3 pros and 3 cons of MOOCs

Cornell report understands the promise of MOOCs, but warns of shaky revenue, taking up faculty time

MOOCs-learning-cons Colleges across the country are either showcasing their massive open online courses (MOOCs), in stages of development, or considering their value as thousands of students attend distance learning courses on a daily basis. However, a new report cautions that there may be drawbacks to supporting one form of distance learning over another, and that some trends might not last forever.

The report, presented by the Cornell Distance Learning Committee—comprised of faculty members, administrators, and IT leaders—notes that new developments in distance learning are “generating much excitement,” especially with “the recent rise of MOOCs.”

However, though there is much excitement, there are many who are worried that issues such as faculty time, quality of the online class, and sustainability of the revenue model are just some of the reasons to hold back on over-offering, or over-investing in, MOOCs over other forms of distance learning.…Read More

Professors file petition against Google Books settlement

From UC Berkeley to Cornell, more than 80 professors have signed a petition against a pending settlement agreement between Google Inc. and authors and publishers, reports the Daily Californian. The petition calls into question provisions within the settlement that its signers say will give Google a “de facto monopoly” over books scanned in a digital library project. According to the petition, co-written by Pamela Samuelson, a UC Berkeley professor of law and information, two of the main concerns that professors have with the settlement are the amount of compensation authors will receive for the past scanning of books, and insufficient privacy protections. Jan. 28 is the last day for authors to reject the terms of the settlement, as well as to file objections to the settlement for the presiding judge to review. In a Jan. 27 campus memo in response to Samuelson’s petition, UC Berkeley professor of economics, business, and information Hal Varian said he sees the benefits the settlement would bring. “The agreement is not perfect, but I believe it to be a huge improvement over the status quo for authors, publishers, scholars, and the general public,” Varian said in the memo. “In my view, it deserves the enthusiastic support of all Berkeley faculty.”

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