Exploring the ‘dark side’ of MOOCs


New infograph illustrates MOOC critics’ viewpoints.

Massive open online courses (MOOCs) are the latest higher-education trend to capture attention, but not everyone is convinced that MOOCs are the solution to accessible post-secondary education. A new infograph sheds light on higher-education institutions’ opinions about MOOCs, their sustainability, and more.

The Dark Side of MOOCs, released by Online Colleges, an online education information resource,  explores whether or not massive open online courses live up to their hype.

It’s no secret that many colleges are concerned about the sustainability of MOOCs. In fact, 55 percent of surveyed institutions said they were undecided about their plans to offer MOOCs, while 32.7 percent said they had no plans to offer MOOCs. A mere 9.4 percent said they were in the planning stages to offer MOOCs, and a smaller 2.6 percent said they currently offer a MOOC.

The infograph studies three of the most popular platforms to offer MOOCs—Coursera, edX, and Udacity. Coursera, a for-profit MOOC provider founded by two Stanford professors, offers more than 210 courses as of press time, while edX is a nonprofit MOOC platform that is home to 25 courses and is run by MIT, Harvard, and Berkley. The for-profit Udacity currently offers 22 courses as of press time and also was founded by a Stanford professor.

(Next page: What are campus administrators’ chief concerns about MOOCs?)Administrators’ chief concerns about MOOCs are outlined in the infograph. Regarding the high number of students taking the courses, critics assert that MOOCs cannot provide the same intimate experience as a traditional classroom. Students are unable to get to know their professors as well as they might have in a physical setting.

MOOCs also have notoriously low retention rates. The infograph pointed to MITx’s Circuits and Electronics course, in which 154,763 students registered, but only 7,157 completed the course, marking a 5-percent completion rate; 55 percent of students dropped out before the course began.

MOOCs might not be the best choice for students who lack motivation, and those who choose to pursue MOOCs must be aware of their unique course structure. The infograph highlights issues with academic dishonesty and plagiarism, some of which were discovered at Coursera last August through peer grading.

The lack of universal standards also concerns MOOC critics, as does the issue of college credit-worthiness.

Check out the full infograph here:

Follow Assistant Editor Sarah Langmead on Twitter @eCN_Sarah.

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