Big hat and no cattle? The implications of MOOCs for the adult learning landscape

Authors

  • Ralf St Clair University of Victoria
  • Laura Winer McGill University
  • Adam Finkelstein McGill University
  • Alex Fuentes-Steeves McGill University
  • Sylvie Wald McGill University

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.56105/cjsae.v27i3.3866

Keywords:

adult learning, MOOCs, online learning

Abstract

Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) are a relatively new form of education, offered by some of the best known universities and attracting many hundreds of thousands of students. The authors describe MOOCs and the claims made for them, and analyse two major impacts of these programs based on the first MOOC offered by McGill University. The first area of discussion is the potential for expanded access to education offered by MOOCs, which this analysis finds to be more limited than often claimed. The second is the potential for radical educational practice in MOOCs, which is considered through the lens of andragogy. The authors find that there are indications of interesting possibilities in this area, though they are not being exploited as fully—or as deliberately—as they could be.

Author Biographies

Ralf St Clair, University of Victoria

Professor, Curriculum and Instruction

Laura Winer, McGill University

Director, Teaching and Learning Services

Adam Finkelstein, McGill University

Teaching and Learning Services

Alex Fuentes-Steeves, McGill University

Teaching and Learning Services

Sylvie Wald, McGill University

Department of Integrated Studies in Education

References

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Desjardins, R. & Rubenson, K. (2013). Participation Patterns in Adult Education: the role of institutions and public policy frameworks in resolving coordination problems. European Journal of Education 48 (2), 262-280.

Downes, S. (2011). MOOC2011: The massive open online course in theory and practice. Available at: https://sites.google.com/site/themoocguide/. Accessed November 11, 2014.

Hill, P. & Feldstein, M. (2013). Everything you thought you knew about MOOCs could be wrong. In S. Downes (Ed.). Learning and the Massive Open Online Course. Notes from ELI Online Spring Focus Session (pp.3-6). Available at: http://www.educause.edu/events-search/275109. Accessed November 11, 2014.

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Knowles, M.S. (1980). The modern practice of adult education: From pedagogy to andragogy. New York: Cambridge.

Masi, A.C. (2013). Questioning higher education: As digital alternatives get cheaper and easier, can universities justify their existence? Literary Review of Canada, September. Available at: http://reviewcanada.ca/magazine/2013/09/questioning-higher-education/. Accessed November 11, 2014.

Prensky, M. (2001). Digital natives, digital immigrants. On the horizon, 9 (5). Available at: http://www.marcprensky.com/writing/Prensky%20-%20Digital%20Natives,%20Digital%20Immigrants%20-%20Part1.pdf Accessed December 26, 2014.

St. Clair, R. (2002). Andragogy Revisited: Theory for the 21st Century? Myths and Realities. Columbus, OH: ERIC Clearinghouse on Adult Career and Vocational Education. (ERIC Document Reproduction Service No. ED468612).

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Published

2015-06-30

How to Cite

St Clair, R., Winer, L., Finkelstein, A., Fuentes-Steeves, A., & Wald, S. (2015). Big hat and no cattle? The implications of MOOCs for the adult learning landscape. Canadian Journal for the Study of Adult Education, 27(3), 65–82. https://doi.org/10.56105/cjsae.v27i3.3866

Issue

Vol. 27 No. 3 (2015): Towards a Distributed Pedagogy of Difference

Section

Articles

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