Contribution of MOOC to the future of higher education
The Coursera co-founders have become oracles of higher education, functioning in dispersing their gospel of MOOC at the World Economic Forum which happened in Abu Dhabi, the Web Summit which took place in Dublin and the Aspen Ideas Festival. They portray as to how free online courses can open access to higher education to anyone with an Internet connection; release professors from repeating the same tired lectures and jokes in every semester; and generate data, because the computers capture every right or wrong answer, which can instill a new sense of understanding of how students can learn their best.
Many educators foresee that the bulk of MOOC revenues will come from licensing counteractive courses and “gateway” introductory courses in subjects like economics or statistics, since these two categories of classes have the tenacity to register hundreds of thousands of students in a year. Even though less than 10 percent of MOOC students finish the courses they sign up for on their individual desire, yet many experts think that combining MOOC resources with support from a faculty member or a teaching assistant could possibly aid in increasing completion rates. All of this could well add up to the future of higher education — if anyone can outline the source for making money.
While the MOOC representation has been hailed as a democratizer of educational dream, the market value of a certificate of completion remains to be ascertained. Many have spoken that it might aid in improving job skills. A survey conducted in 2012 on Massive open online courses, or MOOCs indicated that 41% of those studying online were working professionals, while 31% were undergraduates and graduates. Nearly 40% of respondents reported enrolling because of casual subject interest and completion rates are low, hovering around 10%, as students great effort to stay provoked in an online environment. Nevertheless, some educators visualize MOOCs as the next step in the advancement of higher education through the development of technology enhanced education practices, together with blended education and online education portals such as Khan Academy, YouTube and TEDEd.
Conclusion
The capability of MOOCs to provide educational access to all has generated considerable interest. Thomas Friedman, a columnist of New York Times described them as an educational “revolution”; The Washington Post praised them as a method for offering ‘elite education for the masses’. Businesses look at it for the possibility of bridging the ‘skills gap’ between workers and employers, while universities consider online aid as a means for increasing the worth of their notorious educational content and potentially get access to revenue. But, the feasibility of pay models is open to question, and some scholars see MOOCs as an “attack” on brick-and-mortar institutions.
References
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/20/education/colleges-turn-to-crowd-sourcing-courses.html
http://journalistsresource.org/studies/society/education/moocs-online-learning-research-roundup#
