MOOCs Are Moving Forward 1. Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) ■ Course materials for studying far away or attending c

MOOCs Are Moving Forward
   Good morning everyone, as we all know, the movement towards education by computer is developing fast. Massive Open Online Courses, called MOOCs, are changing how people learn in many places. For years, people could receive study materials from colleges or universities and take part in online classes. But such classes were not designed for many thousands of students at one time, as MOOCs are. So today’s topic is, how MOOCs change our education.
   Course materials provided by MOOCs can serve both those studying far away from school and those attending classes in person. Anyone with a computer and an online connection can sign up for a MOOC. Students do not have to pass entrance exams. They also do not need to have studied the subject before.
   One professor praised MOOCs because they let people who could not attend a traditional college to continue their education. He asked, "Who knows where the next Albert Einstein will come from?"
   The spread of Internet learning for huge numbers of people is leading some colleges to join the movement. Major universities like Stanford in California and Harvard in Massachusetts have invested millions of dollars to help launch MOOCs. Those schools and others may have heard an attention—getting prediction. The man who created the MOOC service Udacity says that in fifty years, only ten traditional universities will remain in the world.
   The web site Class Central says twenty-three new courses were added to the list of available MOOCs by October the first. These study programs are from about four weeks to twenty-four weeks long. They usually have videos, homework, weekly tests, a final examination and a rating in the class.
   Stanford University computer scientist, Daphne Koller, says that before long, people may wonder why college students ever filled a room to hear a lecture. Traditionally, colleges and universities required teachers to give lectures to their classes for an hour or more. The teacher provided information, and the students took notes.
   Today, MOOCs have more than one million students. Will many of these students do all of their college work by computer? If so, they would enter the professional world with course completion documents instead of a degree. For years, a degree has been the sign to employers that students have completed the requirements for a college education.
   But today, employers may be more than willing to offer work to a student with an excellent record in MOOCs without a college degree. That is especially true at technology companies.
   He also says computer-based distance learning and asynchronous learning will be part of the future university. Asynchronous learning lets students do the course work at any time. The professor predicts that those methods will be used with individual tutoring, life experience, independent study and lectures.
   But the investment service is warning that smaller, less well-known colleges may suffer because of MOOCs. It says students may want to receive certificates from major universities instead of attending a local junior college that provides traditional credits.
   So what is your comment on the future of MOOCs? Will MOOCs replace the traditional colleges and universities as some professors concerned? We will come to this topic next time.