Where have MOOCs gone wrong?

I heard Stephen Downes speak at #ALTC2013 – definitely someone breaking the mould in teaching style! ‘MOOC’ has become a bit of a buzzword (with its own sub-acronyms), but here’s a piece that shows what the original vision was:

However, Downes fears that modern Moocs are placing less emphasis on providing an “interactive and dynamic” approach to learning (such as he championed with his 2008 course) and more on “static and passive” education.

“Moocs as they were originally conceived…were the locus of learning activities and interaction, but as deployed by commercial providers they resemble television shows or digital textbooks with – at best – an online quiz component,” he argues.

Siemens believes that attitudes towards Moocs are in a period of flux and that criticism is mounting because of what he calls the “biggest failing of the big Mooc providers”: they are simply repackaging what is already known rather than encouraging creativity and innovation.

Read full article.