Catch-22, a term made famous in the Joseph Heller novel
of the same name, has entered the lexicon as a “no-win” situation. Massive open
online courses (MOOCs) may have reached that point.
Students take MOOCs because they are free or at a very
low cost, but want to receive credit for the work. Accreditation would raise
the cost, which would, at the very least, make taking the course less
attractive for many students. However, Coursera may have found of solution with
its Signature Track program.
The educational technology firm recently reached $1
million in revenue from Signature Track courses, which offer verification
certificates for a fee. Universities have struggled to find inexpensive ways to
offer credit, but the Coursera example shows students are willing to pay fees
for courses that are billed as free educational content if college credit is
available as well.
“If a university were to offer a MOOC course,
certificate, or degree at a modest rate, I believe that students would sign
up,” Ray Schroeder, associate vice chancellor for online learning at the
University of Illinois at Springfield, told eCampus News.
“Charging 10% or less of normal tuition for a MOOC-delivered program is likely
to be very popular. Charging full tuition for a MOOC is far less likely to
garner much support.”
The other challenge currently facing MOOCs is building
awareness. There are still plenty of educators who are not sold on the courses,
and questions remain about how employers will view MOOC certificates compared to a
traditional college degree.
“A lot of people right now are complaining about
accreditation and so on for being such a barrier, which it is, but the history
of disruption shows that when barriers collapse, it happens by going around
them in different ways, not always going through,” said Michael Horn,
co-founder of the Clayton Christensen Institute for Disruptive Innovation.
“I wonder if we’re seeing the beginnings of that here.”
