Udacity's model is to provide self-paced classes with absolutely no deadlines or time windows, as opposed to Coursera and edX's more traditional approach. I can see the argument that some people would prefer having more structure; that might help with motivation. I think the ideal platform would allow, like Udacity, the ability to start a class at any time, but provide options to tweak time constraints and deadlines for people who would like to include them. If sufficiently powerful and flexible, that might provide the best of both worlds.
The logical next step in MOOCs is going to start in January, too, when the Georgia Tech OMSCS program starts its pilot program, in collaboration with Udacity. An actual, credentialed degree from a well-known university, entirely using the MOOC format, could be a huge disruption in higher education if it catches on.
I just hope they make the courses fully functional on mobile/tablet devices. The 3 I've tried (coursera, udacity and edx) seem to be completely ignoring this area. Maybe it would help improve the completion rates too.
I may be old and set in my ways, but I am glad they don't work on mobile. I want you to be focused when you are taking a class, not trying to fill the minutes in line, or do so while sitting in the cube at a call center.
That's not the only mobile use case, though. My favorite times to watch MOOC lectures is when I'm on exercising on my stationary bike, for instance; it's either that or finding something on Netflix or YouTube to watch, but with absolutely nothing else to occupy my brain, it's a great time to watch lectures. My tablet is indispensable for this, but some platforms work better than others at providing a seamless experience.
Also, the final paragraph in the article makes a good counterpoint to this:
> Michael S. Roth, the president of Wesleyan University, is teaching a course in European intellectual history on Coursera. "People have to get over the idea of signing up for a course and not finishing it," he said. "We all have to get over feeling guilty. There is no right way or wrong way to use an online class. This is a great platform for lifelong learning."
As a college instructor, this excites and worries me. Obviously, major courses being offered online can reduce the number of students coming through our door. Conversely, most of the core requirement courses have become so 'cookie cutter' that it feels more like departments just need a body to teach them.
While this can free up the course load of an instructor more to their interests, this also reduces the dept's budget (since they don't need more people to help teach Computers 101, a core requirement for every field). Personally, the Udacity/Georgia or EdX/MIT partnership are the best solutions to this: finding a way to make MOOC's work for traditional colleges.
Heck, restructure it close to certification tests. You pay X to have access to the study materials AND set a testing date. On that day, you test; pass or fail (with the option of a retake for an additional fee). Now, it is on the student's schedule, but the traditional school's still can turn a profit by removing course size and time limitations.
I'm very excited about the huge range of possibilities MOOCs open up
Businesses have argued for years that traditional institutions don't prepare students with the skills they (the businesses) would like them to have.
I can see businesses working together to design a "degree" & approaching institutions to cover all the different classes, then post them as MOOCs
Young people could be hired with only a 2-year Associate degree (I think it is good that they get some general, broad studies first & learn what college classes are like in a more traditional atmosphere), then finish their degree in a work/study atmosphere at the company, without as much horrible debt. The businesses would help to pay the costs of running the MOOC. The classes are still open to anyone.
This may not work for everyone, but how many of you are in IT and more or less did this already?
Perhaps there are flaws with that plan, or better ways to implement it, but the point is - Do you see the possibilities this opens up?
I think replacing the traditional 4-year college with MooCs would be really tough, but at the same time there's a lot of value in them. Giving the common person access to education from some of the best schools in the country is really terrific. The fact that so many world-renowned universities have participated at Coursera and edX says to me those institutions see value in the endeavor. In fact, some of those top-notch institutions are not only participating but leading the effort. E.g., Stanford at Coursera and MIT/Harvard/Berkeley at edX. The other day I read an interview(can't find the link now) with Daphne Koller, one of Coursera's founders. At the end she says that much of what is written about MooCs tends to be hyperbolic one way or another.
Good luck - MOOCs have a steep upward climb to replace college credentials in many established white-collar professions (not so much - anywhere you make or create stuff for a living).
A long time ago a HN commenter talked about a famous case which effectively eliminated intelligence-based testing to filter job candidates. This led to the 4-yr college degree as the defacto standard [1]
As an employer I like these a lot. Kind of. The problem with these kinds of course is knowing if they are any good. EdX is a joint Harvard and MIT site. That gives them credibility.
Udacity is a for profit venture by former Prof's from Stanford. That has less credibility in my eyes.
Then you get things like Lynda which have no credibility in my eyes.
I might be able to commit 70 hours to the tutorials and assignments this week, and then im busy again for the next 7 weeks.
If they were all completely self paced, then perhaps the completion rates will improve.
The "deadlines" and timetabled classes are being carried over from traditional college courses without any real need for them to be.