MOOCs – An easy access to continuous learning, or is it?

Want to keep in touch with the subject of your liking? Want to do some formal course in the subject from some of the well- known universities and listening to some of the finest professors on the globe? Importantly want to do it sitting in your cozy couch sipping your favourite coffee?

If your answer to these questions is in affirmation, MOOCs can be the best option for you.

About MOOCs :

For the un-initiated, MOOCs or massive open online courses are the courses offered by various universities over Web. The term MOOC was coined in 2008 by Dave Cormier of the University of Prince Edward Island in response to a course called Connectivism and Connective Knowledge (also known as CCK08).

In India, the idea was first proposed by IISc Bangalore in the year 1999. Following that, video-based teaching material, NPTEL was set up during 2003-2007. As of March 2014, approximately 750 video courses and web-based courses have been developed by the faculty members of IITs, IIMs and IISc.

Coursera.org; edx.org; udemy.com are some of the sites that aggregate various courses from universities. All of them offer free registration on their site. Some courses are free and some are paid.

Usually these courses range from eight to twelve weeks.

What is it like? :

One has to complete various stages to complete the course. Week wise video lectures, assessments, participation in online discussions, project submission, final test and peer review. After all this you get your final grades.

You search the subject that you are passionate about and the chances are you will find some course or the other that adds value to your current knowledge on the subject.

Self-directed learning, easy access, choice of subject, convenience, cost competitiveness (most of them are free) all these go in favour of MOOCs and all of us.

So do we see an increase in the number of courses being offered by various universities on these platforms?

According to the European Commission's Open Education Europa initiative, as of January 2015 - there were over 3,842 MOOCs worldwide. The total Number of MOOCs grew 201% in 2014, and over the period 2013-2018, MOOCs are forecasted to grow at a CAGR of 56.61%.

The other view :

The academic leaders however seem to be giving mixed signals.

Babson survey research group has some interesting findings in this regard. The group has been tracking opinions of academic leaders about online learning for 10 years now. They have started asking about MOOCs since 2012.

In 2012, 28 percent of respondents believed MOOCs were sustainable, while 26 percent thought they were not. In this year’s survey (2014), where they surveyed 2800 academic leaders, 16 percent believe MOOCs are sustainable, while 51 percent think they are not.

The academic leaders want to use the courses to improve institutional visibility and drive recruitment, discovers the survey.

Conclusion :

There has been lot of discussion and debate on the usefulness of MOOCs for the participants as well as for the institutions.

For the debate to turn favourable for both, there needs to be deeper penetration and wider choice.

Importantly, an acceptable measurement metric can enhance credibility of MOOCs for participants and for the institutions.

For me, I find MOOCs to be resource rich, convenient and of good value.

 

NITI Aayog, You and Me….

NITI Aayog, You and Me…. 

The government of India constituted the NITI Aayog. NITI Aayog replaces the 65 year old planning commission.  NITI is a Sanskrit word that loosely translates as ‘policy’. The government has aptly given NITI an appropriate long form. National Institution for Transforming India. I am not sure if it’s the other way round. Long form condensed into an acronym.  Anyways, the point is now we have the NITI Aayog.

As the Chairman of the Aayog, our Prime Minister Mr. Narendra  Modi  kick starts the first meeting of NITI Aayog on 6^th February 2015.

So what should be different with the NITI Aayog compared to the planning commission that we had for good 65 years? 

Here are the three things that may not only differentiate but have a positive influence on the people of our country.

1.       Identifying the real definition of GDP :

GDP or Gross Domestic Product is a measure of gross economic activity. This really does not differentiate between a good activity and a bad activity. The GDP looks at the value, not worth. As the famous economist Tim Harford puts it, ‘a Brazilian wax may have the same value as the cost of a week’s food for a poor family’.

 

a.       What money can’t buy :

Philosopher Michael Sandel explains in his book What money cannot buy that many things that produce goodness in people’s lives such as dignity, trust in one’s neighbors and a sense of fairness are not measurable in money terms. Therefore they are excluded from GDP calculations.

Measuring quantitative things itself is difficult at a macro level. So if we add qualitative aspects like dignity, trust etc, it will be even more difficult to have a score or a number that is comparable.

 

b.      The economics of innocent fraud :

John Kenneth Galbraith writes in The economics of innocent fraud, ‘Good performance is measured by the production of material objects and services. Not education or literature or the arts but the production of automobiles, including SUVs…The best of human past is the artistic, literary, religious and scientific accomplishments that emerged from the societies where they were the measure of success.’

 

Integrating quantitative and qualitative aspects to measure the real progress should be an important task on NITI Aayog’s agenda. 

2.       Education :

The first education policy in India came in 1968. This document established 10+2+3 education model. We got the second policy in 1986 that focused on access and equity. For the last 29 years now there is no new education policy in our country whereas there has been a fundamental shift of what is required in terms of knowledge and skills.

The government has recently outlined a vision for education policy.  The broad contours of this policy under 33 themes are uploaded on www.mygov.in .

 

Some of the framework points are:

a.       Internationalisation of higher education

b.      Public-Private partnership in higher education

c.       Improving quality of education

d.      Outcome based teaching-learning model in elementary schools

NITI Aayog needs to play an important role in ensuring that the framework is robust enough to take care of current and future knowledge and skill requirements.

3.       Financial Inclusion :

We hear stories of money being borrowed at 5% per month by a sahukaar (money lender). There are many movies depicting this pain where the borrower spends (and sometimes ends) his life servicing the debt.  Jan Dhan Yojana is a big and important step that can curtail this to a large extent. The Aayog needs to chart the future course so that it creates a win-win for the account holder as well as the banks or financial institutions.

 

In a nutshell, we need a balanced score card for measuring the progress of our nation and our countrymen.

 

NITI Aayog will do a great job if it creates one. In the real sense then it will be an institution for transforming India.