And still MOOCs are the dish of the day, in meetings around HEIs, and in the pages of the Higher.
I have to confess to having decided which side of the fence I sit on (although I might be persuaded to change) – MOOCs may look great, but they are not for every University to pursue, and they won’t sound the death knell for every University, despite Clay Shirky saying this is the Naptster moment for higher education. Napster changed the music industry but it didn’t kill it – people still go out to buy the music experiences they need. And these aren’t just digital downloads – a live gig is still pretty important!
Anyway, onto this week’s coverage.
Firstly the VC of Cambridge warns of massive threat posed by MOOCs. saying that ” less prestigious universities that focused on teaching rather than research could struggle in the face of new online courses. For those in the knowledge-transfer system, there are troubled times ahead.”. However, ” online courses did not pose a threat to Cambridge because they could not replicate the debate and discussion central to the university’s tutorial system”. So that’s alright then. Of course, MOOCs also won’t be able to replace what we do in our studios, in our labs, our workshops, our seminar sessions, and yes – in our personal tutorials. If we are smart, what we will do is exploit the existing digital resources out there, and base our proposition on the support we give to students, and the importance of the social aspects of learning.
In the same week in the Higher, “Online study certificates go on sale, but Coursera’s Andrew Ng tells Chris Parr they won’t match traditional degrees“. Coursera has started to charge for accreditation of completion of some of its online courses, but one of the founders of the company recognises that this will never be as valuable as the currency of a traditional degree from a prestigious university. He does point out the benefit to existing graduates of using MOOCs to top up and refresh knowledge, and to receive certification that have done so.