Elsevier

Business Horizons

Volume 59, Issue 4, July–August 2016, Pages 441-450
Business Horizons

Higher education and the digital revolution: About MOOCs, SPOCs, social media, and the Cookie Monster

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bushor.2016.03.008Get rights and content

Abstract

Distance learning—that is, providing education to students who are separated by distance and in which the pedagogical material is planned and prepared by educational institutions—is a topic of regular interest in the popular and business press. In particular, MOOCs (Massive Open Online Courses), which are open-access online courses that allow for unlimited participation, as well as SPOCs (Small Private Online Courses), are said to have revolutionized universities and the corporate education landscape. In this article we provide a nuanced analysis of the phenomenon of online distance learning. We first provide an overview of its historical evolution, and subsequently define and classify key concepts. We further discuss in detail the optimal target group in terms of participating students and teaching professors and propose corresponding frameworks for driving intrinsic student motivation and for choosing a successful online teacher. We also outline the benefits that institutions can achieve by offering online distance learning. Finally, we speak about the specific connection between online distance learning and social media by focusing on the difference between MOOCs based on traditional lecture formats (xMOOCs) and connectivist cMOOCs.

Section snippets

Course objective

“Just because you haven’t found your talent yet, doesn’t mean you don’t have one.”

– Kermit the Frog

Those of us born in the ‘70s or later share a set of childhood friends. You may not always think about them, but Kermit the Frog, Bert and Ernie, and the Cookie Monster—to name just a few of the Muppets living on Sesame Street—have shaped the lives of millions of children. They taught us how to spell (think of the ABC-DEF-GHI song), how to count (remember the frightening Count von Count), how to

History of distance learning

The history of higher education can be traced back to ancient Greece, where Plato founded his academy roughly 2,400 years ago. At that time, however, and for the next 1,400 years or so, higher education was limited to a precious few. Only in the Middle Ages did larger scale universities begin to appear in Bologna (1088) and in Paris, where the Sorbonne was founded in 1150. However, despite the change in scale, these universities worked in nearly the same manner as the first academies did:

Student population

In principle, the possibility to learn without being dependent on time and place and at nearly zero cost makes participation in a MOOC suitable for everyone, although there are some limitations in this respect (see details on this below). Whether all MOOC participants actually graduate successfully from the course is a different issue altogether. Following through on a MOOC or a SPOC requires a relatively high level of intrinsic motivation and self-discipline. Successful graduates therefore

Benefits

There are various reasons why developing a MOOC or SPOC might make sense for a university or distance learning provider. In what follows we provide a structured overview of the key objectives and benefits that can be achieved by online distance learning. We present our framework as a Sesame Street-style ABC song.

Student assessment

In order to offer a truly comparable alternative to traditional education, online distance learning providers will need to deliver formal certificates or diplomas for at least some of their courses. This raises the question of how to ensure that the person who followed the course is the same as the one who took the exam. A traditional solution, used by several providers, is to conduct exams in person in a physical test center. Udacity and edX, for example, have entered a partnership with

Digital and social media use policy

While online distance learning has already obtained an established place in the education landscape, it is likely that the importance of MOOCs and SPOCs will increase even further in the future. The next generation of students who are knocking at your door are digital natives, bringing with them a unique set of opportunities and challenges (Pucciarelli & Kaplan, 2016): Not only are these future students more comfortable substituting a MOOC for a traditional face-to-face lecture, but they also

Concluding information

“Me do anything for cookie – Cowabunga!”

– The Cookie Monster

Now, coming back to our initial question, what does all of this mean for the future of the education industry in general and business education in particular? Look at the webpage “No-Pay MBA” to get some idea. This site offers the possibility to combine MOOCs offered by top business schools such as Harvard, Yale, MIT, and Wharton into a curriculum equivalent to that of a full-time MBA program, for less than $1,000. A full program

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