UW to offer fee-based courses through Coursera

Is it a MOOC (Massive Open Online Course) if there is a fee for credits? What should such fees be?

UW to offer fee-based courses through Coursera | Local News | The Seattle Times

State universities should post their courses’ contents online, for free, for those interested in learning. I also encourage universities to contribute to open-access resources, such as Wikibooks or whatever might emerge in the future. Knowledge should not be locked in the Ivory Towers. 

For credit, however, I do believe we must charge something. There must be assignments for credit, which are evaluated and graded. There must be measures of mastery for a credential.

Let’s post lecture notes, slides, and even recordings of lectures. Let’s share the knowledge and encourage more learning.

There will be people who learn from the freely shared content who then decide to pursue degrees or certificates. Those in degree programs might turn to online content for reinforcement. That’s wonderful. 

But an “open” online course suggests no fees, no restrictions. That’s a complicated concept. How would a professor evaluate so many people? How would teaching assistants be compensated, too? 

Maybe we can have something smaller than “massive” online courses? Maybe we can have some enrollment requirements, other than money? Prerequisites seem necessary, at least. 

Idealism conflicts with the anticipated reality. 

Another post to follow with my own thoughts about MOOC designs and practices. I’ll be posting about my own role in a MOOC project later this month, too.