Will MOOC’s Forever Change Higher Education?

An interesting movement seems to be on its way. The OER (Open Educational Resources) and OEP/OEC (Open Educational Pracitce and Culure) development, the launch of MOOC and open badges seems to be driving forces. Now it is happening in Universities as well. Joe DiDonato wrote yesterday on July 18, 2012, under the heading Will MOOC’s Forever Change Higher Education? that Massive Open Online Courses, or MOOCs, are expected to draw millions of students and adult learners from around the world. Will we now see with MOOC that Universities are Reshaping Education on the Web. What is  a MOOC then?

 
As part of a seismic shift in online learning MOOC is reshaping higher education, Coursera, a year-old company founded by two Stanford University computer scientists,  announce that a dozen major research universities are joining the venture. In the fall, Coursera will offer 100 or more free massive open online courses, or MOOCs, that are expected to draw millions of students and adult learners globally.  

Ramin Rahimian for The New York Times

Daphne Koller and Andrew Ng of Stanford are adding 12 universities to Coursera, the online education venture they founded.

So far, MOOCs have offered no credit, just a “statement of accomplishment” and a grade. But the University of Washington said it planned to offer credit for its Coursera offerings this fall, and other online ventures are also moving in that direction.  To earn credit, students would probably have to pay a fee, do extra assignments and work with an instructor. Finally maybe the Open Badge movement by Mozilla will become a reality

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