At the start of this semester my
knowledge of MOOCs was limited to the minimal readings that I had completed as
part of a different class. I understood that MOOCs were a new form of online courses
that had the potential to offer free college level courses to large audiences,
and that was about it. I had no
knowledge at that point of MOOC structure, format, design, pedagogical
techniques, or the potential impact they could have on our current higher
education system. Because of my ignorance
concerning MOOCs, I was excited to take this course. I have a passion for instructional
technologies, and I knew just enough about MOOCs to get excited about the
topic. Truthfully, I entered the semester with high hopes of studying the “next
big thing”, the phenomenon that would emerge as the catalysts for providing
positive change to the traditional college environment. Ultimately, although I am concluding my study
of MOOCs with altered expectations, I feel that I have gained a wealth of
knowledge concerning the topic, and still have hopes that MOOCs can provide a
valuable education benefit to many as the phenomenon develops and matures.
In my introductory essay for this
class I wrote of MOOCs as a great medium for achieving an altruistic goal of
providing high-quality education to all.
I marveled at the idea of everyday “Joes” having the opportunity to
learn from world renowned Ivy League professors, and how the ever increasing financial
burdens of obtaining a college education could be overcome by the freedom that
MOOCs provide. Since writing that essay
I have put forth a great deal of effort in reading the still emerging
literature concerning the MOOC phenomenon, and what I have come to understand is that at this
point, it is still far too early to truly understand exactly what effect MOOCs
will have on our education system, and what it ultimately will be. In my opinion, there is still too much
concerning MOOCs that has yet to be determined.
As I completed my work in this course, I developed three areas of
concern regarding MOOCs that I feel need to be addressed before the MOOC
phenomenon could have the educational impact that so many desire; finance,
certification and pedagogy.
One of the largest benefits of MOOCs
are that they are provided free of cost to enrolled students. Little explanation is needed to understand
just how significant it would be to offer high-quality education to people
world-wide at no cost to the students.
However, the more time I spent studying MOOCs, the more I questioned the
sustainability of this model. Although
these courses are currently offered to student for free, they are by no means created,
maintained or administered at zero cost.
In fact, I was alarmed when I learned just how much it cost to produce a
MOOC. And when you add in the value of
the free labor that MOOC professors donate to these courses, it really becomes
hard to fathom just how companies like Coursera, Udemy and EdX will be able to continue
to offer these courses for free. It
seems logical to conclude that at some point, the financial model will have to
change, either by charging students to enroll in MOOCs, or by selling ad
space. Either way, at this point, the
value of MOOC education becomes compromised.
One of the primary reasons that
people attend college is to obtain credentials that will help provide opportunities
for real-world advancement. At this
point, there are very few options for people to obtain any credentials for work
completed through MOOCs. This probably
explains the extremely low completion rates with MOOCs. Although there are a few MOOCs now available that
offer options for certificates of completion, and there are many discussions
taking place regarding the possibilities using MOOC completion as transfer
credit to traditional four year institutions, nothing at this point provides
students with concrete benefits.
One of my largest concerns regarding
the MOOC phenomenon concerns pedagogy.
When I participated in a MOOC offered by Edx, I was really unimpressed
by the pedagogical structure of the course.
Although the instructor was a well-known Harvard scholar, the learning
activities in which I participated were not conducive to the type of connectivist
learning experience that I prefer.
Essentially, the instructor provided recorded lectures, created an
outline of course readings, and provided a place for student discussions. There was very little in the course that
provided me with an experience that can compare with the quality learning
experiences that I have received during my traditional college courses. I think this is the largest issue that must
be addressed if MOOCs are every truly going to make a big splash in higher
education.
Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed taking
AHE 602. Although the bubble containing
my hopes for MOOCS as a paradigm shifting educational format has been popped, I
still believe that the MOOC phenomenon has legitimate value to offer the global
population in terms of educational impact.
The weekly readings and discussion although at times provided a great
deal of stress for me; they did challenge me to continuously study and evaluate
MOOCs. I also enjoyed the little side
projects that were used to demonstrate technologies that could be used as MOOC
pedagogical resources. However, my
favorite part of the class was the creation of my own micro-MOOC. This opportunity allowed me to synthesize
everything that I learned from course readings and discussion and channel that
into a meaningful project. The
culmination of all of the activities in this course ultimately provided me with
a rich learning experience. Now that I
am at the end of this course, I have had the opportunity to reflect not only on
just how much I have learned about MOOCs this semester, but I have had the
opportunity to critically analyze the MOOC phenomenon as it currently is, and
ponder its potential value in education.
In fact, as I worked through the AHE 602 material and engaged with my colleague
in critical discussion, I have come to feel like an expert on the MOOC
phenomenon, and the collaboration in which I engaged with my colleagues has
provided me with rich learning experiences that I believe will serve me well.
