Massive Open Online Courses (MOOC) aim at unlimited participation and open access. Since the beginning of this decade, edX, Coursera, Udacity and other MOOC platforms have emerged with the support of and content from premier institutes worldwide. Along the way, we have also embraced other e-learning platforms such as Khan Academy, P2PU, Udemy and et al.
As a Corporate Advisory Board (CAB) member of edX, I have got an opportunity to study closely how distance and online learning space is evolving. I believe “With the pace at which the business scenarios are changing, having a future-fit workforce is becoming increasingly important for business. Online learning has the potential to revolutionize education. MOOCs and blended learning, will pave the way for ubiquitous learning.” And towards this end, “edX for Business addresses high quality learning and can be instrumental in democratizing education in the country”.
EdX marks a 73% growth in India in one year – IndiaInfoline
www.indiainfoline.com/…/edx-marks-a-73-growth-in-india-in-one-year-1170201003…
This article captures three generations of Distance Learning Technologies briefly.
First generation mainly utilized written and printed texts incl. books, manuals, course materials, research papers in correspondence. In First Gen, student evaluation was typically summative and was usually done at mid- and end- of the course. This emulated the classroom teaching for those who could not regularly attend classes, but with only limited interaction between students and teachers.
Second Generation initially started with radio, TV as instructional media; but gradually incorporated interactive multimedia learning materials in CD-ROM as well as on web. Second Generation distance learning methods subsequently adopted ICT and tele-learning to provide interaction in addition to content delivery. Tele-learning model subtleties have been discussed at length in this slide-set based on author’s earlier work in Hughes that was presented in Pacific Telecom Council India Foundation (PTCIF) Annual Conference, New Delhi, Feb. 2003 as Invited Speaker.
Third Generation distance learning introduces Flexible Learning Model (FLM) encompassing online delivery via internet. FLM is made intelligent by making learning interactive and content personalization is made possible based on learner’s learning preference. For last five years, MOOCs have been playing a pivotal role in bringing quality learning materials to every nook and corner of the world. Coursera works with premier institutes like Stanford, UC SanDiego, UMichigan, Duke, Penn and others. Similarly, non-profit organization edX has been created by MIT and Harvard and assimilate course materials from UC Berkeley, UT Austin, IIT-Bombay, IIM-Bangalore and others. This generation is bringing in the concept of ‘eUniversity’.
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