The Modality
Our group (Team MOOCtastic) chose to focus our LRNT 526 studies on MOOCs (Massive Open Online Courses) through the platform of Coursera. In order to have an immersive experience within our selected modality, we enrolled in a course entitled Learning How to Learn. In this blogpost, I will provide a brief reflection based on my learner-perspective of the MOOC and my specific topic of interest within the modality.
My Experience
Learning How to Learn is presented as lectures delivered in short video segments with pop-up questions, reflective surveys, and quizzes which are digitally graded and provide instant feedback.
Charming, creative tricks, with information fed to learners in bite-sized chunks, implies some inspiration may have been deliberately drawn from learning theories involving motivation, engagement, and cognitive load. The creators utilize a green screen with fun graphics for illustrating the knowledge with healthy doses of metaphors for enhancing understanding and entertainment.
So far I am unsure whether the knowledge gained is somewhat fluffy but still useful like a smart meme, or if it is rather heavy and important information that is administered in a cleverly-palatable way. Either way, the course is pleasant and I will walk away with some useful tips for studying and tackling procrastination.
The agreeable and convenient nature of learning through this modality shows promise for enhanced, enjoyable education of the future. The path to an ideal, open, accessible, utopia of learning has hurdles.
Specific Individual Issue of Exploration
Team MOOCtastic is conducting a SWOT analysis (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats) of the broader topic of MOOCs. My individual branch of this is threats. Based on recent surface-investigations, it appears as though perceived-legitimacy and business model sustainability are the predominant threats to the the long-term survival and success of MOOCs.
What do you think?
I invite readers to comment, ask questions, or respond to my questions below with facts, opinions, or resources:
Are MOOCs capable of transferring dense, comprehensive learning that is legitimate and recognizable?
Will issues of identification and scalable grading be solved?
Even if MOOCs are innately valuable, will they ever be widely recognized and perceived as so?
Will MOOCs ever rise to a position notable enough to contend with universities?
Does a sustainable financial model exclude the original, philanthropic intentions of MOOCs?
Will the future of education see cross-institutional degrees, where credits are obtained from cooperative institutions from all over the world?
Is the future of MOOCs at risk from threats related to legitimacy and financial sustainability, or is education’s status quo at risk from the influence of MOOCs?
Have you ever participated in a MOOC before, and if so, what do you think? What did you like and dislike? Do you see a dead-end, promising future, or infinite possibilities?