The Chronicle of Higher Education
July 10th, 2014
Using free online materials such as massive open online courses in traditional classes can help colleges teach more efficiently without harming students, according to a long-awaited report from Ithaka S+R, an education-technology nonprofit group, and the University System of Maryland.
However, the report notes practical barriers that might make it difficult for professors to incorporate MOOCs or similar materials into their classes without incurring other costs. Those costs might limit any gains in efficiency, according to university officials.
In their study, researchers closely tracked 17 courses at universities across the Maryland system that incorporated “interactive online learning platforms” into existing courses, including 14 that used MOOCs from Coursera. (Some courses used online software from the Open Learning Initiative and Pearson.)
In seven of the experimental courses, the researchers compared the student outcomes with those in sections without MOOC components; in the other 10, the researchers prepared case studies detailing the experiences of instructors as they attempted to meld the MOOCs with their own teaching.