What Will the Future Bring for MOOCs?

Massive open online courses (MOOCs) have been around for a decade, with 2012 named the ‘year of the MOOC’ by the New York Times.

But with a number of online graduate education courses available – MBAs and EMBAs to name a few – there are a lot of questions surrounding the future of MOOCs, their validity, and how they can benefit the vast number of possible students on any given program.

These were some of the topics Sarah Toms, Executive Director and co-Founder of the Wharton Interactive put to the ‘Turning Promise into Reality: The Future of MOOCs’ panel at QS’ Reimagine Education Conference in London.

The panel consisted of Simon Nelson, Chief Executive of FutureLearn, Kathy Pugh, Vice-President of Services at EdX, and Prof. Neil Morris, Dean of Digital Education at the University of Leeds.

These short online university courses aim to make higher education more accessible to more people. Rather than being tied to a university physically, participants complete the course online over a set number of weeks using university materials.

As of 2019, EdX has 24 million students using its platform. Similarly, FutureLearn has 10m users. You can think of these companies as the telecoms providers for the universities.

Pugh said the relationship between companies and digital learning platforms is mutual, as both parties can contact each other. She added: “MOOCs have had a profound influence on education.”

Nelson said that driving towards B2B and B2C models is FutureLearn’s priority, as the platform has the potential to become a pathway to micro-credentials and degrees. Nelson also said FutureLearn wanted to target professional learners and build a better portfolio and marketplace.

He said: “MOOCs were front-door marketing for universities, but now we have to build courses for the users and students who will benefit the most.”

Morris took a slightly different stance. He thought MOOCs have the capacity to leave people behind, but they should provide affordable and accessible education to everyone around the world.

He said: “Some universities have approached MOOCs by targeting underprivileged students who need it.

“Universities should think about who their audience is, providing knowledge for everyone – MOOCs that transform their lives. For example, King’s College London has targeted refugees who are very much in need.”

In his words, MOOCs need to be shiny, but also inclusive. Pugh confirmed this by saying learning platforms and their partners have committed to be more inclusive and build a “sustainable” business model.

As an educator, Morris understands the difficulties surrounding a blanketed style of course, he said: “As platforms are growing their B2C, B2B, B2G, they are trying to meet different marks within the same offer. That is a real challenge.

“The biggest challenge with MOOCs is you don’t know who your learner is. There could be four different learners with different learning levels.” In his eyes, to achieve real success with a course you must write an individual code for each learner.

Nelson also said that while it is true two-thirds of people on FutureLearn already have a degree, one-third don’t. He said: “We are proud of reaching this many people.” He says the true challenge for platforms like FutureLearn is to find a balance between generating revenue, offering affordable education and achieving their mission of transforming education.