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Richard Wilson

MOOCs free forever? - 13 views

started by Richard Wilson on 08 Oct 13
  • Richard Wilson
    #1 Richard Wilson on 08 Oct 13
     
    This infographic summarizes MOOCs but comes to an erroneous conclusion -- MOOCs cannot be free forever. UT spent $1.2 million recently to design an online course. Udacity had 300,000 sign up for CS101. If Udacity had charged only $4 per student, they would have recovered $1.2 million. Granted $4 is not free. But an entire college course for less than a hamburger? One last a lifetime, the other 6 hours.

    http://www.onlineschools.org/visual-academy/mooc-money/


    http://www.onlineschools.org/visual-academy/mooc-money/
  • Maria Austin
    #2 Maria Austin on 08 Oct 13
     
    MOOCs may not be a game changer in the US but I believe it is one of the most powerful tools international students can have access to and take advantage of. Knowledge without borders! It also means that many companies may have access to a pool of highly qualified job seekers from all over the world. I think this is just the tip of the iceberg.
  • Jennifer Henson
    #3 Jennifer Henson on 08 Oct 13
     
    Thank you, Richard! I've been waiting for this article!!

    Maria, I couldn't agree with you more. The other article Richard posted talks about that intangible benefit of Google's involvement in MOOC production. By participating, they help people get the skills they will need to do the work. More and more, corporations expect their employees to walk in the door with the skills they need to get started. MOOCs can help do that, so they are a very promising resource, particularly for high-tech industries such as computer technology, nanotechnology, and other cutting edge industries. They may also be a great vehicle for languages since their reach is so wide.
  • Martha Rodriguez
    #4 Martha Rodriguez on 11 Oct 13
     
    I enrolled in a MOOC class last semester and it didn't go too well. Honestly, I didn't like the course because it wasn't appealing to me. The instructor did not interact with the students too much and the assignments were too lengthy for being a 5 week course. Thank goodness it was free!
  • Martha Rodriguez
    #5 Martha Rodriguez on 11 Oct 13
     
    Maria, Don't get me wrong, I like the feature of a MOOC course because it's of the flexibility and variety of courses but as a a course designer, the content needs to be engaging.
  • Jennifer Henson
    #6 Jennifer Henson on 11 Oct 13
     
    One of the greatest benefits I've heard from people is they can pop in and out of courses to see which ones they like. Because there is no pressure to complete or monetary loss if you don't, it's a great way to find out by trial and error what topics appeal to you. No guilt necessary!
  • Maria Austin
    #7 Maria Austin on 12 Oct 13
     
    Martha,
    I have had the opposite experience. The content in most of the classes is very engaging! Teachers are very invested in those courses if nothing else because they get to teach topics they believe in and they have researched thoroughly. Like in standard universities, you may run into classes that are less well organized, but such a class would be the exception not the rule. A possible con to MOOCs is that they require a lot of self motivation and discipline on the part of the student. In that sense, they are not for everybody just like online classes of any kind are not appropriate for every student. It all depends on your goals and reasons for taking the class, the same applies to f2f classes, by the way.
  • Jaime Villanueva
    #8 Jaime Villanueva on 14 Oct 13
     
    The great thing about MOOC's is it fosters peer to peer collaboration. Last semester I took a Mooc course and I did not have any interaction with the instructor it was all student base collaboration.The final grade was graded by your peers let me tell you they graded a lot harder than would any instructor. Additionally, I learned a lot by other students and my experience was awesome.

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