Massive Open Online Courses

Title

Prepared for

Mr. William Harrell
Professor
Technical Writing
English 009

Prepared by

April 5, 2012

Table of Contents

Letter of Transmittal

Introduction How it Works
MOOCs on the Rise
MOOC at Howard

Traditional University The Tradition The Change

The Classroom and MOOCs The MOOC Classroom The Traditional Classroom

The Unknown Dropout Rates Cheating Money and MOOCs

Recommendations

References

Sidney Ribeau
President
Howard University
2400 Sixth Street NW
Washington, DC 20059

Introduction
The massive open online course is the new modern day classroom for high education learning. Also known as MOOCs these courses are taking education into the twenty-first century. Technology is all around us, in the car and in the home. Why not bring it into the classroom as well? The massive open online course gives researchers the chance “[it gives us the chance] to study the present and future of online learning” (as cited in Dettro, 2013). Higher education is transforming all around us, the MOOC is a door that is leading the revolution.

How it Works According to Chris Dettro, The massive open online course is a “free, eight-week course [which] is open to anyone worldwide who wants to join” (as cited in Dettro, 2013). One can simply grab his or her laptop, a pen and notebook and the environment is automatically transformed into a classroom. The medium of the course is an online lecture, where a professor has designed a special lecture, just for you. “8 to 12 minutes is typical [for a lecture]” and “videos pause twice for a quiz to make sure you understand the material” (as cited in Pappano, 2012). Most of the work associated with the course is electronic, occasionally, “there may be homework and a final exam” with some massive open online courses (Pappano, 2012). For more advanced massive open online course systems there may also be a proctored exam where one may receive credit or certification, upon passing the test, for the course they have taken.

MOOC on the Rise The idea of the massive open online course stems from the work of Sebastian Thrun, a professor at Stanford University. His first massive open online course was a free version of the course “Introduction to Artificial Intelligence” that he put online. 160,000 students signed up for his course and soon there after he left his teaching position at Stanford. Shortly after Thrun “launched the private Web site Udacity, which offers online course [such as MOOCs]” (as cited in Graham, 2012). Another massive open online course company is “EdX, a joint venture between Harvard and MIT [the Massachusetts Institute of Technology] and Coursera, a Stanford spin off that has attracted top universities like Princeton, Columbia, Duke and the University of Pennsylvania” (as cited in YOUTUBE video).

MOOC at Howard Soon massive open online courses will be available all around the world including universities in the United States that is if they are in compliance to the program. One must fully weight the pros and cons of the program to know if massive open online courses are the right choice for their university. Howard University will not gain positively in the addition to massive open online courses in our education advancement. Not only does the MOOC shine a negative light in the aspect of campus life for the college student, but also it is detrimental to the learning process of the individual. Massive open online courses are an underdeveloped topic and the uncertainty is not a positive aspect for Howard University’s campus.

Traditional University
The Tradition High school graduation is an important time in a scholars’ life. The excitement of preparing to leave off for college, usually in a new city, to make new friends without the supervision of your parents is a thrill in itself. All summer one counts down the day they move into their freshman dorm of their college or university. David Stavens, a founder of the MOOC provider Udacity states, “there’s a magic that goes on inside a university campus, if you can afford to live inside the bubble, is wonderful” (as cited in Carlson, 2012). With the creation of massive open online courses this means that the actual classroom is not needed. Online courses would mean the diminishing of the traditional classroom and the use of the college campus. “The virtual is replacing the actual” and soon we will be going “to college without going to college” (as cited in “Should,” 2012).

The Change With the invention of MOOCs, Joesph E. Aoun, president of Northeastern University comments, “we’re witnessing the end of higher education as we know it” (as cited in Carlson, 2012). The traditional classroom is being transformed. No longer will students have to wake up, eat breakfast and make their trek to class across campus. One must simply press the power button on the computer and login into the program of their choice. “[Sebastian] Thrun and others are taking education out of the classroom and putting it on the students’ personal screens so they can learn on their own time in their own place” (as cited in Graham, 2012). This opportunity gives students the ability to receive credits and attend class all from the comfort of their bedroom. The campus life of the traditional university will be completely obliterated. The social interaction aspect of long-established colleges and universities will be gone. What will one make of an empty campus with buildings and amenities with no one to use them? The student organizations that serve the community and run programs for the university will no longer exist. The MOOC does not only affect the social life of the student but the learning aspect of the student is compromised.

Classrooms and MOOCs
The MOOC Classroom
A virtual classroom is still a classroom nonetheless. Students will have question that need further explanation, something the video does not cover. “A single professor is able to reach 150,000 students worldwide in a single lecture [of a MOOC],” it is impossible for the professor to make a connection with students individually (as cited in “Should,” 2012). Everything with the MOOC is electronic when it comes to student – teacher interactions. Lecturing is electronic; “feedback is electronic,” and quizzes and test are electronic (as cited in Pappano, 2012). Students may use online discussion boards to ask to ask questions among peers and sometimes “teaching assistants may monitor the discussion boards” (Pappano, 2012). A studying tool used among many MOOC students is the initiative to make study groups among their fellow classmates. Stacey Brown, an information technology manager at a Hartford insurance company and MOOC students tells Pappano, after a scheduling a meeting with a few classmates in the area from his online MOOC, “no one showed at the meet-up” (Pappano, 2012.) This problem could have been easily avoided had this been a regular setting classroom. Ray Schroeder, director of the Center for Online Learning, Research and Service, at the University of Illinois states, “three things matter most in online learning: the quality of material covered, engagement of the teacher and interaction among students…. But providing instructor connection and feedback, including student interactions is trickier [when dealing with MOOCs]” (Pappano, 2012).

The Traditional Classroom As a student, going into a university classroom is one of the most beneficial aspects of take a course. After work is assigned and is completed after class hours to come back together as a unit and discuss the ideas of the work allows the student to grasp the concept further. Working with peers in group projects or small class work gives the students a chance to bounce ideas off one another and really grasp the concept. The teacher-student interaction is one of the benefits that student in a positive manner. The massive open online course will eventually take this aspect from learning. The massive open online course aims to make taking college course more affordable. Those students who struggle with paying for college are usually those “from the bottom tier [and] are often the ones who need face – to – face instruction” (as cited in Carlson, 2012). Thus emphasizing how the tradition al classroom courses are necessary. If students are expected to study in their own personal habitat and learn the lecture with the MOOC, what does one do if they do not have a space like that at home? For most students a place of learning becomes a haven, an escape from the chaos [in their own lives]” Greg Graham tells about his students (as cited in Graham, 2012). The creation of MOOCs is not thinking about the larger picture of the students. If you take away the little big of serenity some students have how will they have the perseverance to push forward and progress? The students need teacher that can mentor them and give them a helping hand whether it is literally in life or just helping them through the learning process in the classroom. “The greatest things happening in education are occurring in classrooms around the world, as teachers look into the eyes of their students and find ways to bring learning to life” (Graham, 2012).

The Unknown The creation of massive open online courses has opened a new door to education but as this new door is opened traffic cannot run smoothly through it because everyone is excited to hop on board. But before one dives into the land of MOOCs one must know all the ins and out of such program.
Dropout Rates Every now and then a student will withdraw from a course or the university when enrolled. Since MOOCs will be the modern day university this issue of withdrawal should be looked into. Katherine Mangan notes in the October 2012 article of “The Chronicle of High Education” that, “[MOOCs] suffer from high dropout rates” (as cited in Mangan, 2012). In another articles entitled, “Should college be a remote experience?”, the author states, dropout rates for MOOCs “often exceed 80 percent” (as cited in “Should,” 2012). Wish such large numbers entering in classes online and eight percent drop out rates what type of progress is the MOOC making. In a regular modern day classroom if 80% of the classroom was failing or dropping the school would change something with that classroom. The progression of the MOOC students not finishing the class shows how the MOOC will play a role in future education.
Cheating
Cheating is another aspect of education that cannot be swept to the side or pushed under the rug. MOOCs operate mostly online, how will the programmers ensure that cheating will not occur in the system. When one is solely based on their performance online to receive credit for a course it should be certain cheating cannot occur. “People sometimes cheat in MOOCs, even when there are no course credits or money at stake” reports Nick Anderson to the Washington Post (as cited in Anderson, 2013). But unfortunately “cheating is a reality” (as cited in Pappano, 2012) and it happens in all classrooms all over the world. David Patterson, a professor at the University of California, Berkeley reports, “ 20 people [were found] in a [MOOC] course submitting identical homework” (Pappano, 2012). If the students were willing to cheat online and the class was not available for credit, who knows what will happen when credit is offered.
Money and MOOCs The massive online courses are under a lot of construction. The developments of the programs are changing daily with newly added research. The study required for the MOOC movement to advance forward is not an inexpensive project. All of the programs require programmers to make the systems, storage clouds for the students and faculty to use and professors to create the actual lecture that the students watch. According to Martha Nell Smith, Chair of College Park’s university senate, “someone has to pay for the software and for the professor’s time” (as cited Scharper, 2012). As all college professors receive a paycheck for educating the students at the university, the professors of MOOC call for the same treatment. When is the last time you saw anyone working for free? This program will not be free for students forever. “A lot of these [MOOC] institutions do not have the endowments that a Stanford or Harvard [institution] would have to keep these things going” (as cited in Mangan, Nov. 2012). Soon the MOOC community will demand that the students enrolled in the courses pay for the certification. If students will have to pay for the credit for the courses they take it will mirror the traditional university in regards to tuition. Questions in regards to financing still remain, as to “how universities can make money from MOOC’s so that the projects don’t become a financial drain” on society (as cited in Mangan, Oct. 2012).

References: How it Works According to Chris Dettro, The massive open online course is a “free, eight-week course [which] is open to anyone worldwide who wants to join” (as cited in Dettro, 2013)