Are Massive Open Online Courses Massive Opportunity or Massive Hype?
Stanford, Harvard, MIT, and many more top name universities are launching Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) to hundreds, and hundred of thousands of students. Often prompted by entrepreneurial professors and private companies, the race is on to open up higher education to the online masses.
Yet university professors are already entering into a schizophrenic relationship with MOOCs – when polled, 79% believe MOOCs are worth the hype and yet only 28% believe students should get formal credit for them.
What is the impact of MOOCs on education in the developing world?
Do MOOCs offer massive opportunity to move past the limited physical constrains of the developing world’s universities? Could we see MOOCs break past even the online and distance education gains to become a paradigm shift in educating the youth bulge that is overwhelming formal educational structures?
Or are MOOCs just the latest fad in moving from the tried and true in-person relationship between professor and student? Do they replace in-depth analysis and learning with superficial glances at complex topics? Will MOOCs dilute the university degree even more, reducing higher education to just another certificate of perseverance instead of an indicator of intelligence?
Are MOOCs about to reach a peak of inflated expectations before dropping into a trough of disillusionment already filled with other edu-fads (like OLPC laptops)?
Join us for an in-depth analysis of these questions and the overall educational impact of Massive Open Online Courses on the developing world during the April Educational Technology Debate. If you would like to join the discussion as one of our 6 key lead discussants email us today!