This article in The Guardian is a must-read on the dark side of MOOC’s by Peter Scott. 2 fragments illustrate the main point of the article:

“So Moocs, if they ever take off, are likely to be used in two ways. The first is to fob off the “masses”. Government cuts, high fees, league-table snobbism – all point to a reinforcement of elite forms of higher education. Attempts to deliver HE-lite through further education colleges and private providers are never going to get very far. So Moocs provide the perfect cover story – “higher education for the masses” when real-world opportunities to go to university are being cut.”

“The second way is to reduce teachers by using online material as a substitute for face-to-face teaching. For decades policymakers and university managers have been looking for ways to increase “productivity”, which have been stubbornly resisted by students who already feel they are being short-changed. Now this new economy of learning can be sold as providing instant access to global “stars” who are far better than our own run-of-the-mill lecturers.”