Students are not just consumers
– also producers
– develop individualized plans
• Two students attending the same college will produce different
educational outcomes
Other considerations….
• If students are struggling to grasp the course content there is no
academic support
– “One widely quoted dropout figure for students in massive open online courses
is 90 percent.”
• MOOCs are not necessarily free
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Course materials
Reference materials
Internet access
Computer and other related technology to access course
Certification fees
• MOOCs may not necessarily be physically accessible
– Questions of disability-related access
– Only 22 out of every 100 people worldwide own or share a computer.
– Everyone does not have access to:
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Technology
Internet
Computers
Course materials, etc.
A word of caution:
• There is mounting pressure to move toward
accepting MOOC credits and creating online
courses
• “If decision makers in higher education believe
the sky is falling, they may find themselves
taking actions that are value-destroying rather
than value-enhancing”
Suggestions:
• Calm down
– MOOCs will change some things and not others
– Brick and mortar institutions will not disappear
• Information technology will continue to advance
• Financial models of universities are not based solely on
undergraduate education, but on a compilation that
includes:
– Research
– post graduate education
– other sources of income
Articles
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Change From Within. Inside Higher Ed. March 4, 2013. By Paul Fain.
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Expanding Pathways to MOOC Credit. Inside Higher Ed. February 7, 2013. By
Doug Lederman.
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Online Courses Could Widen Achievement Gaps Among Students. The
Chronicle of Higher Education. February 21, 2013. By Jake New.
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The End is Not Nigh for Colleges. The Chronicle of Higher Education. February
4, 2013. By Robert J. Sternberg.
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The Higher-Education Lobby Comes to Madison. The Chronicle of Higher
Education. February 20, 2013. By Sara Goldrick-Rab.
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To MOOC or Not to MOOC. The Chronicle of Higher Education. February 13,
2013. By Nigel Thrift.
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Udacity's Credit Path. Inside Higher Ed. January 16, 2013. By Paul Fain.