| MOOCs combine the INCREDIBLE FREEDOM (and efficacy) of self-directed learning with the benefit of access to discipline-leading educators, scaleable web-based interactivity, and active participatory online community. Even given all that, nothing can replace the educational value of a 5 minute meatworld conversation with someone more knowledgeable than you. Unfortunately, this does not describe 99% of university experiences. I get better (more productive) conversations at my local hackerspace than I ever did during my undergrad years. And I'm the kind of person who is not happy unless I am learning. I'm never going back to academia because I need relevant, active learning to be an every day thing. Academia is really only appropriate for people who want to produce original research, (and also want that research to be taken seriously.) And that's only because we haven't figured out a better system of peer review outside of academia with sufficiently high standards of ethics, quality, credibility and adherence to scientific methods. So yeah. Even if you don't consider the depreciating real-world value of university degrees, academia is in trouble. IMHO if academia wants to survive it needs to take a serious look at the real, tangible value it provides society and focus on that (and only that.) Aside: There are plenty of shitty MOOCs, plenty that don't suit my learning style, but there is also a handful of golden MOOCs that have absolutely changed my life, and shape how I view the world. The difference between a shitty MOOC and a shitty pre-requisite or required university course is that you can leave the MOOC, stop participating and learn the content elsewhere. You are never locked into an unpleasant learning experience. Shitty MOOCs will either have to get better or die. In the shitty university course, you either suffer or fail. It's not a hard choice to make, given a choice. |