Five Myths about MOOCs

Thanks to @Brian_UNE tweeting a link to this article, titled 'Five Myths about MOOCs', I was compelled to drop all the important scientific stuff I was writing and immediately write a screed. So, read the article and then scroll down.

Five (?) myths about MOOCs in higher education 

1. the idea that “content is free” in education

The idea that ‘content is free’ is not a myth. It is a fact. It is the one unmistakeable fact that is driving all the changes that we see. It is why universities are flailing around like headless chooks. Denial is not an option. Content is free. Accept it and move on.

2. students can support each other

Prof L argues that this won’t work, because universities have always taught with an effective staff student ration of 1:25.

Okay, so we have always taught with a model where a relatively small number of students relied on a tutor to assist them. Where is it written on golden tablets brought down from heaven by the archangel Michael that the way we have always done something is the only way to do it? Consider how our students learn how to play World of Warcraft. One high-level tutor does not shepherd 25 n00bs through instances explaining how to keep aggro off the healer. They learn in small groups, consulting forums and wikis that embody the accumulated wisdom of the community. You can learn anything this way. This is a natural, bottom-up, human way of learning things.

3. MOOCs solve the problem of expensive undergraduate education or educational scarcity in emerging economies

Prof L presents no evidence whatsoever against this so-called ‘myth’. So what if 60% of people enrolled in MOOCs at this moment already have degrees. At one time 60% of the people who owned personal computers were white male uni drop-outs working in their parents’ garages. At one time 60% of the world’s motor cars were made in Germany. Emerging technologies are going to be localised. Early adopters are not the same cohort of people as late adopters. 

4. Education is a mass customer industry

Now, here I can agree with Prof L. Education isn’t a mass customer industry. It isn’t an industry at all. It is a human activity as natural as eating or playing sport, and a fundamental human right. If the education ‘industry’ as constituted currently is getting in the way of changes that are making it more accessible and affordable, it needs to die in a fire.