The Professors Behind the MOOC Hype

peter.suber's bookmarks 2023-01-15

Summary:

"Nearly one-third of professors surveyed were “somewhat” or “very” skeptical about online-only courses before teaching a MOOC. Now more than 90 percent are enthusiastic about online classes. Browse additional results from the first-ever survey of MOOC professors below....

Hype around these new free online courses has grown louder and louder since a few professors at Stanford University drew hundreds of thousands of students to online computer-science courses in 2011. Since then MOOCs, which charge no tuition and are open to anybody with Internet access, have been touted by reformers as a way to transform higher education and expand college access. Many professors teaching MOOCs had a similarly positive outlook: Asked whether they believe MOOCs “are worth the hype,” 79 percent said yes....

Many of those surveyed felt that these free online courses should be integrated into the traditional system of credit and degrees. Two-thirds believe MOOCs will drive down the cost of earning a degree from their home institutions, and an overwhelming majority believe that the free online courses will make college less expensive in general....

 

Most professors who responded to The Chronicle’s survey said they believed that MOOCs would drive down the cost of college; 85 percent said the free courses would make traditional degrees at least marginally less expensive, and half of that group said it would lower the cost “significantly.”

As far as awarding formal credit is concerned, most professors do not think their MOOCs are ready for prime time. Asked if students who succeed in their MOOCs deserve to get course credit from their home institutions, 72 percent said no...."

 

Link:

https://www.chronicle.com/article/the-professors-behind-the-mooc-hype/

Updated:

01/15/2023, 06:57

From feeds:

Open Access Tracking Project (OATP) » peter.suber's bookmarks

Tags:

oa.teaching oa.moocs oa.courseware oa.education oa.surveys oa.paywalled

Date tagged:

01/15/2023, 11:57

Date published:

03/18/2013, 07:57