The Unmet Promise: When MOOCs Confront the Realities of the Global Learning Crisis

Photo by Ketut Subiyanto, Pexels (CC 0)  

Text: Essi Ryymin 

​​MOOCs, or Massive Open Online Courses, burst onto the education scene with huge fanfare, promising to revolutionise learning by offering free, top-notch content from prestigious universities to anyone, anywhere in the world. Yet, despite all that exciting potential, it's become clear that MOOCs aren't quite living up to the ideal of truly open-access learning.

As James Yoonil Auh points out in University World News, MOOCs simply aren't the same as genuine open-access learning. He explains that they've become "platformised, proprietary, and often more aligned with profit than pedagogy". What started as a promising open concept quickly transformed into a commercial ecosystem. Those who had hoped that MOOCs would solve challenges related to the global learning crisis were expecting more. Although there are many successful examples of MOOCs reaching large numbers of people, the concept has not yet been scaled up to provide an accessible, high-quality solution for those in need.

"Show me the money"

Courses that were once entirely free became "freemium," meaning you'd have to pay for things like certificates, and the platforms themselves began using algorithms to boost engagement for the sake of making money. While it's great that so many offer free access to course materials, there's often a hidden hurdle (PDF): if you want a certificate to prove you actually completed the course, you'll likely have to pay up. These fees can range, e.g., from 50€ to a hefty 300€ per course. 

This creates a problem, essentially setting up a two-tiered system. For students who simply can't afford these certificate costs – and these credentials are often crucial for getting a job or continuing education – the "openness" of MOOCs feels quite limited. It means that while the knowledge might be free, the recognised validation is anything but.

The lingual, cultural and pedagogical barriers

The significant hurdle is the language. For example 80% of courses advertised on the Coursera website were in English in 2019-2020. This immediately shuts out a massive number of potential students around the globe who don't speak English. But it's not just about language. A lot of the course content simply doesn't resonate culturally or feel relevant in many parts of the world. 

It's a striking fact that MOOCs are mostly offered by the big-name universities in the Global North. You'll find a lot of academic research and critical discussions pointing out how Western-centric these MOOCs can be, often falling short on global inclusiveness. These critiques frequently zero in on issues with the course content itself, the pedagogical methodology used, the languages offered, and general accessibility. The worry is that instead of democratising education, MOOCs might actually be reinforcing existing inequalities.

One study, published in Open Praxis, looked at 2.3 million learners taking 174 MITx courses. The authors found that MOOCs continue to attract a large volume of students who are already highly educated. This raises the question are MOOCs benefiting the people who least need open-access education the most?

​One of the persistent question of MOOCs is their low completion rates, sometimes dipping even below 10%. In further, MOOCs are frequently called out for their "one-size-fits-all" pedagogy. The low engagement and the struggle many people have with finishing the courses indicate that MOOCs aren't quite hitting the mark when it comes to pedagogical design or captivating communication. 

New openness in digital education

James Yoonil Auh encourages to rethink digital education within the context of the global learning crisis. He envisions open-access learning as a relational and co-created space, where learning is viewed as a public good rather than merely another product. This entails a shift from passively consuming information to actively building relevant new knowledge.

True openness in digital education in the global context requires:

• Investing in open, public digital infrastructure that supports diverse languages and low-bandwidth access for under-connected regions,
• empowering local educators to create culturally relevant content using inclusive teaching methods,
• prioritising learner-led initiatives like peer networks and collaborative curriculum design, and
• embedding ethical frameworks in educational technology that emphasise equity, diversity and collective well-being over metrics and profit.
  
  

The next hot question

However, the big question now is this: Is artificial intelligence finally delivering on the promise that MOOCs couldn’t - truly democratising global learning?

Note: Generative AI (DeepL, and Grammarly) was used to assist with the language proofreading and grammatical refinement of this post. However, as the text has not been checked by a native English speaker, it contains some oddities.

Tiivistelmä suomeksi: 

Lunastamaton lupaus - MOOCit ja globaali oppimisen kriisi

MOOCeja, eli massiivisia avoimia verkkokursseja, hehkutettiin aikoinaan huippuyliopistojen avoimesti tarjoamina globaaleina oppimisen foorumeina. Ilmaiset kurssit muuttuivat kuitenkin niin sanotuiksi "freemium-malleiksi", joissa todistuksista joutuu maksamaan. Tieto on siis avointa, mutta sen virallisella tunnustamisella on hintalappu. Tämä ei ole ehkä ongelma sinulle ja minulle, mutta alemman tulotason maiden opiskelijoille se on todellinen haaste,

Lisäksi noin 80% MOOCeista on englanninkielisiä, mikä tietysti tekee niistä saavuttamattomia monille. Kriittiset tutkijat ränttäävät lisäksi, että monien kurssien sisältö on kiusallisen länsikeskeistä ja pedagoginen suunnittelu jokseenkin laiskaa. MOOCien suoritusprosentit ovatkin alhaiset kaikesta potentiaalista huolimatta. (Jos kiinnostelee, vilkaise linkit englanninkielisestä tekstistä.) 

James Yoonil Auh ehdottaa, että avointa digitaalista opetusta pitäisi pohtia rohkeasti uudelleen, etenkin, jos ja kun siitä etsitään ratkaisuja globaaliin oppimiskriisiin. Moni muukin devaaja peräänkuuluttaa julkisia, monikielisiä digitaalisia infrastruktuureja, joita olisi mahdollista mukauttaa huomattavasi joustavammin kehittyville alueille. Ylikansallisen jakelun sijaan paikalliset kouluttajat tulisi kutsua mukaan rakentamaan sisältöä ja vahvistamaan vertaistukiverkostoja uuden tiedon käytäntöön soveltamiseksi. Ja vielä vähän nieleskeltävää: oikeus oppimiseen tulisi ilman muuta laittaa aina rahanteon edelle. 

Kuinka ollakaan, meillä on nyt kuitenkin käsissämme uusi ja jännittävä kysymys: voisiko tekoäly tehdä sen, mihin MOOCit eivät pystyneet – eli tuoda oppimisen globaalisti kaikkien saataville?

Ps. Käytin tämän postauksen englannin kielen tarkistamiseen generatiivista tekoälyä (DeepL ja Grammarly). Koska natiivi englannin osaaja ei kuitenkaan ole oikolueknut tekstiä, se sisältää kummallisuuksia. Saattaapa niitä sisältää suomenkielinen tiivistelmäkin, mutta otan härmän suhteen vähän enemmän vapauksia. 

#GlobalCampus #MOOCs #GlobalLearningCrisis #DemocratisingLearning #AI