Massive Open Online Course (MOOCs).. Is there a Place in Higher Education for MOOCs?

With wifi so easily accessible on any campus and with cell phones, computers, digital hand-held devices, iPads, iPods, digital notebooks, and etc. at our finger tips it has become second nature to consistently check social media sites, emails, test messages, course management systems, and etc. in which we have become immersed in the digital realm of operational functions throughout the day. 

Technology has a pivotal role in our day-to-day roles, responsibilities, and personal time, so institutions have presented a renewed focus on delivering reasonable access to education, with education being more virtual, which permits the ability for students to personalize their learning in a digital environment. Massive open online courses (MOOCs) evolved traditional systems of online learning in which permitted anyone with a craving to learn, the opportunity to learn or attend a course for free at a distance. Since the introduction of MOOCs, there has been a number of drawbacks from higher education faculty, which involves the scale, the quality, and the dynamic configuration of the place of learning and the value and necessity of social interaction. 

MOOCs pose a possible threat to learning, because some learners who select to partake in MOOCs, may not possess the necessary prior knowledge required, and information may become distorted, which hinders the learning. The quality of MOOCs and the value of higher education cause for some institutions to reconfigure the MOOCs platform to align with their particular course and curricular decisions, which permits the ability to provide value and quality learning without reducing knowledge using the current MOOCs platform. So, various versions of online institutions have been establish, which is fully automated and accredited but open only to enrolled, tuition-paying students or hybrid courses in which is fully automated online as well as in-class. Institutions can learn a great deal from MOOC's strengths and drawbacks to enhance traditional for-credit online courses and even traditional in-class learning environments. I believe MOOCs have a place in higher education, but to some degree requires some need to maintain the quality of learning through a controlled environment.