Can you imagine having access to hundreds of interesting courses from many of the world’s top colleges and universities in your own home? This is something we no longer have to imagine, it's called learning in the 21st century. Society has transformed a new vehicle for learning with the introduction of collaborative, interactive, online inquiry and I believe this to be a positive direction for engaging the adult learner. While reviewing all that I have discovered this term, I decided to take a closer look at MOOC (Massive Open Online Courses) as I feel this form of learning will create big change in adult education, by way of the workplaces we succeed in.
To me the concept is so simple. We are entering into the connected age, where learning from one another and sharing of information gives us knowledge that becomes viral. To keep pace with the technology we can no longer just become a teacher, engineer or accountant, we must grow with our profession and committ to being lifelong learners. MOOC’s will create that avenue for us by having available courses that are both relevant and engaging that put us in touch with the experts and those with values similar to ours.
The idea of employee training is nothing new. For years we have been completing WHMIS training on the internet simply because it was both mandated and convenient. In essence, this may be the most cost effective and thorough way of being certain all in the workplace are aware of the expectations.
Large employers could take advantage of the wide range of MOOC’s available and request employees complete certain levels before promotion. They could require employees to take yearly training for many reasons. This would create a far more educated workforce and a fairer system for promotion which would ensure qualified individuals are those that rise to the top.
The MOOC has become more popular in this past year yet, the Graduate Management Admissions Council conducted a survey which stated only 15% of the employers believed MOOC’s were a viable alternative to management education. Surprisingly in this survey, it was also found that 58% of employers believed in using MOOC’s as a tool for professional development. MOOC’s are creatively co-combined to give us the necessary workplace education with a more streamlined delivery. Employers are starting to see this as being both efficient and effective.
In her blog Daryl Bambic speaks of the resistance to change and how in particular, teachers sometimes experience a grieving process in order to give up old ways and adopt the new. She also compares the learning process to business practices, where learning becomes a product. If the product is offered in many different formats, more will purchase the product and the demand will increase. Ms. Bambic illustrates many opinions and gives the sense that this is the future. It is here and we can’t stop it, so we might as well make use of it.
In my classroom, the students may still need me in that class over their shoulder guiding them how to get to the MOOC’s but, once they find that confidence, I shall try not to stand in the way! Since many of my students are marginalized in many ways this could give them an opportunity at no expense. They may try a introduction to chemistry MOOC and decide that the topic does not fit with them, therefore avoiding costly tuition or they may love it and ignite a passion they didn’t know they had. Its like a test ground for what may really interest them.
In a world where technology moves, we also need to move along with it. Lifelong learning will become the norm because the availability of learning opportunities will be endless.
