7th Reflection: Massively Open Online Courses (MOOCs)

           Personally, I have never taken any online courses. I am taking two this summer, though! Last semester, my health teacher did issue two Fridays of a month as online classes where she would give a lecture online either through videos or interactive notes. She would then have us do some type of activity after. I did like this because it was not only efficient, but also very effective because she would usually give us very interesting videos to watch. I also liked that I could do it while still in my PJ’s… As the articles illustrated, online courses have pros and cons. It is harder to keep up with students and make sure that they are doing the proper work if you are not standing in front of them. Since students are not actually meeting in person, there is a possibility that they will forget about the work they have to do. They might push it off until the very last minute then fail a timed online assignment or something of that nature. They also require better time management skills because students are able to procrastinate much easier. Most importantly, online courses are designed for rather independent learners that might face having to teach themselves their own material to some degree. Obviously, a major pro of online courses is the ability to be anywhere and access the class. This gives students more flexibility; they just have to make sure they don’t take advantage of it. MOOCs, according to articles, are becoming problematic for various reasons. As Professor Hacker stated, using lecture material from other faculty and from other institutions can be tricky. Outsourcing class material can be confusing and lead to inefficiency. There is a higher risk of disorganization. If the teachers are not as skilled and determined as Professor Hacker seems to be, there could be big problems. If a teacher makes one small error, it could have an extremely negative impact on the students. As the second article stated, people rebelled to the expansion of MOOCs because it is as if they are created for highly motivated students to succeed. Governor Jerry Brown said they are essential to democratizing education; however, completion rates and grades went down. A former Stanford professor added that they are designed for one type of student. A student that participated in a MOOC said they are “mechanistic, dreary, and ineffectual;” she referred to it as learning in a void because there is no proper social interaction. I completely agree with this statement about MOOCs. I don’t believe they have the ability to be as effective as sitting in a classroom with personalized attention does. Not to mention, the demand for teachers will decrease dramatically if MOOCs become more popular. Most importantly, I believe social interaction in a classroom is vital; MOOCs do not provide that opportunity.

This picture demonstrates an efficient, interactive classroom setting. Here, students have the ability to participate on a social level as well as ask questions that can be quickly answered by a teacher. 

This picture shows all the questions that come along with MOOCs. I think these questions demonstrate the instability of MOOCs.

Lastly, the article I found talks about why MOOCs are bad for science education in particular. In short, people have the wrong idea that classroom lectures are simply for a teacher to transfer knowledge to students. MOOCs are premised on this idea. 

http://www.psmag.com/education/why-moocs-are-bad-for-science-education-59400/