The document discusses MOOCs and their impact on education, highlighting concerns about their effectiveness in degree fulfillment due to issues like lack of assessments and weak student authentication. It praises MOOCs for their contributions to professional education, brand building, and program promotion, while also emphasizing the need for improvements in credit-bearing offerings. Overall, it acknowledges the potential of MOOCs but stresses the importance of establishing credibility in learning outcomes.

1. MOOCs: Insights, Concerns
and Praise
Dr. John F. Ebersole
President
Excelsior College
Albany, NY
<jebersole@excelsior.edu>

2. Excelsior College
 Created by Regents of the State of New
York in 1971
 Specialize in degree completion
 Acceptance of transfer and non-collegiate
learning through validation

3. MOOCs & Excelsior
 No credit toward degree requirements
 Why?
- Few learning outcome assessments
- No use of psychometric assessment
instruments
- Weak student authentication & proctoring
- No exam/assessment security

4. Signs of Concern
 Breath taking attrition
(concern = instructional design)
 Little interest in credit
 Pearson/VUE & CSU/CAEL experience

5. Things MOOCs Do Well
#1: Continuing professional education
#2: Faculty “brand building”
#3: Institutional “brand building” (especially
outside U.S.)
#4: Program promotion
#5: R&D
#6: Degree completion (for some) (TBD)

6. Solving the Credit Problem
 Need for psychometrically valid
 Secure, third-party administration
 Security for assessment
 Need for size in exam item pool

7. Power & Potential of MOOCs
 Highly efficient
 Open access to knowledge
 Right “price” for many
 One-half of population of developing
countries under age 24

8. Summary
 Great promise
 Doing much well
 Work to be done
 Attend to credibility of MOOCs as a source
of learning

9. Questions?

10. Questions?