I saw this article in the Class Cental newsletter.
we tend to overestimate the impact of a new technology in the short term, even as we underestimate its longer term impact. According to van Valkenburg, MOOCs are already changing higher education in at least four important ways.
These are the four ways that’s highlighted in the article:
- More opportunities to earn credits through MOOCs (“Fewer Restrictions On MOOCs for Credit”)
- “Lifelong Learning, For Real”
- “The Lecture Hall Goes Online” (blended learning)
- “A Global Education System”
While I don’t like the way everything is framed, I do think it is true that MOOCs are having a real impact on the way people learn and that it opens up many opportunities. This impact is not limited to traditional higher education - I know several people that are doing credit bearing online courses as an alternative to more traditional professional development.