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My first thought was this was another case of the "old guard" being afraid of change, but I read their letter and I actually agree with some of their points. T

My first thought was this was another case of the "old guard" being afraid of change, but I read their letter and I actually agree with some of their points. The obvious downside is the lack of interaction with the lecturing professor. This was another point I hadn't thought of: "The thought of the exact same social justice course being taught in various philosophy departments across the country is downright scary - something out of a dystopian novel" https://chronicle.com/article/The-Document-an-Open-Letter/138937/ https://chronicle.com/article/The-Document-an-Open-Letter/13... MOOCs are great for low cost and continuing education. I'm doing one right now, but it feels very lacking compared to my college experience, and I keep wondering how it's integrated in "real" courses.

LanceH 14y ago
The lack of interaction with a lecturing professor isn't a downside at all if you lacked the course at all before that. Yes, a single social justice course would be bad. Consolidating the thousands of Algebra courses might be a good thing. It's really a strawman argument as MOOC's actually expand the number of courses available. You could choose between multiple versions by the same professor, potentially, not to mention other professors. Small schools with only one course offering of Obscure 101 would have alternate options. Everyone getting taught one thing is hardly a problem.
stonemetal 14y ago
Why would there be only one? Much like there is Coke, Pepsi and other smaller brands, I can envision a future for both edx, Coursera and other smaller providers of courses.
darkarmani 14y ago
> "The thought of the exact same social justice course being taught in various philosophy departments across the country is downright scary" Which is why every professor writes their own books, right? It's be scary if lots of people across the country were learning from the same textbooks.
- civilian 14y ago
  Almost every child is taught algebra. The methods may very but the end result is the same. We are forcing children as young as 9 to learn a doctrine originating from Islam! What dystopian world are we living in?!?!?!

LanceH 14y ago

The lack of interaction with a lecturing professor isn't a downside at all if you lacked the course at all before that. Yes, a single social justice course would be bad. Consolidating the thousands of Algebra courses might be a good thing. It's really a strawman argument as MOOC's actually expand the number of courses available. You could choose between multiple versions by the same professor, potentially, not to mention other professors. Small schools with only one course offering of Obscure 101 would have alternate options. Everyone getting taught one thing is hardly a problem.

stonemetal 14y ago

Why would there be only one? Much like there is Coke, Pepsi and other smaller brands, I can envision a future for both edx, Coursera and other smaller providers of courses.

darkarmani 14y ago

> "The thought of the exact same social justice course being taught in various philosophy departments across the country is downright scary" Which is why every professor writes their own books, right? It's be scary if lots of people across the country were learning from the same textbooks.

civilian 14y ago
Almost every child is taught algebra. The methods may very but the end result is the same. We are forcing children as young as 9 to learn a doctrine originating from Islam! What dystopian world are we living in?!?!?!