* Massive Open Online Courses – Is school out forever?
The way we learn is changing rapidly. Just 15 years ago, an intellectually curious student was left alone with limited studying options. He could have asked his professors, his classmates or grab a book. Today, we live in a digital world where an internet connection gives you access to a staggering amount of information, even online learning is possible. It is not just possible; the buzzword MOOC indicates that this “learning” is about to be taken to a whole new level. Will MOOCs change the way approach higher education?

Firstly, what is a MOOC? This acronym is defined in various ways; let’s just focus on the following one. According to the Macmillan English Dictionary a MOOC is a “massive open online course: a course of study offered over the Internet which is free and has a very large number of participants” (cf. Macmillan, 2013). Within the past 2 years, several open learning platforms have been set up, some founded by institutions such as Harvard University to establish a non-profit MOOC platform like EdX. Others, for example Coursera, are created by investors who are trying to capitalize on this innovation with for-profit companies (cf. Coursera, 2013). Signing up for a MOOC is done in less than 5 minutes, all it takes is a valid email address, a password and everyone with an Internet connection can do so. However, looking at MOOC completion rates, it shows that “although thousands enroll for courses, a very small proportion actually complete the course” (cf. Oreilly, 2013) as educational researcher Katy Jordan noted in her recent enrollment statistic. Underlying this statement is the fact that the completion rate of MOOCs is less than 10 % on average (cf. Oreilly, 2013). With this in mind, are MOOCs likely to disrupt anything?
The term disruptive innovation was coined by Clayton Christensen. Referring to him, an innovation qualifies as disruptive when it initially offers a lower performance. At the same time it comes with a new feature that new customers value (cf. Christensen, 1997, 18). These products are “typically cheaper, simpler, […] and, frequently more convenient to use” (cf. Christensen, 1997, 18).
It’s remarkably difficult to tell but judging from Christensen's criteria the MOOCs don’t meet them yet. Primarily massive open online learning isn’t going to disrupt the existing market for higher education because MOOCs are generally, with a few exceptions, free and therefore have difficulties to keep up with government founded universities. Generating revenue is the key problem here for MOOCs as they claim to be free for everyone – worldwide.
Furthermore, it is more than just debatable that one new feature, the new medium Internet, turns the MOOCs into a success. Spending day after day alone at your desk, while summer is just around the corner, is nothing students fantasize about. Without the daily campus gossip, without physical contact to tutors and the meeting of fellow classmates, a lot is missing in the online world. The completion rates mentioned above underline this thesis. This online platform also requires a high speed Internet connection which is in rural areas in Germany still rare.
This, however, is not the whole answer as today’s children grow up in ordinary schools, far away from MOOCs. The next generation of students has learned to appreciate a book where they can highlight words and are thankful for the dialogue a tutor is providing in classroom sessions. Simultaneously campus-based learning at universities constantly aims to improve. In sum the evidence confirms that MOOCs don’t qualify as disruptive innovation yet.

The ideas considered so far show that MOOCs may not go down in history as a radical and rapid change in higher education but technology on which they rely, such as bandwidth, video quality and online sharing tools is only starting to evolve. So no, school is not out forever. To me, MOOCs didn’t just have their moment yet, even though they’ve been around for years, but they will find their niche. Nevertheless, in my opinion they will never replace the traditional model of undergraduate education but rather will serve to improve the teaching and learning experienced at long established universities. Also I wouldn’t want to miss the canteen of my university.

* Sources
Christensen, C. M. (1987). The Innovator’s Dilemma: When New Technologies Cause Great Firms to Fail. New York: HarperCollins Publishers Inc.

Coursera. (2013). Coursera. URL: https://www.coursera.org/about/founders

Macmillan Dictionary. (2013). Macmillan Publishers Limited. URL: http://www.macmillandictionary.com/buzzword/entries/mooc.html.

Webb, J. (2013). O'Reilly Media Incorporated. URL: http://strata.oreilly.com/2013/03/visualization-of-the-week-mooc-completion-rates.html.

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[ 1 ]. Clayton M. Christensen is the Kim B. Clark Professor of Business Administration at the Harvard Business School and is regarded as one of the world's top experts on innovation and growth.