How great would it be when you never have to bike through the rain or run to the tram to go to the university? Imagine that you can just stay in bed or on your couch and still get your degree. This would be possible when universities will become a platform using MOOCs. MOOCs are online courses with open access and unlimited participation. This sounds awesome, but what are the pros and cons of MOOCs?
Flexibility is a major advantage of online material for students. You could watch or look at the materials whenever you want, how often you want and with who you want. You can replay parts that you did not understand and if the professor talks to fast to write notes, you can pause the video to write down your notes. This flexibility could lead to a better perceived quality of the course by students (Marks, Sibley and Arbaugh, 2005). The ability to take free courses from top universities and top professors is another advantage. Most students would otherwise never been able to access these high quality courses.
However, one problem regarding online courses could be feedback. In lectures students will get immediate feedback, verbal and non-verbal, which would improve the student’s learning (Whitaker, 2016). Technological tools may restrict the flow of information between users (Whitaker, 2016). This leads to less interaction between, learners and less interaction between learner and instructor, which could affect the outcomes of students.
what could be seen as a negative effect is that a lot of universities will dissapear, because students will probably not go to universities which are not in de top 100 anymore. Although, it is a way to raise competitiveness among universities, which will challenge them to create the best experience for their students (Davis et al., 2014). But still, not every university will be able to compete with Harvard, Berkeley etc., and some universities will disappear because of the effects of MOOCS.
Another aspect is that networking is extremely important these days. When universities will shift to an entirely online form, students will not meet in person anymore. In my view it is quite important to see each other on campus or off campus, because this will lead to a richer connection (Laseter, 2012). Students could even feel isolated when they are not able or used to working online. There is evidence to assume that a blended form produces a stronger sense of community among students than either traditional or fully online courses (Rovai and Jordan, 20114).
Davis, H. C., Dickens, K., Leon Urrutia, M., Vera, S., del Mar, M., & White, S. (2014). MOOCs for Universities and Learners an analysis of motivating factors.
Laseter, T. (2012). The University’s Dilemma. Strategy + business magazine, 69, Retrieved from http://www.strategy-business.com/media/file/00147-The-Universitys-Dilemma
Marks, R. B., Sibley, S. D., & Arbaugh, J. B. (2005). A structural equation model of predictors for effective online learning. Journal of Management Education, 29(4), 531-563.
Rovai, A. P., & Jordan, H. (2004). Blended learning and sense of community: A comparative analysis with traditional and fully online graduate courses. The International Review of Research in Open and Distributed Learning, 5(2).
Whitaker, J., New, J. R., & Ireland, R. D. (2016). MOOCs and the Online Delivery of Business Education What’s new? What’s not? What now?. Academy of Management Learning & Education, 15(2), 345-365.
Dear Lisa,
Great article and definitely applicable to our situation. I follow several online courses myself, but find it hard to actually follow the course material precisely. I believe that the motivational aspect is one of the greatest hurdles for HOOC, one for which solutions are rather limited.
Contemporary online course providers try to overcome this hurdle by providing actual certificates (i.e. Microsoft’s EdX), but these certificates offer (much) less value compared to a University degree. One could argue that Universities could then offer University degrees with the MOOCs, but proves to be difficult in reality. As you pointed out, students pick the best Universities and educational quality is reduced by MOOCs as there is no feedback. If Universities were to adopt MOOCs, this would mean a reduction in quality, which would mean that students prefer other Universities.
All in all, I do believe that education is about to change. MOOCs cannot be ignored.
Hello Lisa,
Thanks for this interesting blog post! I can relate as I, myself, follow a few classes on Coursera. However, I don’t think that MOOCs will ever entirely replace traditional, physical universities. First, as you said, the social aspect of being on campus and meeting your friends is important, and cannot easily be replaced.
Second, staying motivated and focused on the classes in a 100% online environment is extremely difficult as nobody is there to check whether we actually do what we are supposed to or not. In order for “online universities” to overtake the traditional ones, they’ll have to find ways to motivate students.
Third, I believe that there are some skills that you can learn only by actually going in physical classes. For instance, teamwork is extremely important for our future jobs, and you need to meet and work with real people to learn that. Similarly, presentation skills cannot be acquired in an online context. Recording yourself or presenting via skype is not the same as presenting in front of a large auditorium, you don’t have the same pressure, don’t have to answer unexpected questions, and don’t have to adapt the content of your presentation to the public. As a result, you don’t properly gain presentation skills.
Finally, I agree that the networking aspect of physical universities is extremely important. Student associations, career fairs, corporate events, seminar that involve working with real companies – these are all benefits that an online university couldn’t provide to its student.
All in all, there is no doubt that the education industry is undergoing a transformation, and I believe that a mix of online and offline classes would be the best solution.
Hi Lisa, I would like to thank you for your enlightening blog contribution. I would indeed agree with you that it would be great if you are not obliged to be physically present at the university. Especially during the (grey and rainy) morning hours, since I am not a morning person. Furthermore, I really like the flexibility of the online materials, because sometimes I find it hard to maintain my focus for a three hour long lecture which affects my grades. For instance, when I studied the bachelor program Business Administration my grades were actually higher for the courses where the lectures were recorded (so I could re-watch them before an exam). Although I really like the benefits you present in your blog, I still hope that universities won’t be replaced. As elaboration I would like to share some thoughts with you.
First, I believe that it is easier to cheat as an online student, which is also indicated by a study (Huffpost, 2012). In addition, there are even people consider cheating in online education as business (Newton, 2015). This might affect the quality of the degrees and the reputation of the university. Consequently, this might negatively impact your success in the labor market.
Second, students learn more if they have the ability to explain certain concepts of the course to each other. With fully online courses this benefit would be eliminated. This is very unfortunate because according to the Learning Pyramid developed by the NTL Institute it is indicated we remember around 90% of the things that we explain or teach to others (Psychotactics, n.d.).
Thus, I would indeed agree with the assumption that a mixed form of education would be the best solution. With this form we will get the best of both world: tradition and online.
References:
Huffpost. (2011). Online courses: Do students who take classes on the web cheat more? Retrieved October 4, 2017, from http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/07/26/online-courses-do-student_n_1704172.html
Newton, D. (2015). Cheating in Online Classes Is Now Big Business. Retrieved October 4, 2017, from https://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2015/11/cheating-through-online-courses/413770/
Psychotactis. (n.d.). How to retain 90% of everything you learn. Retrieved October 4, 2017, from https://www.psychotactics.com/art-retain-learning/