I strongly disagree with your first presumption: "1) The problem with most universities around the world is that most teachers do no add real value to the education process, they just repeat content in a way similar to a virtual course."
We know from experience (as do many MOOC providers now, after experiences the excruciatingly low completion rates in their courses) that most students require the participation and guidance of an excellent instructor to succeed. Personally, as a student and an educator, I have found this to be true in both the traditional brick-and-mortar universities, and in online learning.
Of course the MOOC (which for all intents and purposes thus far, is a library, a repository for often great information) so far has been a good tool for from which great students may learn, but most students are not top-tier learners.
I have always been pro libraries. The more good information we can get out to the masses, the better! We also want to be sure address the needs of the masses, as well though, as they are the vast majority of students
Thanks for sharing this article. It suggests (as I do) that adding an actual teacher to the equation will bolster the currently floundering MOOC (Coursera), and hopefully help to change it from a library to an actual course:
"The learning hubs represent a new stage in the evolution of “massive open online courses,” or MOOCs, and address two issues: the lack of reliable Internet access in some countries, and the growing conviction that students do better if they can discuss course materials, and meet at least occasionally with a teacher or facilitator."
Authored Comments
I strongly disagree with your first presumption: "1) The problem with most universities around the world is that most teachers do no add real value to the education process, they just repeat content in a way similar to a virtual course."
We know from experience (as do many MOOC providers now, after experiences the excruciatingly low completion rates in their courses) that most students require the participation and guidance of an excellent instructor to succeed. Personally, as a student and an educator, I have found this to be true in both the traditional brick-and-mortar universities, and in online learning.
Of course the MOOC (which for all intents and purposes thus far, is a library, a repository for often great information) so far has been a good tool for from which great students may learn, but most students are not top-tier learners.
I have always been pro libraries. The more good information we can get out to the masses, the better! We also want to be sure address the needs of the masses, as well though, as they are the vast majority of students
Thanks for sharing this article. It suggests (as I do) that adding an actual teacher to the equation will bolster the currently floundering MOOC (Coursera), and hopefully help to change it from a library to an actual course:
"The learning hubs represent a new stage in the evolution of “massive open online courses,” or MOOCs, and address two issues: the lack of reliable Internet access in some countries, and the growing conviction that students do better if they can discuss course materials, and meet at least occasionally with a teacher or facilitator."