On Shanna Smith Jaggars’s post “Democratization of Education for Whom? Online Learning and Educational Equity”
I found Shanna Smith Jaggar’s article in Association of American Colleges and Universities confirming my earlier suspicions about MOOCs, which I cautiously expressed in an earlier post (Flipped classroom doubt). Specifically: knowledge obtaining process in a face to face setting is more successful than that obtained online. Also, not to well prepared students won’t get as much out of an online class as would those better prepared.
So, I continue believing that MOOCs would enhance the learning for those well prepared and well motivated to handle the content and the process. I am assuming (without citing any date here), that educating one from scratch, based on online education only (massive, specifically) might be challenging, while not impossible. There are always some very motivated and dedicated learners. But the general trend, I think, holds: those better prepared will be able to add another layer of knowledge.
For higher ed, I remain a strong believer in value of live interaction with academics, peers and mentors as a core educational experience, perhaps supplemented with online educational experience.