The success of Coursera’s Signature Track courses shows that there is at last potential to go around the traditional college credit, Horn said, but the question now is whether employers will grow to respect MOOC certificates in a way that’s comparable to a college course or degree.
The goals for MOOCs then would be wrapped up in addressing the needs of employers, and preparing students to impress those employers. Meanwhile, the goals for universities tend to be more focused on the research desires of their professors, Horn said.
And that could be a difference that’s hard to reconcile, even if the students themselves are willing to pay for the courses through their university.
The effect could be MOOCs and universities growing further part, not coming closer together.
“A lot of people right now are complaining about accreditation and so on for being such a barrier, which it is, but the history of disruption shows that when barriers collapse, it happens by going around them in different ways, not always going through,” Horn said. “I wonder if we’re seeing the beginnings of that here.”
Follow Jake New on Twitter at eCN_Jake.
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