Donald Clark just wrote a blogpost on MOOC’s and the danger of the C****** word. If you want to know what he means by that, do read the post. (well, just read it anyway).
In the post he also mentions 8 MOOC-myths, but I’m not quite sure if everyone will agree they are actually myths, what do you think?
MOOC Myth 1: It’s about courses
Flips inward to outward. Where closed, offline, supply-led, elitist HE scarcity with small numbers subject to the tyranny of time and location FLIPS TO open, online, demand-led abundance with massive numbers anywhere, anytime
As George Siemens says, it is “a supply response to a demand problem”.
MOOC Myth 2: Catastrophic drop-out
Flips drop-out to drop-in. Where the inappropriate concept of high-school and University drop-out, meaning failure FLIPS TO another concept – drop-ins, where it’s OK to leave, and stopping is rational. Drop out, when applied to MOOCs is simply a category mistake. Completion is not always desirable. It is not the goal.
MOOC Myth 3: All about 18 year old undergraduates
Flips horizontal to vertical, from the 18 year old undergraduate model and Higher Ed MOOCs TO the lifelong learner, corporate MOOCs,not-for-profit MOOCs, charity MOOCs, vocational VOOCs and high school HOOCs.
MOOC Myth 4: Just videos
Flips lectures to short video. Where the 1 hour lecture which has no basis in the psychology of learning and exists simply because the Babylonians had a 60 based number system, delivered at a fixed time, fixed location, once only FLIPS TO short videos where ‘less is more’, seen anytime, anywhere, available to be viewed many times.
MOOC Myth 5: Weak on assessment
Flips off- to online assessment. Where offline, compulsory certification, teaching to the test once a year using pen & paper and no innovation FLIPS TOonline, where there’s a minority interest in certification, learning for learning,’s sake, anytime and there’s lots of innovation, such as peer assessment, ProctorU, automated essay marking and so on.
MOOC Myth 6: Just an LMS
Flips old platforms for new. Where traditional LMS/VLE vendors such as SumTotal, Blackboard and Desire2learn , with monolithic code is inflexible with few releases and a high cost per learner FLIPS TO Django, Python, Ruby on Rails, MVC framework, cloud-hosted flexible, agile platforms with a stream of innovations and releases at a cost of cents/pence per learner.
MOOC myth 7: No evaluation
Flips bad data to big data. Where bums on seats,contact time, course completion, summative assessment and happy sheets FLIP TO performance, competences, feedback, useful and personal data that guides learners and improves design.
MOOC Myth 8: Can’t be monetised
Flips grants to monetization. Where expensive, government funded institutions, load up on loan ridden students plunging them into deep debt FLIPS TO cheap learning from many sources, such as not-for–profits, for profits, payment for certification, sponsorship, more students, and huge organisational and government savings.
I heard a talk by a school leader specialized in open and distance learning who tackled a lot of these elements. He didn’t agree with the drop-out, still saw it as a huge problem. But the most important remark he made, is that we shouldn’t want to give people not being able to pay for education, a watered-down version of education called MOOC. I think that the MOOC’s Donald describe as a good idea aren’t a watered down version of education, they are something else. But than they won’t be replacing school, they are an addition.
Btw, I do agree with the shorter video’s, big data,…