MOOCS

Ahhh, MOOCs. Also known as, Massive Open Online Courses. Until I started working on my graduate degree in Information Learning Technologies, I had personally never heard of MOOCs. I was honestly surprised to learn of their existence, and even more surprised to learn that they're actually quite a controversial topic.

If you are someone like I was just a few months ago, it's important that you have a basic understanding of what a MOOC is. It's very much what its acronym would leave you to believe: Online courses, with varying subject matter, open to an unlimited amount of students. And they're free. Anyone is able to sign up and take these courses. However, after completion (if that occurs...), there is no degree or certificate or any fancy piece of paper verifying your participation and completion.

With that being said, it seems to me that there are some obvious benefits and, less obvious disadvantages to such a learning model. One of the clearest advantages is that these classes are available to anyone who wants to learn. You may not be earning a college degree, but you're still getting an education in a field of your choosing. You're learning something you want/need to learn and you're not going into massive debt doing it. What more could you iask for?!?!

There are plenty of people who oppose MOOCs. Some say they're not at all a replacement for higher education. That they can't possibly replicate the role of a teacher, because they are too impersonal. Additionally, it appears that the completion rate for MOOCs is quite low, so even those who do take advantage of these courses are often not motivated enough to complete them. Well these are not necessarily the best qualities of MOOCs, I wouldn't go so far as to call them negatives. I wouldn't call them that because these courses are completely optional and free to those who take them. If someone isn't motivated enough to finish them, or isn't able to learn at such an independent level, they're not really losing out on anything except perhaps some time.

However, I don't feel that MOOCs are in a position to replace traditional higher education institutions. At least not yet. I'm hopeful that there are still many adjustments and improvements to be made, so that maybe one day, they can hold their own in the world of higher education.

Works Cited

Groom, Jim. "Why MOOCs Work." Brainstorm in Progress Blog. Blogspot.com, 10 July 2012. Web.

Guzidal, M. “MOOCs Are a Fundamental Misperception of How Teaching Works.” Computing Education Blog. WordPress.com, 04 Jan. 2013. Web.

Mazour, James G. "Thh MOOC Model: Challenging Traditional Education." Educause.edu. 28 July, 2013. Web.