{"id":857,"date":"2014-02-19T18:30:29","date_gmt":"2014-02-19T18:30:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/harwoodben.com\/?p=857"},"modified":"2014-02-19T21:15:08","modified_gmt":"2014-02-19T21:15:08","slug":"whos-afraid-of-the-big-bad-mooc","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/harwoodben.com\/?p=857","title":{"rendered":"Why we shouldn’t fear MOOCs"},"content":{"rendered":"

We are at a significant crossroads in higher education, in the liberal arts especially. A staggering economy for graduates combined with public outcry about high tuition and student loans is all bringing the value of a liberal arts education into question: a perfect storm. What’s most disturbing is a lingering doubtful perception about the return on investment made manifest by many media sources, occasionally influencing elected officials to poke<\/a>\u00a0fun at\u00a0the arts and humanities. While many lament the advent of MOOCs, online learning has been around for nearly two decades. It’s yesterday’s news. But as Michael Roth, president of Wesleyan, has elegantly\u00a0written,<\/a> the liberal arts DO matter now more than ever. So the current promulgation and growing abundance of freely available content is a powerful incentive and opportunity to re-visit and re-invigorate traditional\u00a0entry-level curricula in new fruitful directions. History 101 can shed the first 4 weeks of materials, mostly review content that’s easily flipped,<\/em> and develop new, higher quality activities in class.<\/p>\n

Beyond the hype, at the core of MOOCs, especially connectivist MOOCs, is a genuine community sharing of open resources, an extension of the historical mission of 20th century public libraries with print publications, to connect citizens with electronic access to assets of knowledge. \u00a0The real value of open online learning is that it has solved the access issue for knowledge-thirsty\u00a0netizens<\/a>\u00a0around the world.\u00a0There’s a subtle efficiency at play here. What’s to come? Motivated self-directed learners will find ways to imbibe introductory level course materials that will push faculty to redesign richer learning goals in first year seminars. These future students will be there, and we want to attract them. It’s an exciting time for Ed Ttech folks, especially those of us just getting started in earnest with blended learning efforts, to revisit why we used technology in the first place, namely to assist and augment sound instructional design.<\/a>\u00a0Open online courses will not destabilize the foundation of higher education. It’s natural to be fearful at first, and it’s even healthy. The natural instinct of self-preservation brings out the best in everyone. But as we let go of this panic,<\/a> there is much to reflect and build on. As George Siemens points out in a recent interview:<\/a><\/p>\n

MOOCs are not replacement models. They don\u2019t replace the existing university systems. They augment it and help those universities become more relevant in the digital space. We\u2019ve known in online and distance learning for 20 years or more that students who are at risk, you can\u2019t just give them access. There have to be support systems in place that help those students to succeed.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Not to fear, the ominous specter of online learning, free or otherwise, will not impact the tremendous value of personalized, meaningful relationships between faculty expert guides and students in our classrooms. The abundance of open materials reveals that content is no longer king; relationships and networked connections between faculty and students matter much, much more. As Harold Jarche<\/a> shared on Twitter:<\/p>\n

people connect to people, not to technology or content – @dpontefract<\/a> http:\/\/t.co\/LveVcAs5SS<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Harold Jarche (@hjarche) February 18, 2014<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Relationships\u00a0cannot be automated; drones and droids won’t even come close. What’s certain, some schools are going to close<\/a>;\u00a0but as history will show, institutions that collaborate around the sharing of knowledge and resources with an eye toward the distribution of course redesign efforts have much to gain.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

We are at a significant crossroads in higher education, in the liberal arts especially. A staggering economy for graduates combined with public outcry about high tuition and student loans is all bringing the value of a liberal arts education into … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[96,99,70,80],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-857","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-blended-learning","category-future-models","category-instructional-design","category-moocs"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":422,"url":"https:\/\/harwoodben.com\/?p=422","url_meta":{"origin":857,"position":0},"title":"Learning about openness, the “cloud” and other topics","author":"Ben Harwood","date":"August 30, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Back in June, I co-taught a WordPress for Teaching and Learning workshop at the annual SUNY Instructional Technology Conference held in Stony Brook, NY. I attended this conference in Plattsburgh, NY a few years ago. It IS an exceptionally good conference -- my colleagues at SUNY put on a great\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "openness"","block_context":{"text":"openness","link":"https:\/\/harwoodben.com\/?cat=52"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":767,"url":"https:\/\/harwoodben.com\/?p=767","url_meta":{"origin":857,"position":1},"title":"MOOCMOOC Homework assignment","author":"Ben Harwood","date":"January 14, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"I participated to some degree in the week-long MOOCMOOC. Here is a link to my Homework assignment for Day 2 in which participants were asked to either record a video clip or xtranormal animated visual that captures one's thoughts about connected and networked learning and MOOCs in general. That was\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "MOOCs"","block_context":{"text":"MOOCs","link":"https:\/\/harwoodben.com\/?cat=80"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":775,"url":"https:\/\/harwoodben.com\/?p=775","url_meta":{"origin":857,"position":2},"title":"ETMOOC assignment #1","author":"Ben Harwood","date":"January 14, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Hello! My name is Ben Harwood. I'm looking forward to #ETMOOC, the massive open online connectivist course, which begins today. Many thanks to Alec Couros, Cogdog and other stellar and generous colleagues who are making ETMOOC happen auto-magically for me and other open online participants. Please listen to my SoundCloud\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "MOOCs"","block_context":{"text":"MOOCs","link":"https:\/\/harwoodben.com\/?cat=80"},"img":{"alt_text":"2013\/365 The Abominable Snowman","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/farm9.staticflickr.com\/8074\/8378226472_7a95a3c5e2.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1203,"url":"https:\/\/harwoodben.com\/?p=1203","url_meta":{"origin":857,"position":3},"title":"Co-Creating with the Machine: What AI Reflects Back","author":"Ben Harwood","date":"October 20, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"A reflection on the 2025 Connecticut College AI & Liberal Arts Symposium, exploring how AI is reshaping liberal arts education through cross-disciplinary learning, human connection, and a shared sense of awakening. Introduction Across three autumn days at the AI and the Liberal Arts Symposium at Connecticut College, the conversations felt\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "AI"","block_context":{"text":"AI","link":"https:\/\/harwoodben.com\/?cat=124"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/harwoodben.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/ben-300x225.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":91,"url":"https:\/\/harwoodben.com\/?p=91","url_meta":{"origin":857,"position":4},"title":"Teaching is a vocation — my take. Day 1 of the Open content licensing for educators 2012-01 MOOC","author":"Ben Harwood","date":"January 24, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Wow, it's shaping up to be a very busy semester! I have enrolled in the Open content licensing for educators MOOC. If like me, you're still wondering what a MOOC is, check out Wikipedia's definition here. Also, I just read an excellent and most insightful\u00a0post by Stephen Downes. In the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "MOOCs"","block_context":{"text":"MOOCs","link":"https:\/\/harwoodben.com\/?cat=80"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1228,"url":"https:\/\/harwoodben.com\/?p=1228","url_meta":{"origin":857,"position":5},"title":"Beyond AI-Proofing: Designing for Integrity, Fluency, and the Future of Liberal Arts Learning","author":"Ben Harwood","date":"October 29, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"A colleague and friend who teaches at a liberal arts college in California recently shared with me that she spent in the ballpark of 40 hours last summer redesigning a research paper assignment to be \"AI-proof\" in her fall seminar. At the end of spring semester, her students will graduate\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Assessment"","block_context":{"text":"Assessment","link":"https:\/\/harwoodben.com\/?cat=84"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/harwoodben.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Untitled-1920-x-1000-px-791x1024.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/harwoodben.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Untitled-1920-x-1000-px-791x1024.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/harwoodben.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Untitled-1920-x-1000-px-791x1024.png?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p26mqj-dP","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/harwoodben.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/857","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/harwoodben.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/harwoodben.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/harwoodben.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/harwoodben.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=857"}],"version-history":[{"count":43,"href":"https:\/\/harwoodben.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/857\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":900,"href":"https:\/\/harwoodben.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/857\/revisions\/900"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/harwoodben.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=857"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/harwoodben.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=857"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/harwoodben.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=857"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}