MOOCs are online courses, whose aim is to offer unlimited and open access through the web. They help in building an interactive environment which builds a community for students, teaching assistants as well as professors. In recent years, MOOCs have become more useful especially in distance learning. Many current MOOCs have maintained free access for students. Prior to the digital age, distance learning was in the forms such as, programs that require correspondence, broadcast programs, as well as early forms of e-learning.
The term MOOCs was coined from the open educational movement (OER) movement in 2008. Online students were able to participate using collaborative tools such as blog posts and second life meetings. There are two types of MOOCs. There are MOOCs that emphasize on the philosophy of connectivist (cMOOCs) and others that resemble more traditional courses (xMOOCs). MOOCs have impacted positively and negatively on online learning.
Online learning has been greatly enhanced by the availability of courses online. A great number of students have embraced its existence as well as appreciating its use. The nature of the online courses encourages the students to enrol to these courses. It is the simplicity with which these courses are offered that makes them encouraging and attractive to these students. However, these programs have been criticized as lacking the interactive environment between the professors and their students. This is usually available when the students have to be physically present at their faculties or schools.
With the MOOCs taking the frontline of distance learning, research shows that time spent on homework assignments was the largest grade predictor more than the time spent reading notes or watching tutorial videos. According to Thrun, using exercises and mental challenges proves to be more effective than attending lectures. So, as long as the students are subjected to these two, they are much more likely to do better than when they attend lectures. This is one of the numerous achievements of MOOCs.
Massive Open Online Courses has brought a revolution in the traditional way of teaching. It unbundled services offered to students and has made selling the services individually easier. The services such as, research, curriculum design, content generation, teaching, assessment and certification can be offered individually through MOOCs. However, this threatens the current business models selling these services separately from the currently available package of services.
The technology has made MOOCs a success. Though, they have made it possible to access online education in a more and improved way, there is a requirement for additional skills, which are offered by instructional designers, IT specialists, as well as platform specialists. Those institutions of higher learning that have embraced MOOCs have reported there being required to employ more skilled staffs due to increase in the enrolments.
In conclusion, the MOOCs have had great impacts on how courses are offered in institutions of higher learning. The courses offered have become tremendously many thus the name Massive. MOOCs appreciate numerous number of learning materials online and thus avoid redundancy. This has made it possible to offer as many specialized courses online as possible as the materials required are readily available.
Works Cited
Kett, Joseph F. "Pursuit of Knowledge Under Difficulties." From Self-Improvement to Adult Education in merica (1996): 236-238.
Matt, Susan and Luke Fernandez. "Before MOOCs, 'Colleges of the Air'." Chronicle of Higher Learning 23 April 2013.
Saettler, L. Paul. A History of Instructional Technology. New York: McGraw Hill, 1968.
