The Maturing of the MOOC

The Maturing of the MOOC
Executive Summary
This survey of MOOC and ODL literature aims to capture the state of knowledge and
opinion about MOOCs and ODL, how they are evolving, and to identify issues that
are important, whether consensual or controversial.
The headlines
Conflicting perspectives on MOOCs divide education communities
Elite institutions in The Academy, primarily leading US universities, are widely engaging
enthusiastically in MOOCs by lending brand, content, funds, staff, badging and policy
support. They see opportunities for brand enhancement, pedagogic experimentation,
recruitment and business model innovation. (A few have actively disengaged (Duke,
Amherst) but these are a minority.) The pro-MOOC impetus is producing a conspicuous
literature. It reports positively on these experiments, describing a process of maturing,
expansion and deepening. There are dissident voices in the elite institutions, however, and
the arguments they are assembling against MOOCs remain strong and vocal.
Smaller or less prestigious institutions have not so far engaged strongly with MOOCs,
either through lack of appetite, lack of capacity, or lack of opportunity. Often, smaller
players who have considered the MOOC issue have sounded alarm bells – they see
threats of being left behind, of losing market share and recruits. They also charge that
MOOCs are unable to serve learners with more complex learning needs. Although such
perspectives would appear to represent the position of the vast bulk of post-16 educational
activity, the sceptical literature reflecting these concerns is less visible and less
extensive.
Learning Practitioners disagree about the value of MOOCs
Learning practitioners have engaged by contributing extensive critical review literature
in peer-reviewed journals, the specialist educational press, blogs, and the general
media. Two conflicting strands of opinion run in the critical practitioner literature.
1. A strand of enthusiasts welcomes the shake-up and energy MOOCs bring to
learning, teaching and assessment. They report positively on learning experiences
and innovative formats of pedagogy, and spotlight themes such as access,
empowerment, relationship building and community. This strand is particularly
prevalent in the general press. Examples include Shirky and Legon.
2. A strand of sceptics tempers the general enthusiasm along two themes:
The supposed benefits of MOOCs were already realised in previous
generations of ODL innovation – and the innovations of MOOCs are the
victory of packaging over content
The MOOC format itself suffers from weaknesses around access, content,
quality of learning, accreditation, pedagogy, poor engagement of weaker
learners, exclusion of learners without specific networking skills.
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