Higher education is increasingly digital and massive
open online courses (MOOCs) are part of the reason why. A meeting of higher-ed representatives
from around the world discovered that the challenges involved with the
transition to digital learning were the same no matter the size of the
institution.
“The takeaway? Higher education is going digital,
responding to the architecture of knowledge in a digital age, and MOOCs, while
heavily criticized, have proven a much-needed catalyst for the development of
progressive programs that respond to the changing world,” wrote Allison Dulin
Salisbury, who works on special projects for the president’s office at
Davidson College, in a blog post for Insider Higher Education.
The group found that MOOCs have pushed the digital conversation
to the forefront at each institution and online instruction has focused
attention on teaching and the learning process. MOOCs also build more
opportunities for collaboration across campus departments and have led to more
experimentation.
“The early impacts of MOOCs on higher education are a
sign that this transition is difficult, but entirely possible,” Salisbury added.
“As the next waves of hype impact universities, likely in the form of adaptive
learning and competency-based education, the systems that are successful will
be those that address the full spectrum of learning: liberal arts, vocational,
and lifelong.”
