The Challenges of MOOCs - Part 1

This post is intended to share my views on the challenges of MOOCs.

Photo credit: Google Image

Here is a glimpse of xMOOCs (not all are MOOCs)

Here are some resources on the development of xMOOCs.

What are the major challenges with these xMOOCs?

Challenge 1

A difference in use and expectation of the pedagogy by the professor and learners.  Pedagogy of xMOOC - mooc-pedagogy-the-challenges-of-developing-for-coursera. The recent incident professor-leaves-a-mooc-in-mid-course-in-dispute-over-teaching well illustrates this.

I have shared my views on pedagogy on MOOCs here and here.  On openness rather than scale in MOOC.

Research paper
Making Sense of MOOCs: Musings in a Maze of Myth, Paradox and Possibility
20120925 MOOCs paper

Challenge 2

Problem with the use of technology and social media in the course.  Here  coursera-forced-call-mooc-amid-complaints-about-course.

Challenge 3

Open platform where discussion and discourse escalated into heated arguments and disputes.  This incidence where the professor left the MOOC revealed the nature of the disputes

Challenge 4

Cheating and plagiarism

Challenge 5

Identity of students.

Comment: Identity verification.

Challenge 6

Drop out problem.  MOOC and the funnel of participation.

Challenge 7

Quality of MOOCs

Challenge 8

Business model of MOOC and the revenue. Coursera expansion of their MOOCs -coursera-adds-29-schools-90-courses-and-4-new-languages-to-its-online-learning-platform.  How-EdX-Plans-to-Earn.

Comment: I would reflect on each of the 8 challenges and how to tackle them in coming posts.

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