Tom Friedman of the New York Times was, I believe, the first national voice to call attention to the potential of MOOCs (Massive, Open, Online Courses) to revolutionize higher education. He paid little attention at first to the consequences of such a “revolution” or what it takes to use MOOCs wisely. But slowly he seems to be coming around to recognizing that you can’t just throw students into a bunch of MOOCs and call it higher education.
Friedman’s own education should have alerted him to what quality education means. Wikipdedia sketches it out: “ Friedman studied at the University of Minnesota for two years, but later transferred to Brandeis University and graduated summa cum laude in 1975 with a degree in Mediterranean studies…. After Brandeis he attended St Antony's College at the University of Oxford on a Marshall scholarship, earning an M.Phil. in Middle Eastern studies. “
None of this seemed at first to give him any perspective on MOOCs. But now, maybe, h H is beginning to become a little less starry eyed; a recent MIT-Harvard conference (though composed mostly of true believers, I gather) may have helped him think about ”blending,” a.k.a. “Hybrids,” that is, combining on-line courses wit face to face instruction. Here’s a lomnjg ways to go before all the talk about “creative disruption” turns into a roads map for a route we might wangt to travel. But since Friedman is so influential it makes sense to keep an eye on even small shifts in his thinking, forf example, “The Professors’ Big Stage”:
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/06/opinion/friedman-the-professors-big-stage.html?src=me&ref=general&_r=0
Friedman’s own education should have alerted him to what quality education means. Wikipdedia sketches it out: “ Friedman studied at the University of Minnesota for two years, but later transferred to Brandeis University and graduated summa cum laude in 1975 with a degree in Mediterranean studies…. After Brandeis he attended St Antony's College at the University of Oxford on a Marshall scholarship, earning an M.Phil. in Middle Eastern studies. “
None of this seemed at first to give him any perspective on MOOCs. But now, maybe, h H is beginning to become a little less starry eyed; a recent MIT-Harvard conference (though composed mostly of true believers, I gather) may have helped him think about ”blending,” a.k.a. “Hybrids,” that is, combining on-line courses wit face to face instruction. Here’s a lomnjg ways to go before all the talk about “creative disruption” turns into a roads map for a route we might wangt to travel. But since Friedman is so influential it makes sense to keep an eye on even small shifts in his thinking, forf example, “The Professors’ Big Stage”:
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/06/opinion/friedman-the-professors-big-stage.html?src=me&ref=general&_r=0
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