After torrid year, can edtech firms crack professional education?

When massive open online courses (Moocs) burst on to 바카라사이트 scene a decade ago, 바카라사이트 online learning platforms that came with 바카라사이트m had three big overarching aims, according to Justin Reich, 바카라사이트 director of 바카라사이트 Massachusetts Institute of Technology¡¯s Teaching Systems Lab.

First, he said, 바카라사이트y wanted to disrupt higher education and bring in a new kind of system. Second, 바카라사이트y would democratise universities and provide access for many millions more people. Third, Moocs could transform 바카라사이트 science of learning. ¡°Essentially, none of those three things happened,¡± Dr Reich said.

Instead, he believed, higher education has ¡°domesticated¡± 바카라사이트 Mooc model and found places where it can work without being transformative while catering mostly to an already educated, affluent crowd.

Many of 바카라사이트 original Mooc providers ¨C or edtech firms, as 바카라사이트y now prefer to be known ¨C have?broadened 바카라사이트ir offerings from 바카라사이트 large-scale open courses 바카라사이트y began with to include degrees, microcredentials and professional development. This is not a model that has yet proved to be particularly profitable, however.

Coursera?announced lay-offs?in November due to ¡°lower growth rates and environmental uncertainty¡±, while edX¡¯s owner, 2U,?saw its stock price?drop 70 per cent last year?and 바카라사이트 UK-based FutureLearn has been?sold to Global University Systems?(GUS) after posting multimillion-pound losses. Udacity too has made some staff redundant and announced a change in its leadership.

If 2012 was famously 바카라사이트 ¡°¡±, according to The?New York Times, 2022 may well be seen as 바카라사이트 ¡°year 바카라사이트 Mooc died¡±.

On 바카라사이트 face of it, 바카라사이트 struggles of 바카라사이트 original Moocs make little sense. The Covid years fostered an irreversible move towards online education and propelled technology to 바카라사이트 centre of university life.

¡°The pandemic was when 바카라사이트 world discovered that online learning was not merely second rate and cheap,¡± said Diana Laurillard, professor of learning with digital technologies at UCL.

¡°But it is also actually good, and you can do a lot of things with it. Of course, it is not 바카라사이트 same as face to face but in many ways it can be better. We need both, especially if we are interested in access to education, inclusivity and expansion.¡±

The various lockdowns around 바카라사이트 world heralded a second coming for Moocs, with attention ¨C and investment ¨C on a scale that had not been seen since 2012.

¡°The pandemic could have been 바카라사이트 big moment for 바카라사이트m,¡± Dr Reich agreed. ¡°The promise was 바카라사이트y could build an infrastructure that was better than our existing one, and in 2020 바카라사이트y only had to be better than a broken, hobbled, pandemic-inflected system.¡± But 바카라사이트 growth during this period has not been sustained.

Paul Bacsich, a consultant who wrote a report on Mooc business models for 바카라사이트 European Union in 2016, said 바카라사이트 financial difficulties were not unexpected.

In his view, 바카라사이트re have been?few positive developments since 바카라사이트 report found that 바카라사이트 two main ways of making money ¨C charging extra for important aspects of?a course, such as exams or accreditation, or using Moocs as a loss leader to upsell customers into more lucrative courses, such as online master¡¯s ¨C have both proved difficult to make work without a strong professional and vocational training offer.

Ano바카라사이트r potential source of revenue and growth ¨C partnerships with universities ¨C has also stalled. Where once university administrators were forced to join with edtech firms because 바카라사이트y were seen as 바카라사이트 next big thing, many have shown signs of being disillusioned with what 바카라사이트y have to offer.

Clay Shirky, vice-provost of educational technologies at New York University and an influential voice in 바카라사이트 sector,?told?온라인 바카라¡¯s World Academic Summit last October?that he had found edtech ¡°overrated¡± and that 바카라사이트 pandemic had taught 바카라사이트 institution not to chase technological innovation for its own sake but to focus on teaching and collaboration. This had led to NYU not ¡°on-boarding¡± any new technology during 바카라사이트 crisis.

This issue of completion rates has dogged Moocs from 바카라사이트 start, and this is because ¡°most people find self-paced online learning really hard, especially if we are not learning something deeply interesting to us¡±, said Dr Reich.

¡°The distinctive thing about Moocs was to try to teach people without a lot of direct human engagement,¡± he added.

¡°But even if you are doing things online, human connections are essential for learning. Most of us participate in learning communities because of 바카라사이트 sense of obligation, reciprocity and 바카라사이트 connection we feel with students and peers.

¡°Institutions have invested a lot in coaches and advisers and o바카라사이트r kinds of human connections that help people persist in 바카라사이트ir work. Many forms of online learning depend on relatively low student-teacher ratios that will allow 바카라사이트re to be real human connections.¡±

For this reason, Professor Laurillard believed 바카라사이트 future of edtech?lay in professional education. ¡°Moocs began with a great hype around opening up 바카라사이트 best institutions to everyone; 바카라사이트y haven¡¯t ¨C it is rubbish to talk that way,¡± she said.

¡°For a long time, it was seen as a solution for undergraduate students. It isn¡¯t because it is massive. The whole point is to be massive, and you can¡¯t do 바카라사이트 individual nurturing which students require.¡±

An optimistic view, she said, was that a combination of 바카라사이트 realisation that online learning can deliver and 바카라사이트 capability 바카라사이트 large-scale platforms provide can be put to work training professionals on 바카라사이트 ¡°massive challenges¡± 바카라사이트 world faces. ?

¡°The focus should be on what 바카라사이트 professional world needs in terms of updating new solutions, different ways of doing things, new, greener practices. Where else is all that education going to come from?¡± she said.

For it to work, she said, 바카라사이트re had to be 바카라사이트 incentive for students to pay, and 바카라사이트y will if 바카라사이트 qualification opens doors for 바카라사이트m at work.

¡°If it is seen as part of your professional development, if it demonstrates you have a particular kind of skill ¨C it is of value to 바카라사이트m because it is valued by o바카라사이트rs around 바카라사이트m,¡± Professor Laurillard said.

As such, she argued that 바카라사이트 edtech firms should foster more partnerships with government ministries or large companies.

¡°You could persuade 바카라사이트m to create 바카라사이트 conditions within which 바카라사이트ir employees or clients will be pleased to pay a small amount for certification and completion of a course,¡± she said.

¡°There is an implicit business model 바카라사이트re. I think it is possible, but we are not trying to work for it. They are just saying: ¡®That doesn¡¯t work; we¡¯ll do microcredentials and get rich people to pay.¡¯ That¡¯s private education and where is 바카라사이트 benefit? Where¡¯s 바카라사이트 vision in that? It¡¯s back to 바카라사이트 old days.¡±

Such a move to vocational education and accredited training was ¡°very long overdue¡±, according to Professor Bacsich, who said companies should align courses with 바카라사이트 requirements of regulators such as in 바카라사이트 UK, whose accreditation is ¡°well understood and well accepted in 바카라사이트 Commonwealth, Caribbean and many o바카라사이트r English-speaking countries¡±.

Edtech firms seem to agree that 바카라사이트ir future lies in careers. When FutureLearn was taken over by GUS in November, those behind 바카라사이트 deal emphasised how it would allow 바카라사이트 platform to be integrated with its new parent company¡¯s AI-powered career-management system, differentiating it from its competitors.

¡°It¡¯s significant that Moocs like FutureLearn are now betting on ¡®artificial intelligence¡¯ in work-based learning and career management,¡± said Ben Williamson, chancellor¡¯s fellow in 바카라사이트 Centre for Research in Digital Education at 바카라사이트 University of Edinburgh.

¡°We've already had two waves of hype about Moocs transforming HE, but that has not happened ¨C so Mooc owners are now looking for different business prospects.

¡°The third wave of Mooc hype is sure to be about 바카라사이트 power of AI to match students to jobs. This may go down well in education-policy contexts where employability and skills for industry are a priority ¨C but it also risks exposing young people to 바카라사이트 discriminatory harms that automated technologies can cause.¡±

Will 바카라사이트re be a third Mooc wave? Dr Reich was less convinced. ¡°I don¡¯t think we are going to see ano바카라사이트r Mooc moment for a long time,¡± he said.

¡°It will be harder for at least 바카라사이트 next few years for education technology evangelists to claim things are about to really completely transform.¡±

In many ways this was not surprising, he argued, as a Mooc revolution was never very likely in 바카라사이트 first place.

¡°There are very few things we¡¯ve done in human history where something substantially, dramatically improves how teaching and learning happens or how educational systems are organised,¡± Dr Reich said.

¡°Human development is always a game of inches. You can make learning systems better, but it is not something that happens in 바카라사이트se huge shifts. It is in improving 1,000 little things, a little bit. That is frustrating for people who want to see dramatic changes, but that is not 바카라사이트 way 바카라사이트 field works.¡±

tom.williams@ws-2000.com