The MOOC revolution that wasn’t

[n2doc]

By Audrey Watters on August 23rd, 2015

What happened to the MOOC revolution?

Just a few short years after promising higher education for anyone with an Internet connection, MOOCs have scaled back their ambitions, content to become job training for the tech sector and for students who already have college degrees.

At what was arguably the peak of the hype about massive open online courses, the New York Times crowned 2012 as “The Year of the MOOC.” That was the year computer science professor Sebastian Thrun announced that, after an experiment teaching an online course that attracted 100,000 enrollees, he could no longer teach at Stanford; he was founding an online education startup, Udacity. That same year, his colleagues in the department, Andrew Ng and Daphne Koller, founded a competing MOOC startup, Coursera. Harvard and MIT also launched their own (nonprofit) MOOC initiative, edX. And universities around the world scrambled to partner with one or more of these organizations, amidst claims from investors, entrepreneurs, and pundits that MOOCs were poised to bring about the end of the university as we know it.

“In 50 years,” Thrun told Wired, “there will be only 10 institutions in the world delivering higher education and Udacity has a shot at being one of them.”

Three years later, Thrun and the other MOOC startup founders are now telling a different story. The latest tagline used by Thrun to describe his company: “Uber for Education.”

- See more at: http://kernelmag.dailydot.com/issue-sections/headline-story/14046/mooc-revolution-uber-for-education/

[mike_c]

1. the eternal lure of something for nothing is surpassed only by the dream...

...of monetizing it.

[lunamagica]

2. Coursera is still offering many courses on all kinds of topics, not just IT

They cover art, music, psychology, among other things.

[Starry Messenger]

3. Students benefit from being with each other and teachers in the learning space.

Uber for Education. Doesn't that say it all.

[lunamagica]

4. But for many people this is not possible. Is this, or nothing. eom

[Starry Messenger]

5. There are online classes through brick and mortar though.

I understand the need for online options. I just dispute that the delivery should be controlled by a few big companies, like cable.

[lunamagica]

6. I see your point. But I love Coursera. As of now, they are still free. And the courses come

from brick and mortar colleges and universities from around the world.

[davidpdx]

8. I have taken some courses there Coursera as well

Mostly on law, which interests me. It's a great way to expand your horizons.

[davidpdx]

7. While I didn't earn my degrees through a MOOC

I did do my doctorate completely online. Distance education is the future and with the technological advances it will continue to improve.

In terms of MOOCs, I have participated in five courses through Coursera, not for credit but for the sure pleasure of learning. Most of them were on different types of law, which is an interest of mine since my DBA is in International Business. I also am in the process of finishing another MOOC learning MOODLE, the online teaching platform. For those who have degrees, I would argue that they allow continued education in different areas at little or no cost.