Gamechanger? MOOCs for College Credit

In the readings last week, Carlo Salerno's (2012) assertions that elite universities would become adverse to MOOCs once the proletariat began achieving mass credentialing did not sit well with me.

Salerno states, "The fact that no school uses a lottery system to determine who gets in means that determining who gets in matters a great deal to these schools, because it helps them control quality and head off the adverse effects of unqualified students either dropping out or performing poorly in career positions. For individual institutions, obtaining high quality inputs works to optimize the school’s objective function, which is maximizing prestige.
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In this light, colleges have a strong incentive to protect, or control, the quality of the degrees that they confer because successful graduates directly affect the institution’s prestige and the public’s perceptions about the value of its products."

While I believe there are a number of issues that may make universities hesitant in allowing for course credit from MOOCs, I like to think (maybe naively) that institutions would not consider students in MOOCs who have pursued the coursework rigorously, and excelled, as potential diluters of the brand/image/prestige of the university.  That these students would somehow perform negatively in careers or reflect negatively upon the institution seems ludicrous to me.  These learners are likely to be extremely self motivated and I would imagine go on to be quite successful in their respective fields.  What struck me in this passage was that it seemed to be instead a thinly vieled argument for more class based exclusion at universities.  These MOOC students may not fit the background, color, demographics, etc, so let's keep them out.

In contrast to Salerno's assertations, I really want to be an optimist when it comes to credentialing through MOOCs.  As college continues to become more unaffordable for the average American, any opportunity for learning and receiving credit from a MOOC experience seems like an incredibly positive option for driven students who may not have the means to attend a traditional program.  The CS masters degree from Georgia Tech and Udacity seems to be the first foray of a nationally respected institution dipping its toe into the world of MOOCs for credit.  At a price of $7,000 it is nearly 90% less than the same program for an out of state student pursuing the degree on campus (Dodson, 2013). 

I am also interested to see what transpires with certain MOOCs being eligible for credit through ACE.  When reading about this, I wondered if our institution accepted ACE credit.  I did find out that ACE credit is accepted on a case by case basis, especially in the New College Life Track program.  It seems that MOOCs could easily fit in the overall scheme along with transfer credit, CLEP, AP, and other ACE prior learning. 

History of low number of students substantially using these other forms of credit, along with low completion rate of MOOCs seem to indicate that MOOCs may just become another rarely used credit option for learners, and not the disruption some predict.  The evolution of MOOCs into true degree programs such as the GA Tech offering, may change the landscape.  Only time will tell.