Week 12 - MOOCs - Accessibility or Profitability?

 Because I'm in Dr. Bonk's R678 course, I'm currently taking my first MOOC.  When I started this program, I hadn't ever heard the term - probably because the huge technology boom in education has really taken place during the time that I was out of the field and raising my kids, or perhaps because my focus has been 5-12 education.  I did a quick survey on social media to see what my friends knew about MOOCs and only those in the graduate education arena were familiar with them. 

I find the concept fascinating, and decided to take a MOOC, "The Science of Well Being," partially because I wanted to get happier as the course promises, and partially because it was a Yale course and that was ridiculously appealing to my ego.  

The chapter in Bonk, Lee, Reeves, and Reynold's book, "Trends and Issues in Instructional Design and Technology," focuses on design of MOOCs and one particular section of the chapter was especially interesting to me.  This focused on the business plans.  As much as we'd like all education to be free and open, that's not a realistic goal for quality, updated, maintained, assessed, and evaluated education.  The list of ways to fund MOOCs includes a nominal fee for membership, a fee only if the learner wanted a certificate, charging for additional content beyond what the basic "free" course offered, and a traditional fee for tuition option. 

Earlier in the semester, I studied MOOCs and the motivation behind enrolling in a MOOC.  I found that many people sign up with the intention of non-completion, which is foreign to me.  I'm one who signs up and commits, and loses interest, but my intention is to complete the course!  Some are like me, but some are okay with not finishing or only looking for a small portion of information.  

One of the options for funding was selling the course to advertisers.  This is unpalatable to me, because it feels like it shifts the course goals to the wishes of the advertiser - like corporations would taint the pure offerings of the MOOC, which is ridiculous, but there is a negative connotation with "selling out" and I definitely had that feeling here.  

There was also information on selling data, which I do not mind as much, depending on how it is done and disclosed, but I'm not sure on what the market for MOOC data would support.  I hope that MOOCs continue to find ways to be sustainable without bringing in corporations to advertise so the legitimacy isn't questionable.  

Comments

  1. DreamCatApril 11, 2022 at 5:43 AM

    I've heard of MOOCs, but I've never taken a class related to this format or actually taken a class on MOOCs. It seems true that this format has provided educational opportunities to more people. Then, what are the biggest strengths of MOOCs, and are they different from open courses or are the two concepts the same? what do you think?

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  2. KatieApril 11, 2022 at 6:41 AM

    I think the biggest strength is the vast amount of information that is accessible to the largest amount of people at little or no cost. If you want to learn something, go learn it. Often, they are high quality courses affiliated with well-respected institutions, but allow students to participate in some, most, or all of the course content. The main drawback is the lack of interaction with the instructor and peers.

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