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More on MOOCs

I just came by this NYTimes article which is a somber reflection on the progress of MOOCs.

One example (from a few):

"Much of the hope - and hype - surrounding MOOCs has focused on the promise of courses for students in poor countries with little access to higher education. But a separate survey from the University of Pennsylvania released last month found that about 80 percent of those taking the university’s MOOCs had already earned a degree of some kind." 

The first opinion on the article posted here agrees with this reflection.

For me, the power of MOOCs lies in the ability to (1) disseminate content in a smartly moderated way, and (2) to collect feedback directly from any number of students. Perhaps I am blurring the lines too much between MOOCs and VLEs, but the ways in which a "stranger"-student would be able to contribute to the content that will be taught next time around seems powerful to me.

Why, then, do we busy ourselves in worrying about how students will learn what we already teach in classrooms? Isn't it time we reviewed what truths we prescribe for the future's people? If they don't shape it, do we expect that we will shape the rest of history?
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