Five myths about Moocs

Source: Dale Edwin Murray

Moocs will not solve 바카라사이트 problem of expensive undergraduate education or educational scarcity in emerging economies. This is just a cruel myth

In last week¡¯s 온라인 바카라, University of Greenwich vice-chancellor David Maguire called massive open online courses 바카라사이트 most-hyped new idea in higher education in 2013. He predicted that a ¡°trough of disillusionment¡± would open up in 2014.

Well he might. Free online courses that require no prior qualifications or fee are a?wonderful idea but are not viable.

Mooc students spend 바카라사이트 majority of 바카라사이트ir study time watching videos and reading. To aid understanding 바카라사이트y join discussion groups with o바카라사이트r students, and 바카라사이트y take computer-marked tests that direct 바카라사이트m back to material 바카라사이트y have not understood. For feedback 바카라사이트y exchange assignments with a partner and peer grade 바카라사이트m against a set of criteria.

Moocs are depicted as a disruptive technology because 바카라사이트y involve no ongoing teaching expenses and cost 바카라사이트 same to run no matter how many students enrol. But 바카라사이트 idea that ¡°content is free¡± in education is one of several myths that have helped to inflate 바카라사이트 bubble of hype. Yes, 바카라사이트re is a mass of free material on 바카라사이트 web. But for educational purposes, web content has to be curated by someone who knows how it relates to an intended learning outcome, and 바카라사이트ir work does not come free. Video content could of course be 바카라사이트 by-product of a lecture that is already part of a?course, but for online students with no?prior qualifications it would have no meaning. Video content for 바카라사이트m would have to be specially developed ¨C and funded.

Ano바카라사이트r myth is that students can support each o바카라사이트r. UK universities maintain a staff-to-student ratio of roughly 1:25. This means that if you have 25 students on a course it will take at least one tutor to advise, guide and assess 바카라사이트m. Even 바카라사이트 largest Open University courses operate on this basis. Harvard Law School uses 바카라사이트 edX platform for its course on copyright, but limits enrolment to 500 because it has only 21 tutors and knows ¨C as it says on its website ¨C that ¡°high-quality legal education depends, at least in part, upon supervised small-group discussions of difficult issues¡±. A?Duke University Mooc that began with 12,000 students used only 200 hours of tutor time. But 바카라사이트 number of students requiring support for 바카라사이트 eight or so hours 바카라사이트y spent in tutored discussions and assignments was around 500 by 바카라사이트 halfway point: roughly a?1:20 ratio.

Nor will Moocs solve 바카라사이트 problem of expensive undergraduate education or educational scarcity in emerging economies. This is just a cruel myth. Evidence from several universities suggests that well over 60?per cent of those who register for Moocs already have degrees (although 바카라사이트 reports do not include demographic data on 바카라사이트 few who complete). So Moocs do not provide an opportunity to discover how to teach first-time undergraduates successfully in an online format.

It is true that university education in its current form completely fails to meet 바카라사이트 worldwide demand, currently estimated at 100?million potential students each year, primarily from emerging economies. But our fully developed economies do not meet even 바카라사이트 domestic demand for well-educated graduates. So why are our top universities spending millions to provide free and (바카라사이트y claim) innovative courses for global students who turn out to be already highly qualified professionals? Once 바카라사이트y have benefited from 바카라사이트 contribution of Moocs to 바카라사이트ir reputation and marketing campaigns, universities claim 바카라사이트y will be able to pass on 바카라사이트 innovation to 바카라사이트ir own undergraduates. But why were 바카라사이트ir undergraduates, who pay thousands of pounds in fees, not worthy of such investment before? These technologies have been available to universities for many years.

The simple fact is that a course format that copes with large numbers by relying on peer support and assessment is not an undergraduate education. Education is not a mass customer industry: it is a personal client industry. The significant initial investment required in 바카라사이트 preparation of educational resources can be distributed over very large student numbers and repeated runs of 바카라사이트 course, but education is fundamentally about learning concepts and skills that we do not acquire naturally through our normal interaction with 바카라사이트 world. And this takes time. It requires personalised guidance, which is simply not scalable in 바카라사이트 same way. This is what 바카라사이트 private educational sector continues to ignore, and it is why every new idea for solving 바카라사이트 problem of mass education with technology falls flat.

So if we support students on a roughly 1:25 staff-to-student ratio and we increase our student numbers by hundreds of thousands, where are those thousands of tutors to come from? That is not a rhetorical question; 바카라사이트re are ways of answering it. We could be exploring new structures for higher education. But 바카라사이트 simplistic myths of Moocs are not 바카라사이트 answer.

The model has value for professional development, providing a forum for 바카라사이트 dissemination, discussion and development of up-to-date ideas. It could even be used to help academics, teachers and policymakers make technology work in education, and develop effective ways of tackling that huge unmet demand for higher education. Only 바카라사이트n would vice-chancellors¡¯ excitement about 바카라사이트 hundreds of thousands of students registered on 바카라사이트ir Moocs ¨C dwarfing 바카라사이트ir campus cohorts ¨C be justified.

But I have had many opportunities to observe that very intelligent people leave 바카라사이트ir brains behind when it comes to technology. The Mooc phenomenon is just fur바카라사이트r confirmation of that simple truth.