One of the articles that we read this week discussed MOOCs: MOOCs and Directing an Academic Field. by Dr. Kimmons. He offered a critical look inside one of the many problems of MOOCs, creating an academic monoculture. In academia, the diversity of ideas is important. Students are heavily influenced by their professors' beliefs which is why many universities try to diversify ideas. Universities hire professors who come from other universities who are being exposed to different mentors with different ideas. However, when hundreds and thousands of learners are exposed to the same ideas through MOOCS then "biases and pet theories" can permeate the field without asking for accountability. If we want to keep academia full of diverse ideas then MOOCs are not something that universities should support without taking a deep look into this problem and finding solutions to it. Of course, this is just one of the many problems that MOOCs exacerbated.
As I read this article, I started to think about the underlying inequality and significant criticism of MOOCs. One idea that comes to my mind is that "One size does not fit all." MOOCs are trying to sell this idea that all our educational needs are similar, but I believe that all learners are different from my personal experiences as a student, as a mom, and as a teacher. Even with the requisite foundation and preparation, not all learners have the deposition to persist and succeed. Believing that one size fits all can lead to a situation in which those with a responsibility to ensure access to education believe that MOOCs are the answer they have been looking for, and they start implementing MOOCs as the only solution.
Great thoughts Gloria! I agree that the idea of on-size fits all is concerning on many levels. There are so many different needs and paths that education requires individualization! That being said, universities have to figure out how to scale their instruction. At our university there are classes with just a few students and there are classes with thousands of students. Though huge classes can be very problematic, the university hasn't figured out how to teach their general education classes in a cost-effective way without the large numbers. For me personally, I'm not concerned if hundreds of thousands of people learn accounting from the same professor. Though there are probably some attitudes and opinions passed on, the focu…
So true, one size does not fit all. But then we come to a conundrum where sometimes the context of MOCCs really does fit and they prove to be a really good solution. So in the end there can be a solution although I agree they cannot be the only solution. The tricky part there comes how can we balance all the solutions and make sure that we don't get to myopic but also that we don't waste resources on trying to do to much. Such a tricky situation.