Massive Open Online Course (MOOC)
This article does not receive scheduled updates. If you would like to help our coverage grow, consider donating to Ballotpedia. Contact our team to suggest an update.
 |
| Education policy in the U.S. |
| Public education in the U.S. |
| School choice in the U.S. |
| Charter schools in the U.S. |
| Higher education in the U.S. |
| Glossary of education terms |
| Education statistics |
|
The Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) model is a type of online learning that uses the internet to deliver course content and instruction to thousands of students at once. There are several online organizations that offer MOOCs as a chance for interested individuals to learn more about almost any given subject. Many of these organizations do so for free, and so the current concern for MOOC-based institutions is how to maintain their operations as a business.[1]
Background
The most well-known MOOC-based organizations, Coursera, edX, and Udacity, all began operating in 2012. These organizations were responsible for pushing typical online learning to its limits and in doing so designed the MOOC model. Since then, individuals from around the world have logged onto these sites to learn more about any and all of the vast selection of subjects offered by these organizations. Some of the most popular subjects include math and computer science classes, but courses in the humanities and finances are also exceedingly popular. Like many online courses, MOOC instructors create content that students can access, usually at their own leisure, and feedback is given automatically by computers in the form of student performance reports or test results. For open-ended assessments, students may submit their work to instructors (or a group of assistants appointed by instructors), or peers.[1][2][3][4]
These sites are so widely accessed because most of them offer their courses for free. The funds for operating these programs typically come from investors or partnerships with other organizations, including colleges. However, even the college-sponsored classes are typically not a substitute for college credit. Some MOOC courses allow students to purchase proof of completion, but even these are not necessarily acceptable forms of certification in the professional world. Without offering such certification, many students will likely not pay for these courses. This poses a serious problem for MOOC-based institutions as they consider how continued operation will be possible. Many experts believe that solutions to this problem will make or break MOOCs as a learning tool.[2][5]
Corporate accreditation
As mentioned above, MOOCs are typically not a substitute for college credit. Courses that do offer some form of certification typically do this independently or by partnering with the schools that design the courses. Another option to increase the validity of MOOC accreditation is for course designers to partner with corporate entities, such as Google, Instagram, AT&T and other popular companies. Through such partnerships, courses still may not be considered college credit, but the name recognition of those companies may give MOOC students an advantage in the professional world.[6]
Statistics
As the popularity of MOOCs increase, more and more research on them is being completed. Because MOOCs are often free, dropout rates are extremely high--up to 95 percent in some courses. Researchers attribute this to the fact that the classes are accessible to nearly anyone. Traditional classes typically have much lower dropout rates, but that's because they're typically accessed only by students. A study on MOOCs also reveals that approximately 33 percent of all MOOC participants are men 26 years of age and older, who have already obtained a bachelor's degree. This study demonstrates that at least a third portion of MOOC participants are using these courses to supplement existing knowledge.[7][8]
See also
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Fastcompany, "How Coursera free online education service will school us all," accessed September 17, 2014
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 MIT Technology Review, "The most important education technology in 200 years," accessed September 17, 2014
- ↑ Class Central, "Ten most popular MOOCs: March 2014," accessed October 16, 2014
- ↑ Class-central.com, "Ten most popular MOOCs: September 2014
- ↑ The Volokh Conspiracy, "What's the business model for massive open online courses (MOOCs) and what does online education strategically mean for the long-run rent structure of higher education," accessed September 17, 2014
- ↑ The Chronicle of Higher Education, "Meet the new, self-appointed MOOC accreditors: Google and Instagram," accessed March 18, 2015
- ↑ The Complete University Guide, "MOOCs," accessed October 16, 2014
- ↑ WGBH News, "Despite low completion rates, Harvard and MIT say MOOCs work," accessed October 16, 2014
