"MOOCs: The Problem They Present and the Potential They Possess" by Kristin Lindsey

MOOCs: The Problem They Present and the Potential They Possess 

Massive open online courses (MOOCs) have become all the hype and buzz; talk of MOOCs has spread like an infectious disease throughout college campuses, and even throughout the news and media. But what is all the hype about? What are MOOCs? Could they inevitably change the means by which students, present and future, receive an education?

The Issue at Hand

Massive open online courses, or MOOCs, are free online classes that provide higher education to students on a large scale. MOOCs “typically involve video lectures, assignments graded automatically or by peers, and discussion forums that let students answer each other's questions, so that a single professor can teach hundreds of thousands of students at a time” (Young). Professors of Ivy League universities, such as Stanford University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), were the first to offer MOOCs to students (Young). Since their creation, MOOCs have spurred discussion between professors, students, and parents alike. Some strongly believe in the investment of MOOCs because they provide access to higher education for students whose circumstances prevent them from attending a brick and mortar college; others worry that MOOCs will replace the quality education of a traditional college; still others believe that online learning should blend with traditional, face-to-face learning in order to provide maximum benefit for students.

While MOOCs provide more students access to higher education, they do not provide a well-rounded, balanced education for students. Getting an education involves more than learning about subject matter like chemistry and calculus; it involves developing valuable social skills that will prove to be helpful in the workforce and in developing relationships that last a lifetime. Massive open online courses have a harmful effect of students’ social and communicative skills, and therefore should not aim to replace education that a traditional brick and mortar college provides.

The Online Environment's Impact on Social Skills

As a society, we have already seen technology and social media begin to take over the lives of people of all ages—particularly teenagers and young adults. For example, Susan Maushart, a mother of three teenagers, “pulled the plug” on her family’s electronic media for six months in response to a concern that her children “inhabit media” (Maushart 180). She stated: “My worst fear as a parent was that my kids might lose an alternative frame of reference—that growing up as Digital Natives, they would…forget there were more nourishing ways for friends and family to connect” (Maushart 181). Indeed, lack of connection is a major problem that the digital world presents. Although they are very helpful tools to share information and keep up with other people’s lives, social media sites—such as Facebook—dramatically decrease the frequency of face-to-face communication, which teenagers desperately need to learn to do confidently.

MOOCs are no different. They are online courses—forms of technology. Just as social media sites inhibit people from conversing in person, MOOCs hinder students from interacting in person with other students and instructors. This stunts the growth of students’ social skills, which are vital for future employment opportunities and even marriage. Mark Raleigh, a civil and environmental engineering student from the University of Washington, addressed this issue when he said: “MOOCs shift the focus from the community to the individual and from oral to written communication” (25). He further stated that many vital professional skills for engineers—such as listening, speaking, and being able to think on one’s feet—are not developed when video lectures and email are the primary modes of communication between instructors and students (Raleigh 25). Justin Pope, an economics student who has experienced both a traditional education and massive open online courses, discussed another valuable skill that MOOCs lack: “Here’s one big thing I never did in the course: I never made an argument…I never went through the process of examining disparate evidence, weighing it, synthesizing, and articulating an argument that to my mind should be part of any college course…” (11). These vital skills pertain to not only engineers and economists, but to students with all different interests and majors. These skills are invaluable.

Furthermore, in the social learning environment of a traditional classroom, students come “face-to-face with a living, caring instructor who directly engages them and commands attention” (Raleigh 25). Although students may not always pay attention to the instructor’s lecture in a live classroom, the temptation of going on Facebook or checking email is greater in a MOOC setting where the internet is right at students’ fingertips and the lecture can be put on hold. A live instructor, in contrast to a MOOC instructor, can interact with his/her students and develop a relationship with them. One teacher, Karen Head, shared her concerns after becoming a MOOC instructor. She stated: “I prefer discussions to lectures, and I crave the connection I have with students in a traditional course. In fact, this MOOC format is in direct opposition to everything I believe good teaching to be” (Head). Good teaching certainly involves connecting with the students and building a trustworthy relationship with them; seeing an instructor’s face via video lectures does not accomplish this same feat.

In contrast, some believe that there are ways to overcome the lack of connection in online courses. James Barrood, for example, claims that video chats, virtual discussions, and meet-ups can overcome the risks of “digital cocooning”, or one’s isolation from others because of technology (Barrood 56). However, discussions and chats via digital media do not qualify as face-to-face interaction; although video chats and discussions may allow for students to speak with other students in the course and discuss the course material, it is not as effective as live conversation in social development. Face-to-face interaction is the optimal way for students to develop social skills; there is simply no way to replace the intimacy, emotion, and sincerity that comes from talking with someone in person, eye-to-eye. Also, meeting up with other online students outside of class defeats the purpose of a MOOC to create all of the learning online.

Connectivism and the Learning Cycle Model

Psychology-based research has proven that online learning is inadequate for a student’s education due to the lack of connection and communication between students and teachers. A new learning theory, known as connectivism, emphasizes the role of social and cultural framework in building an effective learning environment (Marc & Barbera 129). This is similar to the Social Learning Theory, which suggests that people learn through contact. Connectivism sees learning as a process that involves making connections with other objects or people (Marc & Barbera 133). An important learning problem in connectivist MOOCs, according to Marc and Bandera, is that they “underconceptualize” the learner’s ability to have “fruitful learning dialogue” with others (131). This research further demonstrates that the learning environment of online courses is inadequate because it does not account for humans’ natural need to converse and connect with others.

The underlying principle of a successful education is the need for a community. In the “learning cycle model”, presented by Rita Kop, it is important for the learner to call upon others to discuss a generated idea, ask for assistance, and get feedback and comments from others (Kop, Fournier, & Mak 77). Additionally, the learning cycle model places a “high value on the creation of a ‘place’ where learners might feel comfortable, where there is a certain level of trust between participants in that environment—a community” (77). Thus, communities play a key role in helping students develop good social and communication skills because a community builds trust and encourages collaboration between its members. It is harder for students to create strong communities online because the presence of the professor in video chats seems distant and impersonal; building a community on a physical college campus, on the other hand, is much more effective because the members of the college community are physically present.

http://suifaijohnmak.wordpress.com/2012/05/19/change11-on-interaction-and-engagement-in-mooc/

The Best of Both Worlds: MOOCs and Traditional Schooling

I echo the words of Justin Pope when he says, “I’m…more aware of just how incomplete an education would be if based entirely on MOOCs” (11). Although an online education is inadequate by itself, if one’s education is attained through a blend of both MOOCs and traditional college courses, students will be able to receive a much stronger and complete education. With this solution, the benefits of online courses and the benefits of classroom learning can merge together to maximize the benefit for a student’s learning process. Online education can do what it’s good at—such as providing content and information on a specific subject and enhancing data visualization—and face-to-face education can do what it’s good at—such as encouraging discussion and argumentation, mentoring, and training students for research—to create a new blended system of education (Bonvillian & Singer 30). The potential for MOOCs to increase the speed at which one can learn a subject, along with the potential for brick and mortar colleges to encourage students’ development of social skills, create the perfect combination of knowledge and skills that students will need for the rest of their lives.

In conclusion, society’s obsession with technology has caused a disconnection between human interaction, thereby stunting the growth of valuable social and communicative skills. Massive open online courses also pose this problem; video lectures and online discussions take away from students’ ability to socialize with others face-to-face and to connect with instructors and friends. As a result, an education that is received solely through MOOCs is inadequate and unbalanced. Instead of MOOCs replacing a traditional college education, the two should work together and blend their strengths to help students obtain a well-balanced education.