Serendipity35

One of the biggest changes in the MOOC movement the past two years that distinguishes it from the three earlier experimental years is the discussions on credit. Those early massive courses were open in several ways and obtaining credits for those taking the course at a distance for free was not a real concern.

Although much (too much?) talk these days is about how to ascertain achievement and how to pay for and award credit, it should be remembered that the vast majority of MOOC participants are NOT interested in credit. They are interested in furthering their knowledge for free.

San Jose State University is partnering with Udacity to offer some credit MOOCs. Thankfully, those not wanting credit can still take these classes for free. (I have heard this confusingly termed as a "blended" model. Blended should remain as meaning a course that meets both online and face to face.)

Empire State College (part of the SUNY system) announced that it wanted to bring all its online classes "under one umbrella" in order to encourage degree completion. ACE has approved five MOOCs for its credit recommendations. Two courses each come from Duke University, and the University of California at Irvine, and one is from the University of Pennsylvania. All are offered through Coursera.

I think that Robert Clougherty, acting vice provost for research, innovation, and open education at Empire State, rightly predicts that "MOOCs are not the salvation of education. They’re another means.” 


http://www.acenet.edu/the-presidency/columns-and-features/Pages/Giving-MOOCs-Some-Credit.aspx

http://chronicle.com/article/American-Council-on-Education/137155/