Could the College Campus Go the Way of the Bookstore? - 35 views
started by Abel De La Garza on 20 Apr 14
started by Abel De La Garza on 20 Apr 14
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What do you think the future of the higher education campus looks like?
Link to article: http://www.theatlanticcities.com/design/2014/01/could-college-campus-go-way-bookstore/8084/
It's an interesting concept. However, I don't believe MOOC's are anywhere close to challenging standard universities at the moment. I would say give it a decade, at least, before MOOC's gain the necessary financial backing, acceptance from the masses, and most importantly, accreditation. I have had an opportunity to take several MOOC courses, and have mixed feelings about the experience. I like the concept of a free, or relatively inexpensive cost, of a higher education; however, I would have concerns about the quality of the course, the assessment criteria, and the standards that different MOOC institutions (if there every becomes one) may offer. If University X offers a great Instructional Design MOOC, but everyone gets an A regardless of effort, it might raise some eyebrows as to the validity of the overall learning experience. Perhaps that might be too jaded a response, but I think it best to approach it as cautiously optimistic. The standard brick and mortar institutions of higher learning have their place, and hopefully MOOC's will also find their niche. Regardless, I believe it is the student experience that would become the overall winner.
I do not believe it would gain credit any time soon. Yes, there are a few MOOC's that have gain a foot hold on academia but the majority of them fall short of the mark. I have to mention that MOOC'S do have a huge enrollment population but also have a huge amount of users that do not complete the MOOC courses. A few months ago, I completed a MOOC course and I did learned more from other students in that course than I did from the instructors. I have to add that I did not have any interaction with any of the instructors in the course. This is what the majority of the end users have to realize beforehand because you are basically on your own with very little guidance or support.
I have not had extensive research or knowledge in MOOC courses and the foundation but I do have a basic understanding. Yet, if we take a step back and see the history of higher education you can see that not much change has taken place. MOOC's are a tool that will fit somewhere but not replace at this moment and not for a long time. The current higher education trend is and has been set for a long time. In order for a drastic change to happen in will need to take time, foundation and acceptance by majority. I just don't see that happening in the near future but maybe later on. MOOC's are a tool that we can use now and in the future and it will evolve but currently I see MOOC's like a craftsman tool and the current higher education system as a collection of toolbox's.
I enjoyed the article and it is interesting! (Aldrete)
I agree with Felipe and Daniel. I see the MOOCs are good for some of the student but some student still need the face-to-face education. Sometimes is hard to just to have classes online because you feel the need to speak with a professor face to face for better understanding of a subject. In my opinion I like better traditions classes the face-to-face than online courses. For example, I can't imagine a premed student taking classes online and doing all his/her work and trainings online it will be very hard for him/her to understand and develop their skills.
There are many among us who can take online courses and do really well in them, but what what about those students who just can't adjust to this style of learning? The traditional classroom provides many students with the ability for continued success. I think that entirely online campuses may be throwing the baby out with the bath water. The reason for the existence of any college campus is it's students, not just a few but all of them. The institutions need to cater to all learning styles.
I feel pretty safe that the institution that I work at will be around...it is extremely hard to teach students to clean teeth from a computer!!! and none of us would want them to clean our teeth after being taught solely by technology with no hands on experience! Ouch!
You are absolutely right about the med student. We have many programs that can not be taught without that face to face interaction and you as a consumer would not want them to be.
It is amazing how MOOC's or online learning have not deterred the freshman enrollment to universities. My son goes the Texas A & M and since 2010 when my other son graduated from there, freshman enrollment is beyond what the university ever imagined. We got the latest report on the freshman enrollment for next year, way over 10,000 compared to 8,271 in 2011 and so many more than that got turned down for admissions. So will the 10,000 plus that got turned away look for online learning as a solution to their enrollment problems or simply find another university?
Below are two opposing views on the subject of Could the College Campus Go the Way of the Bookstore? Each of the articles bring out good pros and cons and logical support about their views.
https://chronicle.com/article/Why-Online-Education-Wont/133531/
http://www.cato-unbound.org/2012/11/12/alex-tabarrok/why-online-education-works
I don't think MOOC's are close to significantly impacting the traditional higher education campuses at the moment. I think it may take years for there to be any kind of significant change in the area due to MOOC's. Honestly, at this moment I think there will continue to be a need for traditional higher education for a long period of time to come. MOOC's still require much needed development and possibly overhauls. I took a MOOC about a year ago on a topic I had absolutely no knowledge about. It was a decent experience. There was little to no interaction with the instructor although the teaching assistants did chime in once in a while on the discussion boards. The positive that I found was that it encouraged the students to work together. Many of the students formed study groups on Facebook and other social media tools.
Great point. I think some people tend to forget that there is a significant portion of people out there that prefer face to face classes. I think people could still prefer face to face for education even if they are avid users of technology in other aspects of their life. As you mentioned, there may be certain subject matters that could not be effectively taught online.
Although I think there is a place for MOOCs in online education, I do not think it is for everyone. I do like how they can allow people to receive an education that could normally not afford to or could normally not attend classes at a physical location. Many of the MOOC providers offer some classes in some of the traditional subject matters like algebra, literature, etc.. They also offer classes in subject mattes that may not be offered at someone's traditional campus that they would possibly be interested in taking.
I had a similar experience with the MOOC I took a year ago. There was little to no interaction from the instructor. I believe there were thousands of students enrolled in the course so in a sense it is understandable that the instructor cannot individually address everyone. I believe he posted one or two messages on the discussion forum.
It is true that there is a very low completion rate for MOOCs. I know some universities currently provide academic credit for certain MOOCs from certain MOOC providers. I think this might encourage more of the students to complete the course if they knew it could later be applied towards a degree if that is one of their goals. However on the other hand, I think it takes a certain type of student to be able to complete the MOOC. They need to be very driven, disciplined, and able to work on their much of the time unless they choose to form study groups with peers.
To answer your question- what do you think the future of the higher education campus looks like? I feel that the course that I took with Dr. Rodriguez, a while back, really helped to enlighten me to the great power and promise of the MOOC system. I took an online course through the University of Edinburg, and I received a badge that showed my accomplishment. Surprisingly, it was actually a lot of work. I had to watch many videos since they were prerecorded, and it amazed me that so many people around the world were enrolled at the same time as I. Furthermore, I learned that in the near future more of these online MOOCs are going to begin to offer course credit. However, I don't know how they'd financially benefit from that- but I do see the traditional campus structure shifting dramatically to online classrooms. So I guess as long as there is a framework for making money or gaining recognition, advancement in education will gear its way towards the market of online technology. The reason for this is because the internet makes our world seem smaller, and we can learn from virtually anywhere. People love convenience, and so yes- MOOCS may one day make traditional school systems obsolete. Here is another article that points to the lack of promise of the MOOC system: http://chronicle.com/article/Will-MOOCs-Change-Campus/142869/. This article speaks of the deficiencies within face to face courses. The article compares correspondence courses to what we now see as online courses. Hope you read it and see the other side.
I agree with you that it will take more time for MOOC's effects to really take formidable shape. However, the more acceptance we put into online learning the more that time will decrease. As for myself, I was initially very hesitant to take a MOOC course, but I feel that soon MOOC courses will begin to look extremely good on resumes. I thoroughly enjoyed my MOOC experience and hope that one day these courses will begin to mean more.
I also agree with your statements. MOOC's will definitely take some time to become mainstream. I could think back to the first time that I heard about MOOC's and it was a funny experience. My fiancée took several MOOC courses before I ever did. When he first told me about them, I got mad because I thought they were a waist of his time. Funny, but I actually did. I felt that "if you're not going to get course credit, then why do it?" He explained it best- "to me it's not about getting course credit, it's about learning new things." I guess that makes sense. There are so many people that cannot afford to go to college, and so MOOC courses can help them gain an education. For that, MOOC's are extremely powerful and here to stay.