Just when it seemed like nothing new could be written
on the subject of massive open online courses (MOOCs), along comes an article
with a unique spin. The Boston Globe interviewed a Lexington, MA, author and entrepreneur who is trying
to cram 32 MOOCs into a single calendar year to earn what he believes is the
equivalent of a bachelor’s degree in philosophy.
Jonathan Haber, 51, earned a degree in chemistry from
Wesleyan University in 1985. He founded and sold a company that did computer
testing and training, and is now a stay-at-home dad. Since January, Haber has
completed or is currently taking about a dozen classes from edX and Coursera.
Haber, who is blogging about his experience at degreeoffreedom.org, has already found that
discussion boards work best when fewer people contribute and that they often
become political rants when more students participate. He is also taking a
literature course with 25,000 students enrolled that uses peer-to-peer grading
where students are each required to grade three other papers based on specific
instructions.
“Peer grading can be used to get people to stay focused
on the message, but it also means somebody who wants to spread their wings a
little bit, they can’t do it there,” Haber said. “[MOOCs are] definitely going
to make a big contribution to changing education. The risk is, everyone is so
excited about them now, it will be one of those angel/devil things when, in
fact, they are an interesting work in progress.”
