MOOCs – The Changing Face of Higher Education; By Thelca White

Over the past decade, higher education has experienced significant changes that have been spurred on by advancement in technology, particularly the Internet. These changes are hard to miss for anyone who is involved in academia in any capacity.

Undoubtedly, one of the most radical changes education has experienced in the last several years has been the introduction of Massive Open Online Courses, popularly referred to as MOOCs. MOOCs, at their core, are geared towards providing equal opportunities, and access to individuals irrespective of prerequisites, economic background, and physical location. However, while MOOCs have undoubtedly represented veritable options for students to pursue particular academic interests, they have advantages and disadvantages.

In terms of advantages, many will consider not having to pay money to access courses from prestigious institutions such as Harvard, Stanford and Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) as significant. MOOCs are designed to be extremely interactive. It uses all the interactive media available on the Internet to engage students. The various tools used are blogs, videos, podcasts and forums that are embedded into the programs seamlessly. Although students study independently in these courses, they, at the same time, collaborate with their peers from different parts of the world.

Notwithstanding the fact that MOOCs offer many advantages, there are some challenges which they also face. MOOC designers face extremely high non-completion or drop out rates. This may be as a result of lack of structure that MOOCs engender. Another drawback of MOOCs stems from the fact that they simply have little practicality in the real world, except for personal edification. Since many courses offered by MOOCs are not accredited, they have little impact in helping to supplement other academic qualifications, particularly as it relates to career advancement.

Despite the disadvantages, MOOCs are an excellent alternative model for online learning and serve as great value within higher education.

For more information contact Thelca White via email: tpwhite2@eiu.edu.