Total views : 828

A Case for MOOCs in Indian Higher Education System

P. N. Rao 1*, M. Komaraiah 2, P. Narasimha Reddy 2

Affiliations

  • Sree Nidhi Institute of Science and Technology, Yamnampet, Ghatkesar, Hyderabad, India
  • Sree Nidhi Institute of Science and Technology, Yamnampet, Ghatkesar, Hyderabad - 501 301, India

DOI:

Abstract


Massive open online courses (MOOC) have started in 2008 but the interest has really exploded since 2012. The proliferation of MOOCs happened because of the maturing of many of the technologies such as the wide availability of low cost broadband, cheaper laptops, tablets, and smart phones, expanded cellular network, cloud storage and computing and social networking. The need for low cost education for masses has been felt and MIT started the open courseware movement, which has been followed by many other big universities. This has naturally progressed into MOOC and a large number of MOOCs have been made available. Because of the openness and online,eager students particularly from developing nations have lapped up MOOCs.

India also followed with the IITs and IIM providing themin a smallway.Therewere also efforts to make the MOOCs for credit by some universities. The structure of a MOOC is slightly different from traditional classroom based courses in order to keep the attention of the online student with the course. Therefore, it is necessary to follow the best practices that have proven successful with theMOOCs that are already available.

For Indian higher education system, MOOCs actually would provide a very convenient model to impart quality education across a large number of private institutions. It is important to consider a viable model for offering MOOCs as part of regular university curriculumand offer credit at the same time having the flexibility of taking free courses. This paper offers such amodel for Indian universities.


Keywords

Higher Education, MOOC, India, University, Open Education.

Full Text:

 |  (PDF views: 210)

References


  • Brown, Mark (2013, April 29) 6.003z signals a new open education ecosystem MITx student used OCW to create his own massive open online course. (Retrieved on July 7, 2015 from http://newsoffice.mit.edu/2013/6003z-signalsa-new-open-education-ecosystem)

  • Chang, R. I., Hung, Y. H., & Lin, C. F. (2015). Survey of learning experiences and influence of learning style preferences on user intentions r eg ar ding MO OCs. British Jo urna l of Educational Technology, 46, 3, 528-541.

  • Chattopadhyay, Sahana(2015, June 1) MOOCs Workplace learning part 2, Designing MOOC, ( Retrieved on July 7, 2015 from http://learnnovators.com/moocs-workplacelearning-part-2-design ing-mooc/)

  • Chen, X., Barnett, D. R., & Stephens, C. (2013). Fad or future: The advantages and challenges of massive open online courses (MOOCs). In Research-to Practice Conference in Adult and Higher Education (pp. 20-21).

  • Cooper, S., & Sahami, M. (2013). Reflections on Stanford's MOOCs. Communications of the ACM, 56(2), 28-30.

  • Cormier, Dave (2 October 2008). "The CCK08 MOOC - Connectivism course, 1/4 way". Dave's EducationalBlog.(http://davecormier.com/edbl og/2008/10/02/the-cck08-mooc-connectivismcourse-14-way/) Retrieved July 7, 2015.

  • de Waard, I., Koutropoulos, A., Keskin, N., Abajian, S. C., Hogue, R., Rodriguez, O., & Gallagher, M. S. (2011). Exploring the MOOC format as a pedagogical approach for mLearning. Proceedings from mLearn.

  • Educause (2013, June). Seven things you should know about MOOCs II. Educause learning initiative. (Retrieved on July 6, 2015 from http://net.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/ELI7097.pdf).

  • Hardesty, Larry (2012, July 16) Lessons learned from MITx's prototype course, (Retrieved on July 7, 2015 from http://newsoffice.mit.edu/2012/mitx-edx-firstcourse-recap-0716)

  • Higher education MOOCs, Retrieved on July 7, 2015fromhttp://www.moocs.co/Higher_Educat ion_MOOCs.html

  • Keller, J. M. (1987). Development and use of the ARCS model of motivational design. Journal of Instructional Development, 10, 3, 2-10.

  • Keller, J. M. (1999). Using the ARCS motivational process in computer-based instruction and distance education. In M. Theall (ed.), New Directions for Teaching and Learning: Motivation from Within: Approaches for Encouraging Faculty and Students to Excel. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, (#78).

  • Kennedy, J. (2014). Characteristics of Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs): A Research Review, 2009-2012. Journal of Interactive Online Learning, 13,1, 1 - 16.

  • Khemka, Karan (2013, November 4) Moocs might matter even more in emerging markets, (Retrieved on July 7, 2015 from http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/8bd7ecc4-453e11e3-b98b-00144feabdc0.html#axzz3fAZ7TNxr)

  • Kop, R. (2011). The challenges to connectivist learning on open online networks: Learning experiences during a massive open online course. The International Review of Research In Open And Distributed Learning, 12(3), 19-38.

  • Korn, M. (2013, May 14). Co ursera makes case for MOOCs. Wall Street Journal (Retrieved on July7,2015fromhttp://online.wsj.com/news/arti cles/SB10001424127887324715704578483570 761525766).

  • Leber, J. (2013, March 15). In the developing world, MOOCs start to get real. MIT Technology Review. (Retrieved on July 7, 2015 from http://www.technologyreview.com/news/51225 6/in-thedeveloping-world-moocs-start-to-getreal/)

  • Mackness, J., Mak, S. & Williams, R. (2010). The ideals and reality of participating in a MOOC.In: Proceedings of the 7th International Conference on Networked Learnin g 2010. University of Lancaster, Lancaster, pp. 266-275.

  • Margaryan, A., Bianco, M., & Littlejohn, A. (2015). Instructional quality of Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs). Computers & Education, 80, 77-83.

  • McGreal, R., Conrad, D., Murphy, A., Witthaus, G., & Mackintosh, W. (2014). Formalising informal learning: Assessment and accreditation challenges within disaggregated systems. Open Praxis, 6(2), 125-133.

  • Naidu, S. and Barberà, E. (2014) The Weakest Link - Assessment and Accreditation in MOOCs, Digital Education Review, 25, 1-6.

  • Rodriguez, C. O. (2012). MO OCs and the AI-Stanford Like Courses: Two Successful and Distinct Course Formats for Massive Open Online Courses. European Journal of Open, Distance and E-Learning. Retrieved on July 7, 2015fromhttp://www.eurodl.org/materials/cont rib/2012/Rodriguez.pdf

  • Selwyn, N., Bulfin, S., & Pangrazio, L. (2015). Massive open online change? Exploring the discursive construction of the 'MOOC' in newspapers. Higher Education Quarterly, 69(2), 175-192.

  • Spyropoulou, N., Pierrakeas, C., & Kameas, A. (2014). Creating MOOC Guidelines Based On Best Practices. EDULEARN14 Proceedings, 6981-6990.

  • Taneja, S., & Goel, A. (2014). MOOC Providers and their Strategies. International Journal of Computer Science and Mobile Computing, 3(5), 222-228.

  • Toven-Lindsey, B., Rhoads, R. A., & Lozano, J. B. (2015). Virtually unlimited classrooms: Pedagogical practices in massive open online courses. The Internet and Higher Education, 24, 1-12.

  • UNESCO (2013) Introduction to MOOCs: Avalanche , Illusion or Augmenta tion?, UNESCO Institute Policy Brief, (Retrieved on July 7, 2015 from http://iite.unesco.org/pics/publications/en/files/ 3214722.pdf)

  • Vardi,MosheY.(2012)Will MOOCs destroy academia? Communications of the ACM, 55, 11, 5.

  • Waldrop, M. M. (2013, March 13). Massive open online courses, aka MOOCs, transform higher education and science, Scientific American, ( Retrieved on July 7, 2015 from http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/mas sive-open-online-courses-transform-highereducation-and-science/)

  • Walker, L., & Loch, B. (2014). Academics' perceptions on the quality of MOOCs: An empirical study. INNOQUAL-International Journal for Innovation and Quality in Learning, 2, 3, 53-63.

  • Wikipedia Massive Open Online Course, ( Retrieved on July 7, 2015 from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Massive_open_online_course)



DOI: