DISRUPTIVE MOOC - WORK IN PROGRESS

Recently, I had a conversation with a well-wisher about MOOCs, and the potential disruptive nature of this educational form. As a continuation to earlier articles on Education, this particular article is to share my thought on MOOCs, and how it should fit in the educational ecosystem. MOOCs certainly has the potential to improve the quality of education, and offers a very powerful platform. At the same time, there are certain issues to be considered while looking into online platform of education.

The central basis of education and educational institutions is to define and shape the character of individuals/students without their realization, if channeled correctly can play a vital role in the transformation of an individual into a more refined and socially responsible person. Moreover, the close friends network that we build during college days tends to remain for a long time, and the pleasant memories that can come out of a lively University/College atmosphere remains in our minds for ever. Further, a right University environment provides opportunity for youngsters to build onto their communication and social interaction skills.

Coming to lifelong journey, though the Bachelors and/or Masters years might appear to be a long time during that phase of the journey, it forms only a small part of the entire life journey. Sometimes, rushing through the learning process might take away the brighter moments of college life. Just for that fact, I would highly recommend Universities to be careful while moving towards MOOCs.

If that were the case, how can MOOCs be utilized - As mentioned earlier, technological innovations are prone to happen, and MOOCs offer a medium for continuous learning, and to further our education to changing times. It also allows individuals to navigate into the areas that are away from their comfort zone. MOOCs can also be incorporated into traditional educational program for certain types of courses to combat the disproportionate increase in educational costs across the globe.

Educational Institutions with right education and teachers, are the pillars of human wisdom. For that reason, it is an important area where innovation happens, but without disrupting the system. Instead, right amount of investment in the form of time and money should go into continuously evolving it to the changing times.