Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs): Entrepreneurial Instruction or the Death...University of Waterloo
2012 has been described at "The Year of the MOOC." This presentation describes where MOOCs came from and why they have drawn hundreds of media stories and commentaries and controversies and, more importantly, millions of investor dollars and claims that MOOCs represent "the future of education." Larger issues are at play—beyond high enrollment numbers in online classes—issues related to technological promise and education, views of students as consumers and of teachers as service providers, the rising price of tuition and shrinking public support of education, all embedded in a culture of entitlement challenged by unprecedented economic austerity. MOOCs, therefore, are as interesting for what they teach us about where we are technologically as they are for what they tell us about the value of education in our democratic society.
Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs): Entrepreneurial Instruction or the Death...University of Waterloo
2012 has been described at "The Year of the MOOC." This presentation describes where MOOCs came from and why they have drawn hundreds of media stories and commentaries and controversies and, more importantly, millions of investor dollars and claims that MOOCs represent "the future of education." Larger issues are at play—beyond high enrollment numbers in online classes—issues related to technological promise and education, views of students as consumers and of teachers as service providers, the rising price of tuition and shrinking public support of education, all embedded in a culture of entitlement challenged by unprecedented economic austerity. MOOCs, therefore, are as interesting for what they teach us about where we are technologically as they are for what they tell us about the value of education in our democratic society.
