Larry D. Lauer

Writing in the Boston Globe, Joseph E. Aoun, President of Northeastern University, recently asserted that massive open online courses, referred to as MOOCs, could mean “the end of higher education as we know it.” Start-up companies such as Coursera and Udacity are aggregating courses from various universities and offering them online. Some of the top universities in the U.S. are contributing courses. Anyone can enroll. Most courses are free. Millions have already signed up.

MOOCs promise greater access to large numbers of people, many of whom have no other way to enroll in college. The best professors and the most sophisticated technology can be featured, and so the American Council on Education (ACE) is investigating the feasibility of offering credit. For many pioneering universities it can also be a brilliant international marketing initiative. Offering these courses tells the world that no matter where you are you can have access to the most prestigious institutions in the world, and you can have it for free!  In an industry that is rapidly becoming global this kind of visibility and recognition is priceless worldwide brand reinforcement.

Some see these new organizations, or aggregators, eventually becoming degree granting organizations. They also view this development as primarily opening up various types of credentialing, from degrees to certificates, not just to aggregators, but to associations and governments as well. But others still persist in thinking that these courses will merely function as easy entry points into more traditional institutions. These people continue to believe that a complete education requires a signficant amount of actual face-to-face interaction. But whatever the result, MOOCs are likely to be significant game-changers for traditional universities.

Up to now on-line education has had somewhat of a different focus. Both for-profit companies and universities have been developing online degrees and certificates, but mostly for adults and nontraditional students, and mostly part-time.  This market has been largely driven by the need for convenience. For many people work and family obligations make enrolling in traditional residential or commuter institutions very difficult. 

But a large drop-out rate has been seen in almost all on-line programs. Analysts cite the lack of social and face-to-face interaction as one big reason. So digital specialists are working on innovative ways of addressing this problem online. But the lack of  real life interaction is partly why my university has gone ahead and made a big investment in the belief that there will always be a significant market for a collegiate, residential, total university experience.  Online at TCU will function mostly as a supplement. Digital media will certainly change the way professors teach. It will enhance the efficiency and quality of many subjects. And it will bring in experts and experiences from all parts the world, and keep students and faculty interconnected no matter where they travel.

Google searches alone have already transformed research, student preparation, and even term paper writing. We are indeed in the early stages of a dramatic sea change in all of education. President’s Aoun’s suggestion that all this in the end will “change higher education as we know it” is no doubt accurate. Not only is this industry rapidly becoming global, but new media will also continue to change every aspect of the game. 

In the final analysis, media technology will bring many more revolutionary improvements to education than we can envision. And it’s indeed exciting to imagine all the possibilities. But, also experiencing the world of discovery face-to-face with inspired  teachers and committed fellow students will always be at the heart of a truly meaningful education for many of us. To know people only online is not to really know them at all. That special connection between teacher and student is what makes the real difference. And that’s what you remember for a lifetime.