MOOCs, on the other hand, are designed for the mass market.
They are also one element of a larger socioeconomic shift, the report said. Universities are outsourcing more academic services than ever before to independent, mostly profit-driven, entities.
MOOCs are big part of this “unbundling” process.
“According to disruptive innovation theory, one of the great benefits of academic unbundling is the unleashing of market forces in the sphere of higher education,” Wellen wrote.
Despite their uncertain future and inability so far to turn a substantial profit, MOOCs have emerged as an important player in the marketplace. Investors are pouring millions into the free online courses, and they have ended up hovering around the center of local and national education policy debates.
When outlining his education plan in August, President Obama referenced competency-based learning at Southern New Hampshire University, online courses at Arizona State University, and Georgia Tech’s MOOC-like master’s program.
“Such examples show that the prospect of academic unbundling has already begun to bring changes to state or system-wide governance of higher education institutions in order to accommodate the independent provision of more portable academic content across institutions,” Wellen wrote.
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