Technology opens access to education
AT the launch of the Malaysian Higher Education Blueprint earlier this month, one of the 10 major shifts that the government proposed was concerned with online learning, in particular, globalised online learning.
Key initiatives associated with this shift include the development of Malaysian-originated massive open online courses (MOOCs), the integration of online learning into traditional education and enhancements of infrastructure.
Of these initiatives, it is the MOOCs component that will be the most publicly visible.
In many respects, MOOCs are a relatively new phenomenon. It was only in 2011 that they really came to the attention of the broader higher education community – triggered mainly by the announcement that around 160,000 people had registered for a single online course on artificial intelligence offered by Stanford University.
MOOCs have become mainstream, providing the opportunity for large numbers of individuals to study with some of the world’s leading universities at zero cost.
Universities such as the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) have been offering open educational resources for more than a decade but MOOCs made these resources available on a scale hitherto unknown.
The Internet has revolutionised industries such as publishing and music and the same seems to be happening to higher education.
In a new business model, learning materials are being made available to people freeof-charge with revenue being generated from associated activities (the award of credits, employment placement services and recruitment into conventional courses).
Quasi-commercial platforms for MOOCs developed rapidly with Coursera, Udacity and edX being launched in the US and subsequently FutureLearn in the UK.
Recently, China established a platform to enable its universities to deliver MOOCs as well.
However, there may have been too much hype created over MOOCs. Large numbers of learners have signed up to participate in online courses but completion rates have been low.
Many learners are individuals who already have degrees and the potential of MOOCs to open up access to higher education to other groups is yet to be fully realised.
While many commentators initially predicted that MOOCs would ultimately lead to the demise of the traditional campusbased university, that seems less and less likely, at least in any foreseeable timescale.
Although the MOOCs have not caused a big revolution as some may have predicted, they have created an impact and raised awareness of the opportunities and the potential for online learning.
Across the world, online study has become more and more popular – whether through MOOCs, specialist online providers or blended online and offline teaching offered by universities.
In addition, the growing awareness of the potential of digital technologies has made a major impact in institutions of higher learning.
Educators now routinely discuss the concept of flipped classrooms. Online technologies that have been popularised by MOOCs provide an invaluable way of enhancing students’ learning experience.
Instead of using classroom time for the provision of knowledge and information through lectures, technology can now provide the same thing with the added value that students can review and re-visit materials multiple times to ensure full understanding.
Face-to-face time with teachers can then be focused more on interactive discussions and debates.
Learning materials can be shared easily and efficiently, enabling institutions to enhance their ability to deliver a better learning experience to its students.
The combination of online resources and face-to-face interactions gives students much more control and responsibility for their own learning and provide better opportunities for researchers to understand the learning process.
While MOOCs may appear to be the most high-profile component of the globalised online learning shift under the Higher Education Blueprint, the experience with MOOCs to date suggests that its impact may well be felt in the transformation of learning and teaching in traditional classroom settings.
Prof Christine Ennew is the chief executive officer and provost of The University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus.