Content-type: text/html Downes.ca ~ Stephen's Web ~ Time for a MOOC reckoning

Stephen Downes

Knowledge, Learning, Community

Working on the basis of a few examples and an article, Alex Usher writes, "I think it's time for retribution. To anyone who had the faintest idea how higher education worked, there was never any credible evidence that there would be nearly enough paying demand for these things to cover their cost of development and operation." Well, yeah. Given that MOOCs were supposed to be free, there was never going to be paying demand. Given that MOOCs were supposed to use open educational resources (the way our MOOCs did), there was never supposed to be a high cost for offering one. The problem with relying on e-Literate (as valuable a source as it is) is that it almost completely U.S.-focused. Even if they're on the decline in the U.S., MOOCs - offering genuinely free learning opportunities - can be found around the world. The failure of some U.S. institutions to commercialize them is a win, not a loss, for open online learning.

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Stephen Downes Stephen Downes, Casselman, Canada
stephen@downes.ca

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Last Updated: Nov 21, 2024 10:56 p.m.

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