Massive Open Online Courses

1334 Words3 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Distance learning verses conventional learning

MOOC is an acronym for “massive open online course”; these MOOCs have had a far-reaching influence on the way education is perceived today. For the moment, MOOCs are almost always free, as students pay no fees to register or take the course. Enrollment is high, ranging anywhere from thousands to hundreds of thousands. While enrollment, and perceived interests may be high, course completion rates are extremely low; frequently, no more than five or ten percent of students who register go on to finish the course. 1 The mission of MOOCs is to increase access to higher education globally, reduce costs and reinvigorate teaching and learning. 2 MOOCs have spread like a wildfire; the number of students taking at least one online class is now at 6.7 million. 3 Additionally, the proportion of all students taking at least one online course is at an all-time high of 32 percent. 3 Online higher education is rapidly increasing in importance and is now a central aspect of the western educational model for the future. On the surface, MOOCs and online higher education seem to be bona fide concepts to export to developing nations, but in reality, online higher education is a part of the veiled forced westernization of the third world.
Throughout history in various instances the western world imposed the western educational model on traditional cultures. This education interferes with the native culture and destroys the history of the people. The poster for Carol Black’s film, Schooling the World: The White Man’s Last Burden?, poses a question: “if you wanted to destroy a culture where would you start?” You would start with the children. 4 In Africa, Christian missionaries introduced the Western style educational system and even after the es...

... middle of paper ...

...l Computers for eLearning: Sri Lankan Experience." Journal of Education and Training Studies [Online], 1.2 (2013): 152-158.
15: eLearning Africa News. (Apr. 2013). Education in refugee camps. eLearning Africa News.
16: Enkiwe-Abayao, Leah. (Winter 2003). Ifugao Knowledge and Formal Education -Systems of Learning in the Philippines. 27.4. Indigenous Education and the Prospects for Cultural Survival.
17: Al-Harthi, A. S. (2010a). Learner Self-Regulation in Distance Education: A Cross-Cultural Study. The American Journal of Distance Education, 24 (3), 135-150.
18: Al-Harthi, A. S. (2010b) Cultural Differences in Transactional Distance Preference by Arab and American Distance Learner. The Quarterly Review of Distance Education Journal. 11(4), pp. 257-267.
19: Emanuel, EJ. Nature. (2013 Nov 21). Online education: MOOCs taken by educated few. University of Pennsylvania.

Show More
Related

  • Chunky Peanut Boot Laura Pappano Analysis

    662 Words  | 2 Pages

    In Laura Pappano’s essay, “The Year of the MOOC”, she describes a MOOC, or a Massive Open Online Course, an online course to build a higher education for people around the world. After examining “Chunky Peanut Butter”, by James Gregory, I am convinced he’s the best college applicant to attend a MOOC because he’s flexible and can work with anyone, he’s active in the community and he never gives up.

    Read More

  • Is College Doomed? A New Form Of University?

    1435 Words  | 3 Pages

    Colleges and universities in the past were limited to one type of student, upper class males, but now colleges and universities are centers of education for people of all backgrounds. People from different backgrounds and opinions congregating at these centers of education, forced many colleges to evolve. By giving colleges and universities a large variety in their students, it forces them to ditch a standard on education. Due to this fact, all colleges and universities must deliver an assortment of options in the effort of giving everyone the best education possible. Evolution for colleges and universities did not end there; due to the birth of the world wide web most colleges and universities now give the option to enroll in online classes. This rise in online education spawned a new form of university, fully online universities. Author Graeme Wood presents in his essay, “Is College Doomed?” a wonderful example of what a college or university should not be. Graeme Wood describes Minerva, an online university with the goal of stripping education to only the essentials. Minerva wants to take away campuses, sports, lectures, and most amenities leaving only their version of education. Minerva’s goal to take away options for students reduces their reach, leaving only a select few with the desire to join Minerva. Limiting students only leads to a worse education, especially since the students are the ones paying for the version of education they desire. College’s most valuable asset is their plethora of options in living, community forming, studying abroad, and variety of classes, this aspect of college in particular is what creates a perfect education for any student.

    Read More

  • European Imperialism Dbq Analysis

    652 Words  | 2 Pages

    As Europe, and particularly Britain, tried to take over Africa, they also forced their structure of culture into the natives’ way of living.“Your new-caught, sullen peoples / Half-devil and half-child…” (Doc F). This quote shows that the Europeans thought little of the African natives and thought they needed to be taught

    Read More

  • An Analysis of Emerging Adults

    1041 Words  | 3 Pages

    Wang, C., Shannon, D. M., & Ross, M. E. (2013). Students’ characteristics, self-regulated learning, technology self-efficacy, and course outcomes in online learning. Distance Education, 34(3), 302-323. doi:10.1080/01587919.2013.835779

    Read More

  • Can You Be Educated From a Distance?

    664 Words  | 2 Pages

    In his article, “Can You Be Education from a Distance?”, James Barszcz effectively weighs the pros and cons of online education compared to the traditional method, while effectively supporting his position with factual information and statistics. While distance education proves to be convenient for students, Barszcz asserts that it eliminates valuable experiences necessary in order to get the most out of the material being learned.

    Read More

  • The Imposition of Colonialism on Africa

    1244 Words  | 3 Pages

    The imposition of colonialism on Africa drastically reconstructed the continent. All over, European powers attempted to “assimilate” countries into their own, all the while exploiting and victimizing their people, culture, and resources. However, if there was one aspect of colonialism that provided a fertile ground for conflict, it was the unknowingly insidious method of introducing religion, specifically Christianity, into African families. This is particularly exemplified in the novels Things Fall Apart, Houseboy, and Weep Not, Child. Throughout these novels, the assimilation of Christianity within the protagonists’ not only results in a destruction of their sacred and traditional values, but also their well-being and those around them.

    Read More

  • Myths About Africa And African History: The Student's Ten Commandments By Pier Larson

    1096 Words  | 3 Pages

    Africa has an incredibly rich and complex history. Unfortunately, and for a variety of reasons, the west has a highly skewed and inaccurate perspective of Africa. In his “Myths About Africa, Africans, and African History: The Student’s ‘Ten Commandments’” Pier Larson critiques some of these perspectives and discusses where these western ideas of Africa come from. While these myths certainly are false, it is still interesting to see them and ponder why they exist and what that, in turn, reflects on western society. These reflections are very negative and limits western society’s perspective and ability to relate and identify with what is a vast and diverse continent.

    Read More

  • Persuasive Essay On Free College

    580 Words  | 2 Pages

    “The rate at which enrollments for online classes and education programs is expanding much faster in both the developed and developing worlds than at traditional universities,” claims Reed Karaim. He also states that “Online courses offer the benefits of greater convenience and also a lower total cost. (Karaim, “Expanding Higher Education”). With more online courses being offered on sites such as Udemy and Lynda as well as top universities such as Harvard and MIT, there is less incentive for students to seek education from universities

    Read More

  • Quality and Effectiveness of Hybrid Education

    2136 Words  | 5 Pages

    Menchaca, Michael P., and Teklu Abate Bekele. "Learner and Instructor Identified Success Factors in Distance Education." Distance Education 29.3 (2008): 231-52. ProQuest Research Library. Web. 25 Apr. 2012.

    Read More

  • Online Courses are Superior to Traditional Courses

    1561 Words  | 4 Pages

    O'Malley, John, and Harrison McCraw. "Students perceptions of distance learning, online learning and the traditional classroom." Online journal of distance learning administration [Online] 2.4 (1999). Web. 10 Jan. 2014

    Read More

  • Persuasive Essay On Online Education

    2194 Words  | 5 Pages

    Online education is a booming trend in the education world. It is something different than the traditional classroom. It is allowing student around the world the opportunity to get an education. Online education allows student to have a more proficient and cheaper way of learning. Having multiple ways to give a student an education allows all learning types to find their own way of learning. Education changes lives but it can be difficult for students to get to a classroom to sit through an hour class 4 times a week, this can be for many different reasons. There are many doubts about online education, but this a new world without borders it is a new opportunity for people from all over the world to get an education.

    Read More

  • Argumentative Essay On Online Education

    1030 Words  | 3 Pages

    Some students within society need to have online learning to complete college degrees due to their lifestyles. While it is good to have online learning as an option if one chooses, it should not be the only option available to some students. Some may argue that online education is not creating discrimination within the educational environment. Furthermore, some may suggest that online learning is benefiting our students in society. There has been a breakthrough in time and geographical limitations of education via online courses (Ho, 2009).

    Read More

  • Effectiveness of Online Courses

    1180 Words  | 3 Pages

    The author supposes the design of teaching methods and learning activities would prove vital in online students’ success. The author further states online learning (E-learning) aids in self-regulated learning (SRL), and is thought to be a way to assist learners individually. Self-regulated learning is defined by the author as “the efforts put forth by students to control and monitor their motivation, concentration, and affective aspect to protect their goals.” Studies show that teachers’ feedback plays a critical role in students’ controlling their learning and becoming self-regulated learning.

    Read More

  • The Cost Effectiveness of Online Education

    1542 Words  | 4 Pages

    Many people think online education can be more expensive than a traditional school setting. Previous generations did not have the option for online learning experience, so why should we start now? An interesting point about online education is that LeBaron (2010) states, “The largest school in the U.S. is the University of Phoenix Online, with a whopping 380,232 students. That’s over 5x more than the largest public school, Arizona State University, which has 68,064 students” (para. 7). Despite the cost effectiveness, distance education is becoming the educational model of the future.

    Read More

  • Disadvantages Of Online Education

    1359 Words  | 3 Pages

    In today’s technological advancements, people have various options to educating themselves online. “All education is self-education [...] We don’t learn anything we don’t want to learn.” (Chernoff). Much of the learning process is self education, and one can only learn what one desires to learn. The people who receive a real education are the one’s who take initiative to self educate themselves. This has been made substantially easier due to the Internet. Nowadays, there are so many online courses available, which allow students to work at

    Read More

More about Massive Open Online Courses

Open Document