ARTICLE:The word MOOC gets thrown around a lot here, as we work on the advertising for a multiple colleges. While the name may not sound familiar, you're most likely acquainted with the idea; MOOC stands for Massive Open Online Course, things like the Kapalan Academy on YouTube, or the free online classes offered by MIT or Stanford. These MOOC's are changing the way we think about higher education, as they offer classes from prestigious universities, colleges around the world, comprehensive courses for (some, but not many, for real credits), and they are all free. YouTube and Google have just teamed up to make a "YouTube of MOOCs," signaling an even more developed collection of online classes. There are proponents of MOOCs, some eschewing traditional college (and the over crowded, under funded, debt ladened system that comes with it) altogether, some taking classes to learn only what they need. Others are more cautious. There is no conclusive research that students actually learn from MOOC's, with 90% of those signing up for MOOC's failing to complete the course. However, with many of these classes not actually giving college credit, perhaps why they don't see it through is no mystery. One mystery that remains however is whether MOOC's can replace traditional colleges, and the direction of education in the technological age.
SITE: http://nation.time.com/2013/09/12/all-hail-moocs-just-dont-ask-if-they-actually-work/
