One thing I'm curious about is the thinking behind why Stanford, MIT, etc. decided to release MOOCs
Can you recommend any books for this?
> why Stanford, MIT, etc. decided to release MOOCs
1. It's an interesting problem space for both learning and technology.
2. They aren't really giving much up. The value of their brick-and-mortar programs are as much or more about what happens away from the classroom as what happens in them. Many people do not understand this critical aspect of elite schools.
3. This article (http://news.mit.edu/2012/mit-harvard-edx-announcement-050212) is a blurb about edx when it started. The comments are mostly PR.
4. Courses like these are good for advertising and developing the recruiting funnel if used correctly.
On a personal level, I hope that the vast majority of the education system in the US gets forceably reset through some sort of crisis (student loans?) so that we can start from scratch. The current system is largely run by the administrators for the benefit of the administrators all the way from K-12 to grad school. We can definitely do better, and online education may be a compelling part of a new path.
This is a good blog on the state of online education: http://mfeldstein.com/
And a really good article: https://www.fastcompany.com/3062958/how-google-is-schooling-...
To answer why top Universities bet on MOOCs: this is partly an attempt to get around Education's Iron Triangle (ref: http://www.adaptivelearningworld.com/?p=110)
To answer your question about MOOCs, actually, MOOCs aren't a good example of online learning at all. Somehow most universities did not think thoroughly enough how online learning should be revolutionalized and redesigned, so they just thought videos+quizes+forums would just work. The best kind of online learning I am seeing is a funnel like this:
1. Fragmented Knowledge: Provide users with bite-sized knowledge, before letting them dedicate their time to online courses. Gives users motivation to start learning. 2. Systematic Online Learning: Provide users with interactive learning content, which should be both engaging and filled with theory and practice. Gives users a basic knowledge of the topic, does not ensure the users' internalization of knowledge. 3. Blended Learning: Provide users with coaching service, mostly in 1v1 or small classes. Gives users motivation, mentoring and monitoring, this ensures the internalization of knowledge.
Online learning should be social, should be gamified, should be adaptive, should be practical. Most MOOCs barely are like that, when we are talking about online education, many startups in China are ahead of Silicon Valley. Chinese parents are more interested in their children's education than most other parents in the world, the enormous housing bubble is mostly encouraged by "school district housings"(学区房), where parents buy 10 square meter apartments in Haidian, Xicheng, Dongcheng district in Beijing just to let their children go to some famous public school.
https://www.amazon.com/One-World-Schoolhouse-Education-Reima...
Recommend a book, as to why online is the future?