Abel,
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.

Jose,
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.

Jaime,

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.

Jose,
I see several benefits of using tablets in the classroom. I think they can help keep the students engaged and have fun learning through the use of the the many different apps and games. I think they can help promote collaboration while also still providing opportunities for individual work. Additionally, teachers can potentially customize learning for each student. However, at the same time, I think this type of implementation requires a significant amount of responsibility. To begin with, the costs of implementing such a program and how damaged or lost tablets will be handled. Also, I think it's important that the teachers receive the proper training on using the tablets and applying them in an effective way. I think many teachers could feel overwhelmed and ultimately the potential benefits will not be realized.

Abel,
Good point. I don't think technology should be used, just for the sake of using it or because there is some new flashy device. There needs to be a strong foundation for it to be used effectively the classroom. How can it be used to help foster learning? I think this is where a lot of the training, research and preparation should come in when school districts are thinking about implementing tablets or any other device. They need to give their students and teachers an opportunity to succeed with technology.

Lu,
I think that's one of the pitfalls with technology in it being viewed as a "babysitter" or some type of "magic wand" that can just do everything on its own. Teachers need to be trained on how to use technology and how can it be applied in the learning environment. I think there are many ways it can be used to promote critical thinking and other types of higher level learning but technology won't do that on its own by just placing it in the hands of students. Both groups need to have proper training and guidance.

This article discusses how some schools are using technology to hold "virtual school days" and continue the learning process during periods of school cancellation because of inclement weather.

Do you feel more schools should use technology to hold "virtual school days" during periods of school cancellation or should they just let a "snow day" be a "snow day"?

Rene, You bring up some good points. There are still many potential issues with "virtual school days" that a district would need to consider. It won't be perfect in many aspects. However, I think the pros outweigh the cons and this strategy could definitely be beneficial for a school suffering from many cancellations. As you mentioned, it would be a change for some of the students, enable them to learn in different ways, and help maintain the learning process without any major standstills.

Jaime,

Thanks for sharing this video. I've watched other clips of Sir Ken Robinson and always end up enjoying his talks. I couldn't agree more that there must be an educational revolution. Our society has changed a great deal yet we continue to enforce the same educational system that is not meeting the needs of our students. We need to provide them with opportunities to develop their talents and strengths and not make them conform to a standard. One of the comments in the video that struck me was when he said a human community depends on the diversity of talents/abilities of individuals. I think this is very true. We all have different talents and should be encouraged to put them to use not only for the benefit of the individual but for the benefit of the community.

I'm currently not an educator and do not have any teaching experience, however in my workplace we are attempting to "revolutionize" some of our practices. For example, a few months ago we transitioned from our paper format for official transcript requests to a completely online process. This was a huge step for us even though currently many other institutions have already had this practice in place for years. I think overall this has been a great benefit not only for our students/alumni but has also made the process easier for our office. In fact, one of our student workers that started after this practice was in place couldn't imagine how we handled the paper requests. We are also looking at our other processes that have been in place for years but don't seem to be as effective as they once were.

Martin,
I agree that college is not the right fit for everyone and that's OK. College is not always necessary for all professions or for individuals that are seeking learning opportunities. We still need to have a community of diverse talents in order to thrive. Like one of the tweets said in the article Lu shared, "Value all learning". How successful would we be if everyone had the same profession? What about the other things that are necessary for a community to exist? The fireman example from the video was a perfect illustration of this. It was disheartening to hear that his goals as a young child were criticized but it was great to hear that he stuck with it despite these criticisms.

Sean,
I think those that are resistant to change are doing so because of a fear of that unknown. A person can become so used to doing something a certain way that it becomes second nature to them. For example, teachers or other individuals that are resistant to use technology are often just intimidated at the thought of using it. I think once they see the benefits it can provide them as teachers and the benefits it can provide their students, they begin to go along and step outside of their box.

Maricela,
I am currently not an educator but my workplace does incorporate a moderate use of web 2.0 tools. Our division uses social media such as Facebook and Twitter to inform students about upcoming deadlines, events, and any updates (such as the campus closure we experienced a couple of weeks ago). I think it is effective since the information is relayed to them much quicker than an email. Many of the students have these applications on their mobile devices and can easily view the notification. Amongst my colleagues, we use the chat feature of Skype to communicate with each other since we are all a bit further from each other than in our previous office location. I find it much easier than picking up the phone and it is also convenient in case your colleague is on a call with someone. He/she can still communicate with you without interrupting the phone conversation.

I think it would be great if our division could incorporate a web 2.0 tool as a survey instrument. It is important for us to receive feedback on the services we provide to students. I have used Survey Monkey in other course projects but have also heard people talk about the use of Google Forms. I have not had the opportunity to research it but I am interested to compare the pros and cons of each. From the website you provided, it looks like PollEverywhere might also be an option to use at different campus events that we host.

Lu,
You bring up a great point about how PollEverywhere can allow students to express themselves without feeling embarrassed or shy about wrong answers. I think we have all experienced as a student and/or teacher, a point in time when a question is asked and hardly anyone or no one attempts to answer. It is likely there are several students that would like to attempt to answer but are hesitant for several reasons. It's great to see that technology can provide opportunities for these types of students to communicate and stay engaged with the class. For teachers, it seems this tool can also provide a quick way to gauge their students' understanding of a topic.

Enrique,
SlideShare is a very easy to use presentation tool. It is not the fanciest of the presentation tools, but for your basic PowerPoint presentation it does the trick. I only recently became aware of it over the summer while taking a class. I found sharing presentations through this tool much faster and quicker than having to ask the audience to download the actual PowerPoint presentation. You might also look into Prezi if you want to provide a more engaging presentation. You basically work off of a huge canvas and can have the presentation move along a path on the canvas. You can easily incorporate YouTube videos, music, and zooming features.