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
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. (Image)
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 on students’ social and communicative skills, and therefore should not aim to replace the face-to-face 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, as Susan Maushart points out, lack of connection is a major problem that the digital world presents. Those who Maushart labels as “Digital Natives” are those who have been raised in a digital world, and do not know anything different. Since a technologically-reliant society is all that “Digital Natives” have ever known, they often do not see the value of connecting with friends and family in person, and instead resort to make these connections with others via social media sites. Although they are very helpful tools to share information and keep up with other people’s lives, social media sites—such as Facebook and Instagram—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. Several students have tasted of both a traditional college education and a MOOC-based education, and have voiced their concerns regarding online education. A student from the University of Washington who obtained a PhD in civil and environmental engineering, Mark Raleigh, addressed his concerns about a MOOC education as it relates to the engineering profession. According to him, “MOOCs shift the focus from the community to the individual and from oral to written communication” (Raleigh 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). Raleigh’s concern about digital communication is only one opinion, but it is a representation of the opinions of many other students who do not feel a sense of connection with their instructor and online peers.
Another student, Justin Pope, studied economics. He discussed another valuable skill that MOOCs lack in the following statement: “Here’s one big thing I never did in the [online] 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…” (Pope 11). These vital skills that Pope and Raleigh believed were lacking in an online education—namely oral communication, listening, and verbalizing an argument—pertain not only to engineers and economists, but to students with all different interests and majors. The ability to express one’s ideas thoroughly, listen to the opinions of others, and formulate an argument are all different types of social skills that increase a student’s understanding of communication. These skills are invaluable.
In addition to students, the instructors play a critical role in the learning process. In the social learning environment of a traditional classroom, students come “face-to-face with a living, caring instructor
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 in a centralized, online location. (Image)
Connectivism and the Learning Cycle Model
In support of the concerns of many students and teachers regarding MOOCs, 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 and 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 (Marc and Barbera 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, and Mak 77). As Kop’s model of learning diagram (below) shows, the learner publishes an idea, shares the idea, communicates the idea to others, and receives feedback from others before repurposing and reevaluating a piece of information. This constant cycle of peer reviewing an idea before reevaluating it demonstrates that other people play a huge role in one’s learning process. For example, if one students forms an argument, others will need to provide feedback and alternate opinions on that argument before the student can alter and improve their original argument; a student needs the approval or disproval of others in order to learn more about their own ideas. 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” (Kop, Fournier, and Mak 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.
Why are Social Skills Important?
The importance of learning amongst other community members can also be applied to a specific community in which students will most likely become involved at some point: the workplace. The inability for students to interact with others face-to-face in an online learning environment stunts the growth of students’ social skills, which are vital for future employment opportunities. In a 2011 survey of 500 employers, 86 percent said they look for potential over experience in candidates (Lepper). Thus, the majority of employers value a candidate’s potential to succeed in the job more than a candidate’s previous experience and achievements. Additionally, the top three attributes employers mentioned they look for in a candidate to evaluate that candidate’s potential for the job “were enthusiasm, a commitment to learning, and social skills. The least desirable skills were academic qualifications” (Lepper). According to this survey, good social skills rather than academic qualifications among young people are key to securing a job. While brick and mortar colleges provide an environment for improvement in both academics and social skills, MOOCs focus almost entirely on greater academic achievement—the skill that employers least care about, according the survey. Young, college-aged students desperately need to have constant interaction and socialization with their peers in order to be successful in the workforce where the ability to communicate with co-workers and employers is not only highly expected, but highly praised.
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” (Pope 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 and 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 that are highly valued by employers. 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.
Works Cited
Barrood, James C. "Assessing The Mooc Landscape." University Business 16.4 (2013): 56-57. Academic Search Premier. Web. 8 Nov. 2013.
Bonvillian, William B., and Susan R. Singer. "The Online Challenge to Higher Education." Academic Search Premier. EBSCO, 2013. Web. 7 Nov. 2013.
Head, Karen. "Massive Open Online Adventure." Chronicle Of Higher Education 59.34 (2013): B24-B25. Academic Search Premier. Web. 8 Nov. 2013.
Kop, Rita, Hélène Fournier, and John Sui Fai Mak. "A Pedagogy of Abundance or a Pedagogy to Support Human Beings? Participant Support on Massive Open Online Courses." International Review of Research in Open and Distance Learning 12.7 (2011): 74-93. ERIC. Web. 7 Nov. 2013.
Lepper, Joe. "Employers Rate Social Skills above Academic Achievement." Children & Young People Now. MA Education Limited, 17 Aug. 2011. Web. 25 Nov. 2013.
Marc, Clara and Elena Barbera. "Learning Online: Massive Open Online Courses (Moocs), Connectivism, And Cultural Psychology." Distance Education 34.1 (2013): 129-136. ERIC. Web. 7 Nov. 2013.
Maushart, Susan. “When My Kids Unplugged.” Perspectives on New Media. Provo, UT: BYU Academic Publishing, 2011. 180-183. Print. 7 Nov. 2013.
Pope, Justin. "The ABCs of MOOCs: One Man's Experience At The Computer Screen." Academic Search Premier. EBSCO, 19 Aug. 2013. Web. 7 Nov. 2013.
Raleigh, Mark. "A MOOC Point." Education Full Text. H.W. Wilson, Sept. 2013. Web. 7 Nov. 2013.
Young, Jeffrey R. "In A Time Of Experimentation: Excitement And Dread." Chronicle Of Higher Education 59.46 (2013): 60-64. Academic Search Premier. Web. 8 Nov. 2013.
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