MOOCs’ disruption is only beginning
The article is calling traditional colleges to take a good, long look at their approach to education. There are too many college graduates with degrees that are not landing them jobs in their fields of study. The MOOC (massive open online course) was a concern for colleges and universities as it offered a way for students to take advantage of current technology to take free online courses. These institutions sighed in relief as the MOOCs offered by companies like Udacity and Coursera seemed to be in a decline. However, the alternative education offered by MOOCs may show up in new ways.
There are now companies providing vocational education online that is focused on current needs in the job marketplace. Even though free MOOCs have not had much success, they have disrupted the working model for current institutions enough that those institutions are looking at their course offerings and their costs.
I agree that MOOCs were a great idea. I hope that free online courses persist. They are not going to put traditional colleges and universities out of business, but the innovative companies that saw a need in the education market will make these institutions take notice.
Our administration promotes dual-credit learning. We have looked into the Virtual High School. The prospect of MOOCs making free learning available certainly has appeal. We are still stuck in the brick and mortar mindset. Also, we are still offering most of the same curriculum from a hundred years ago. Will the attraction of the MOOC model spread to secondary education? Will the Illinois Virtual High School bloom? I look forward to the future as our mindset changes.
Bill,
ReplyDeleteI think it will spread to the high school and I think the Illinois Virtual School will bloom. The big question out there is will these "free" courses be rigorous and will states approve credit for them. You are correct, we need to get out of the brick and mortar mindset.
Any suggestions on how to do that?