Authors
Mia Zamora
Publication date
2017/8/17
Journal
MOOCs and their afterlives: Experiments in scale and access in higher education
Volume
104
Description
This book firmly establishes that not all massive open online courses (MOOCs) are created equally. The diversity of MOOC adaptation is in and of itself an important aspect of the new affordances of open online distancelearning paradigms. As we consider the question What does “open” mean?, this chapter will hold up a particular adaptation of the massive open online phenomenon that ultimately reinvigorates the potential of “open.” The term “open” has set to course many interpretations, many of which seem to be the source of anxiety for those who seek to protect their own market share in the business of higher education. Traditional brick-and-mortar institutions of education are threatened by the suggestion of “open.” Why should we give the milk away for free? In comes marching a world in which traditional lectures are rigged to reach “the many” and upheld as a disruptive moment in the educational landscape. The hype has set the stage for technologically powered content delivery paradigms masquerading as innovation. Yes, a flood of MOOCs most certainly presents new methods for content delivery. And content designed to reach the masses most certainly presents a challenge to those who uphold a traditional business model for education. These MOOCs are often offered by universities on platforms such as Coursera and edX, and involve lectures via original videos (Kolowich 2013), automated quizzes, and peer-reviewed assignments (Guzdial 2013).“Massive” refers to the number of enrolled students. However, that is, according to Morris and Stommel (2013),“a fundamental misperception of how teaching works” since these MOOCs …
Total citations
Scholar articles
M Zamora - MOOCs and their afterlives: Experiments in scale and …, 2017