"The Threat of MOOCs" by Mary Beth Johnson

The Threat of MOOCs

Larger than Life Promises

Higher education is proposing to offer free education for everyone. Their goal is to make higher education available for everyone through massive open line courses known as MOOCs. Many prestigious schools are being supported by grants, and have opened their own MOOCs with thousands of people enrolling. Everyone who has internet connection is able to gain a free education through these courses. There are many advantages to this. Easy access to gain a higher education levels the playing field, and people can become educated who otherwise wouldn’t have had enough money to pay for school. College students can sign up for classes without the worry of crushing student debt. More people will have the ability to grow their minds, equal opportunity will be given to more people, financial problems will be solved, better teachers will change the way people learn, technology will keep evolving and improving, thus enhancing the MOOCs learning program, higher standards will be set, the bar will be raised, children born to these advantages will be able to gain a higher education no matter their life situation. These are lofty goals indeed. What could possibly be wrong with working towards this kind of a system? At this point, no one know how effective these classes will really turn out to be, or how they will change the face of the American college system. There is a genuine fear that MOOCs will also have the power to change many other things. The most important concern is the fact the  rapid growth of massive open online courses may pose a threat to overtake small college campuses, and leave only the Ivy League schools offering education.

Enormous numbers

Enrollment for these free online courses is exceptionally high – in the millions, in fact. Unfortunately, the dropout rate is equally exceptional. Cusumano has found “…[the] dropout rates are about 90%” (2)(Skiba 1). Course completion remains in the one percentile across the board. With the label of ‘free’ placed on learning, there is worry that it may lower the quality of the education, or at least the perception of their quality. There is also the concern that MOOCs won’t be able to evolve as quickly as necessary in order to keep up with the demands placed upon them. Another question being raised, is that with such high enrollment and drop out numbers, is this changing the value people are putting on their educational experience? Without a consequence for not finishing classes many students lose their motivation. They have no fear of getting a poor grade, and no reason to become better students. Skiba, a professor at the University of Colorado states that MOOCs aren’t for everyone. Some students struggle keeping up on assignments without attending class regularly and having their professor keep an eye on them. This lack on completion rate lowers the credibility of the number of students signed up for the classes (1).

Ivy League Domination

With MOOCs being so expensive to start, many have been opened by Ivy League colleges who have the ability and assets to do so.   Bonvillian made the bold statement that some politicians secretly hope for small colleges to be smashed by MOOCs (2). The more prestigious colleges are creating their own open online courses and building up their name, thus making their university stronger. Smaller colleges can’t compete with this free education however, and are struggling to keep up with the Ivy League schools. Domination of these major schools would cut down the different methods and ways of teaching and gaining an education.  With only the prestigious schools existing, there will be fewer teachers, less variety, and massive groups of people will be learning concepts the exact same way. While this could be beneficial for some subjects others would result in mainstream thinking (Kinser, Lane).

While MOOCs weren’t made to give college credit, credit is what most college students worry about, and what keeps them enrolling for more classes. They continue to question if their current class will bring them closer to graduation. This has caused prestigious schools to consider giving out credit for MOOCs. Some schools in Colorado, California, and others places have let a few specific courses count as credit. Other schools have decided to give out certificates of completion, but only to those who pay for it

. This is one way the classes can remain free (Moody)(Skiba 1). Smaller colleges also get the short side of this; they don’t know what holds more credibility, the completion of a free course from Stanford or the completion of a class from a little school no one really cares about? Only time will tell what society will hold as more of an achievement.

Diving into MOOCs--Bandwagon

Technology is rapidly growing and changing the world, and MOOCs are riding right along with it, but are they evolving and changing fast enough? Katherine Mangan says “[the] Knee-jerk reaction is to say that MOOCs are going to save us.” Everyone is jumping head first into online classes hoping that financially it will solve their problems (1). Universities find themselves under pressure to offer these classes. The president of the University of Virginia was let go because she was too hesitant about providing open online courses. Moshe Vardi fears that “…the financial pressures will dominate educational consideration”(Vardi 1). There is question as to whether MOOCs are being pushed for the welfare of the students, or for the short term financial gain of the university. While online classes have the potential promise to fix financial problems, they haven’t yet proven that they have the ability to do this. MOOCs started out on grants that helped pay for the free classes. If this money runs low, there is question as to where the money will be found to continue to fund this program. Some colleges as previously referred to, have certificates of completion that can be bought, giving the colleges a little more income for funding. And at the same time, giving Ivy Leagues an upper hand. While this makes online courses seem like a somewhat stable financial situation, there will be a significant loss of teacher’s jobs. As the online education continues to grow, there will be fewer teachers needed. If this viral education does in fact take ove,r then there will be a major loss in jobs for faculty and teachers (Moody). Moody comes to the conclusion that massive open online courses will most benefit the larger colleges and will ultimately damage the little colleges.

On the other hand, Lester G. Paldy thinks that smaller schools should have their own mini MOOCs to keep them going, but he does acknowledge that the change in education is inevitable, and that centuries of old traditions won’t stay the same (2).

Technology leveling the world

While online education is effective because it is able to be accessed from almost anywhere, it can also cause a major distraction. Bolkan Joshua finds that students use their laptops, tablets, and smartphones to take notes in class. While all these devices can enhance learning they can also suppress learning.  Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter are used and abused leading to hours of unproductive mind numbing activity. While this is found in normal classrooms it is still as prevalent in online classes.  When does online education become better than traditional schools? Skiba, a professor at the University of Colorado, tried out online education for herself. Besides liking the flexibility of the classes, she found herself lost in the viral world. Discussions about assignments were all over the internet, Facebook, Twitter, Des2Learn, and other messaging places. She found herself overwhelmed with this structure and came to the conclusion that online classes aren’t the way for all students (1). Technology has already made the world fear for the lack of social skills in its young teenagers. By providing education online there is now more worry that basic social skills won’t be learned.Talking to people face to face, and learning how to work with others will be lost in instant messaging. Paldy however doesn’t think that technology will hinder this. With the growth of technology students have the ability to talk with their teacher over the internet (1). While this is true, it was found by Skiba to be difficult to get ahold of their teacher, especially with thousands of students in a class.

Thousands of students enroll for online classes with thousands of assignments to turn in, and with only one teacher to grade them all. While it isn’t possible for one teacher to grade thousands of assignments, this is what they find themselves facing. They use grading machines to do this for them, but they aren’t as reliable as they should be. Another problem that they run into is many of the students are non-native English speakers. If there are so many non-native English speakers how can they all possibly come from America (Mangan 1). It is alarming to realize that they don’t. Out of the enrollment of students 65.1% are out of the U.S.. Are MOOCs designed to give equal opportunity of education to the whole world? With thousands of students taking classes from the same professor how everyone will learn the same things. All cultures will start to be based off of the same educational system. This would be a monopoly of education. Diversity is needed in the educational system, as this gives more room for change and growth. Other countries can learn from each other, instead of everyone learning from the same teacher (Lane, Kinser). While no diversity is a crime, Lane and Kinser do provide an extreme example of no diversity. Skiba writes that MOOCs will help flatten the world, providing an education to those who otherwise wouldn’t have the opportunity to gain one (2). While MOOCs can reach out to everyone with internet access, will the growing online courses eventually take over non-profit colleges for the benefit of students out of the country?

Although there are many disadvantages to MOOCs, it is clear that subjects like computer courses would be a great subject to teach in a MOOC. There are already so many teachers that are behind in the latest and greatest technology that they are teaching their students old programs that aren’t of any use to them. With an online course from a respected school the teacher would be the most up to date on the technology and would ultimately be more effective for a larger amount of students. But while the online class is a great fit for computer classes, it is more difficult to teach other classes. Each teacher has their own method of teaching, which is desirable, because each student will take what they say differently and will apply it to their lives in a different way. If everyone learned the same thing from the same teacher, then their thinking would become more uniform. The opportunity for a more creative way of thinking would be lost, students in the bulk would collectively learn the exact same material. This does make everyone more equal, however it also loses the uniqueness and individuality that America holds so dear.

Working Together

Traditional colleges are too important and too much a part of society to completely disappear. With the increase of technology, the only way for education to be effectively taught is if both traditional classes and online classes work together. There isn’t a perfect way of learning yet, and while change is needed to perfect teaching it can go hand in hand with the changing technology. Scott Jaschik found a way these can work together. When colleges give a free course to their students, it gives the students encouragement to keep pursuing their education even if it means paying for other classes. This would mean that the college will give credit for taking the course, and if not used frivolously, thus motivate the student to continue pursuing their degree with the knowledge the some courses will be free, and others will need to be paid for.

Teachers in traditional classrooms can use technology more to help increase their students learning, by teaching them and giving them videos to review before or after class. The students will be able to learn more than what their teacher has time to tell them. Online courses will need the foundation of a brick mortar school as a base for them to thrive. Working together they will be able to teach more students, but this would be unlikely if they worked against each other. If technology wasn’t fully pursued, then there would be no growth. It is important to be able to keep up with the technological advances being made. On the other hand, if technology was overly used, then social skills developed in a college setting would disappear. Both technology and social interaction are important in the education process. This can be achieved with a balance of online and on campus classes. It is clear that balance between small and large colleges should be kept by MOOCs being taught by both schools. Ivy League schools wouldn’t dominate if the community doesn’t let them. By supporting the smaller MOOCs, the balance of power can remain.

While change is inevitable, growth in the right direction must be worked for. If MOOCs remain a national program they won’t throw off the balance between prestigious schools and small schools. It is imperative to keep things in focus, even when pressing financial concerns are insistent. What must be kept in mind is simple: helping others gain an education, working to provide the most effective way of learning, and keeping social interaction part of the educational process. These objectives are often muddled under the pressing financial worry. What is important to remember now is how it will affect the future generations. Is this change really for educational purposes or for a short term financial safety? Since no one can predict where MOOCs are heading, one must make decisions in line with positive and proven educational goals. 

Works Cited

BONVILLIAN, WILLIAM B., and SUSAN R. SINGER. "The Online Challenge to Higher Education."Issues in Science & Technology 29.4 (2013): 23-30. Print.

Cusumano, Michael A. "Are the Costs of 'Free' Too High in Online Education?" Communications of the ACM 56.4 (2013): 26-9. Print.

MANGAN, KATHERINE. "MOOC Mania." Chronicle of Higher Education 59.6 (2012): B4-5. Print.

Paldy, Lester G. MOOCs in Your Future. 42 Vol. , 2013. Print.

SKIBA, DIANE J. "Disruption in Higher Education: Massively Open Online Courses MOOCs." Nursing Education Perspectives 33.6 (2012): 416-7. Print.

Vardi, Moshe Y. "Will MOOCs Destroy Academia?" Communications of the ACM 55.11 (2012): 5-. Print.

Lane, Jason, and Kevin Kinser. "MOOC's and the McDonaldization of Global Higher Education."WorldWise. The Chronicle of Higher Education, 28 Sep 2012. Web. 8 Nov. 2013. <http://chronicle.com/blogs/worldwise/moocs-mass-education-and-the-mcdonaldization-of-higher-education>.

Bolkan, Joshua. "Campus Technology."Report: Students Taking Online Courses Jumps 96 percent in 5 years. DISQUS, 24 Jun 2013. Web. 8 Nov. 2013. <http://campustechnology.com/articles/2013/06/24/report-students-taking-online-courses-jumps-96-percent-over-5-years.asp&xgt;.

Moody, . "MOOC's Could Hurt Smaller and For-Profit Colleges ."Wired Campus. The Chronicle of Higher Education, 12 Sep 2012. Web. 8 Nov. 2013. <http://chronicle.com/blogs/wiredcampus/moocs-could-hurt-smaller-and-for-profit-colleges-moodys-report-says/39864>.

Jaschik, Scott. "MOOCs for Credit." Inside Higher ED. DISQUS, 23 Jan 2013. Web. 8 Nov. 2013. <http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2013/01/23/public-universities-move-offer-moocs-credit>.