Sloan-C Conference: MOOCs Receive Tepid Response!

Dear Commons Community,

As I indicated  earlier this week, I am at the Sloan-C International Conference on Online Learning in Orlando. The highlight of the day was the plenary panel session, Evolution or Revolution:  What’s Happening with Traditional Online Learning? featuring:

  • Jeff Young (The Chronicle of Higher Education, US) – Panel Moderator
  • Jose Cruz (The Education Trust, US)
  • Alan Drimmer (University of Phoenix, US)
  • Jack Wilson (University of Massachusetts, US)
The most interesting part of the discussion centered on the viability of MOOCs (Massive Open Online Course).  Jack Wilson, who is the former president of the University of Massachusetts and the founder of UMASS Online, did not provide a ringing endorsement of the MOOC format and was highly critical of any learning modality that has a ten percent completion rate.  The moderator, Jeff Young, asked the audience of their impression of MOOCs and the response was tepid at best.  Today, the keynote speaker will be Sebastian Trun, who was one of the pioneers in offering online courses in the MOOC format.

Also good to see CUNY colleagues, Alyson Vogel, Jennifer Sparrow and Susan Ko at the conference.

Tony