The times they are a-changin’.
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If you were called a “Moocs ” when I was growing up it meant you were deliberately Not Brilliant! Today the world over MOOCs are massive open online courses, given by top universities. I still prefer OCW open coursewear… but hey! You’ll find an extensive list of Mooc’s in this post to which we’d add edX https://www.edx.org/ which we picked up in this You may want to take a look at the entire Virtual U series
- Virtual U.: College of Future Could Be Come One, Come All(November 20, 2012)
Notably they are free but who signs up and why use these?
I’ve signed up out of curiosity, the opportunity to take a course from a leading institute was simply too much to pass up. Would I have taken the same courses were there a fee attached. Definitely NOT! I can see the value for the driven and those who truly cannot afford. Free is not always the best model. Literally they classes were like an open broadcast and I learned I’m not a video learner! I can do distance learning enabled by video. but simply sending me a weekly ”lesson” whether or not I even opened the last one…
Many Now want ”Verified certification”. What value will this bring? How will they signify capability! I’m not quite sure… but as a society we believe in certification, not necessarily capability! I believe in life learning… but do want a designer who never practiced, but has a certificate responsible for my project… NO!
One other concern is numbers… sure you attract millions but at what cost.
We seem to believe that we can “convert” free users to paid users.
My experience is that someone who will pay will pay from the start.
The process of marketing “Free” is different from marketing paid, whether or not you start up front or later on. what works in one will not work in another. You will not learn how to fly an airplane at mach 20 by flying a commercial jet! The only way you fly an airplane at mach 20 is to… fly an airplane at mach 20!
Which brings us to the value of these and is value always tied to purpose.. or profit lines!
Many see it as a way to educate the masses… democratize education as such. While few will argue that education is valuable. Are attendees being educated?
Much of what I have learned was self harvested from online sources, and put into context with my experience. I have also watched as many used social media, email and many of the web tools and the look in their eyes alerted me they had not a clue as to what they were doing! Many were in fact educating others. I’ve watched may do online courses – “Cram, regurgitate move on”. The danger in this type of education being ”verified” really bothers me.
Then again what is the problem we seek to solve with mass education Enlightenment or employment! Many taking these classes are searching for employment. Can these large groups truly be adequately verified? I believe that Massive and volume has it’s place . I prefer the attention that can be paid to smaller numbers, and face to face interactivity even at a distance. I like changing perspective and opening eyes… even if it means working one on one, But i have also experience the convenience of doing this one on one across the globe at 3 am across timezones!
Yes I will continue taking these free workshops for life learning but while I am comfortable with distance learning. as a student and a teacher, I’ll take my education for employment in smaller groups with more hands on attention!
At TibiaeTech we’re set on developing a platform that will allow distance learning and real time interaction as opposed to a pure video learning experience! The difference tele-presence- using video that will allow whatever we can do across a table, counter or room to ensure online in real time! I’m also adding some online classes and workshops to this site check out offerings under the workshops category!