The MOOCs Arrive: How Will Extensive Monetization Impact Open Educational Resources? Robert E. Cummings University of Mississippi, USA Online Educa 29 November 2012 Preliminary Draft Publication 18 October This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported LicenseCreative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License

Q: Why is there a sudden wave of U.S. interest in OER and Online Education? A: University of Virginia. On 11 June 2012, UVA’s Board of Visitors removed its President. On 26 June 2012, after roughly two weeks of student and faculty demonstrations, the Governor of Virginia ordered the Board to reappoint the President. The squabble was triggered by MOOCs – Massive Open Online Courses. Image Source: Inside Higher Ed Preliminary Draft Publication 18 October This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License

“Building A Search Engine” Sebastian Thrun Former Stanford Research Professor. Currently Google Fellow. Developed Google’s self-driving car, Project Glass. David Evans Associate Professor of Computer Science University of Virginia Image Source: Charlie Rose Image Source: University of Virginia Preliminary Draft Publication 18 October This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License

Motivation was “Taking the University to the world,” and inspired by Khan academy. Took a traditional class and put it online by flipping it: all content was placed on Youtube the form of short lectures, linked by quizzes. 160,000 students enrolled beyond Stanford. 170 of 200 traditional Stanford students stopped coming to class, citing the fact that videos were a “safer place to fail,” could be rewound, and were a more interactive way to learn. Digital media experience is structured around the learner, who doesn’t advance without mastery (compare to “C” grade in traditional education). Thrun says he received thousands of s from students who “feel good about themselves” compared to traditional higher education experience. Communities of users spring up around courses to translate content, discuss, and tutor. Graduated 23,000 at Stanford level quality. Midterm and final exams. Cost students outside Stanford 1 -2% of enrolled students’ cost. Preliminary Draft Publication 18 October This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License

Unbundling of Multiple Elements Learning theory: First OER were simply filming lectures and placing them online, c.f., placing an early film camera in front of a play. Now we see the application of self-directed web interface. Credentialing: Earlier projects such as MIT Open Courseware, offered no credentials. Thrun broke that mold with his certificates. Costs: The world wants higher education, but only a slight percentage can move to a traditional campus. What is higher education? A chance to be mentored by a professor, wash your own laundry, make lifelong friends, and enter a new social club? Or a chance to learn skills for a better job? Image Source: Preliminary Draft Publication 18 October This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License

Characteristics of University Teaching (Adapted from Unlocking the Gates by Taylor Walsh) Traditional Degree Programs Online Degree Programs Open Educational Resources Massive Open Online Courses Course Materials In-personOnline FTF and Online Enrolled students Non-enrolled students Enrolled and Non- enrolled students Credit-bearing Non-credit bearing? Credit-bearing Instruction ? Instruction Fee-based ? Fee-based Preliminary Draft Publication 18 October This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License

Example Projects (Adapted from Unlocking the Gates by Taylor Walsh) Traditional Degree Programs Online Degree Programs Open Educational Resources Massive Open Online Courses Preliminary Draft Publication 18 October This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License

The Big Questions Michael Saylor, CEO of Microstrategy and author of The Mobile Wave: How Mobile Intelligence Will Change Everything, comments: “In the fourth wave of computing, the internet wave, about 5% of the economy was automated. In the fifth wave, we’ll see 50% of the economy de-materialize. Things like a video camera, a tape recorder, a magazine... they used to be products. Now they’re icons on a screen. An education used to be a service provided by people. Education is now de-materializing to become something off Wikipedia, or Kahn Academy, or off of Youtube. And as those products and services de-materialize, there is a corresponding rise in software application networks, most of them emanating out of the United States, in English, denominated in dollars, oftentimes reflecting American or Western values.” Preliminary Draft Publication 18 October This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License Image Source: Charlie Rose

The Big Questions Preliminary Draft Publication 18 October This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License Phase 1: OER Heretofore, our efforts within the traditional OER community have focused around moving information online. Let’s call that Phase 1 of OER. Phase 2: OEP Once a substantial number of projects were freely available online, we started to look at under-utilization of these resources. Doing so required us to ask complex questions about the motivations of learners and the meaning of higher education. We had the content, but content alone did not attract a significant number of learners.

The Big Questions Preliminary Draft Publication 18 October This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License Phase 3 ? Does the arrival of MOOCs signal a new third phase? Projects such as Thrun’s “Building a Search Engine” have finally moved a substantial number of learners to freely available materials.

The Big Questions But are those results replicable? Will it promote non-traditional learning over traditional Is the emergence of MOOCs the first example of Saylor’s 5 th wave, or the complete “de- materialization” of education? Preliminary Draft Publication 18 October This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License

The Big Questions The current state of OER is similar to that of a community who has experienced a radical scientific breakthrough. One researcher -- Thrun, in our case -- has solved the OER to OEP problem with seemingly spectacular results. He has published these results. Now, we are in the position of trying to duplicate his experiment. And in so doing, we are learning what is replicable, and what is not. Preliminary Draft Publication 18 October This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License

What Questions do MOOCs Create for the Traditional OER Community? Opportunities: How could we use the popularity of MOOCs to increase awareness of traditional OER? What is the role of consortia who currently offer credentials with OER, such as OERu? What is the path for for-profits in higher eduication? Threats: Will traditional OER be left behind? How does OER or MOOCs affect students currently enrolled in traditional higher education? How does traditional higher education credential OER learning? PLAR? Preliminary Draft Publication 18 October This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License

What Questions do MOOCs Create for the Traditional OER Community? Weaknesses: Thrun’s project combined his reputation as a genius, Stanford’s reputation as a world wide leader in higher education, and a very marketable course topic to entice 160,000 students. How do we replicate all of these aspects of Thrun’s course? Do we need to? Strengths: Hasn’t the traditional OER community already duplicated these very elements? Can we not duplicated Thrun’s results by simply calling attention to existing resources? Preliminary Draft Publication 18 October This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License

Works Cited Daniel, Sir John. “Making Sense of MOOCs: Musings in a Maze of Myth, Paradox, and Possibility.” Web. 1 Oct Saylor, Michael. Interview by Charlie Rose. Charlie Rose. PBS. 17 Oct charlierose.com. Web. 18 Oct Sun, Liang. “My Certificates for CS101 And Udacity.” Next Spaceship: Computer, Technology, and Something Else. N.p. 24 April Web. 18 Oct Thrun, Sebastian. Interview by Charlie Rose. Charlie Rose. 25 April charlierose.com. Web. 18 Oct Walsh, Taylor. Unlocking the Gates: How and Why Universities are Opening Up their Courses. Princeton, NJ: Princeton UP, Weller, Keith. Alchemist. n.d. Wikimedia Commons. jpeg file. Preliminary Draft Publication 18 October This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License