For centuries, universities have taken an active approach in tackling major challenges of the day – from addressing the changing role of women in society to researching the future health of our planet. They have often been at the centre of progress, driving deep, meaningful change and helping build a better, more just future. But […] … learn more→
Tag Archives: MOOCs
MOOCs prove that universities can and should embrace online learning
Finding poetry in MOOCs
Back in the heady days of MOOC mania, as readers of Academe will surely recall, it was almost impossible to avoid the omnipresent media coverage of massive open online courses. The claims on their behalf hit the scene with all the force and ferocity of a revolution, a tsunami, or a silver bullet. Here, at […] … learn more→
Confessions of a MOOC professor: three things I learned and two things I worry about
We have heard a lot of talk about MOOCs, or massive online open courses, over the last couple of years. On the plus side, MOOCs often draw enormous enrollments and are easy to sign up for and use; all you need, it seems, is an Internet connection and an interest to learn. On the down […] … learn more→
Far from bust: five ways MOOCs are helping people get on in life
Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) – free, short courses made available to everybody online – were expected to herald the end of higher education as we knew it when they began. But the hype soon died away and critics bemoaned the fact that learners quickly lost enthusiasm and dropped out in large numbers. After promising […] … learn more→
How to survive your PhD – a free course
A year and a half ago, ANU gave me a chance to make a MOOC. For those of you in the know, a MOOC stands for ‘massive open online course’. ANU has partnered with EdX, a MOOC delivery platform, so that thousands of people have the chance to participate in ANU courses from around the […] … learn more→
More MOOCs, more… what?
Just as he is, in many ways, the godfather to the blogs, Benjamin Franklin’s spirit stands over the baptism of the MOOCs (Massive Open Online Courses). Something new and different? No. As are all children, MOOCs were birthed out of a long line of ancestors. Franklin’s Junto and subsequent libraries, the Lyceum movement, New Thought […] … learn more→
The high cost of MOOCs
Calculating How High Is Too High and the Extra-financial Implications of That Cost. I subscribe to a number of newsletters related to online education. They very seldom include articles that question increased institutional investments in digital technology. So this one caught my attention. Writing for eCampus, Meris Stansbury surveys studies that have addressed the question […] … learn more→
The MOOC hype fades, in 3 charts
Few people would now be willing to argue that massive open online courses are the future of higher education. The percentage of institutions offering a MOOC seems to be leveling off, at around 14 percent, while suspicions persist that MOOCs will not generate money or reduce costs for universities—and are not, in fact, sustainable. The […] … learn more→
5 Things researchers have discovered about MOOCs
In December 2013 a group of academics gathered during a Texas snowstorm and began the second phase of a discussion about massive open online courses. They were not terribly impressed by the hype the courses had received in the popular media, and they had set out to create a better body of literature about MOOCs—albeit […] … learn more→
How would you respond if that happened offline?
I vividly remember my exact reaction the first time I read about Massive Open Online Courses (or MOOCs). It was, “They can’t be serious, can they? How on earth can anybody teach 30,000 people at once?” Since I had already developed an interest in quality control for online education, I followed every new MOOC development […] … learn more→