The Chronicle of Higher Education reports that two recently released reports predict that MOOCs will not fundamentally reshape higher education, nor will they disappear altogether. The reports, released by Columbia University and Bellwether Education Partners, support the theory that the tools and techniques used in MOOCs will be subsumed by broader, incremental efforts to improve higher education with technology. The Columbia Report (pdf) found no clear indication that universities engaged in developing MOOCS will see a return on their investment for the courses. However, it also predicts that MOOCs will “evolve to more closely resemble regular online courses, with some elements—such as one-on-one tutoring, estimable credentials, and qualitative feedback on assignments—available at a price.” The Bellwether Report (pdf) recommends that policy makers deploy MOOCs strategically to improve the educational pipeline, reform articulation and finance policies to facilitate MOOCs-to-credit, challenge colleges to adopt hybrid models and use them to improve affordability, and ensure that content created with public dollars is openly licensed and freely available.
http://chronicle.com/blogs/online-higher-education-will-absorb-moocs-2-reports-say/