Mainstream Higher Ed Feels Ripple of Open Source College Courses

EWA asked participants to contribute blog posts from some of the sessions at our 65th National Seminar, held May 17-19 at the University of Pennsylvania. This entry is from columnist David McKay Wilson of the (White Plains, N.Y.) Journal News.

Session: Will Open Source College Courses Roil the Waters?
Participants:
Jeff Young, Chronicle of Higher Education (moderator)
Kevin Carey, Education Sector*
Joel Thierstein, Rice University

The proliferation of free non-credit online courses from the nation’s top universities has invigorated instruction, as Ivy League professors develop new ways of presenting information typically shared in the classroom.

The professors told their stories at the panel discussion, Will Open Source Courses Roil The Waters? The panelists included Jeffrey Himpele, associate director of Princeton’s Center for Teaching and Learning; Joshua Kim, director of learning and technology at Dartmouth’s Master of Health Care Delivery Science program; Peter Struck, associate professor of classical studies at the University of Pennsylvania; and Kevin Carey, Education Sector’s policy director.

The discussion comes as Harvard joined MIT, Yale, and Stanford in providing a broad range of courses online. Princeton and Penn are developing free online resources as well.

Struck, who teaches Greek mythology, said he was “thrilled” that 9,000 online students had already signed up for his class that will debut in September. He said the online format, which features 15-minute lectures, has caused him to rethink the traditional one-hour lecture. He predicted it would like to pedagogical advances as he reconfigures his approach.

But he warned that the online courses would not remake higher education.

“It won’t replace the high-touch environment of the classroom,” he said. “It’s like a difference between television and a play. It won’t end lectures as we know it.”

But it has gotten the attention of professors who for decades have embraced the hour-long lecture, a staple of the academic arena. Himpele said the shorter format of the online classes – videos that are 12 minutes in length – has sparked conversations throughout the Princeton campus.

Many of the online courses have mini-quizzes every 12 minutes, to make sure the students understood the material.

“We are having conversations we were only dreaming of years ago,” he said. “And these conversations are revitalizing and enhancing teaching on campus. It makes you focus on what you want the student to know at the end of a segment, a lecture and a course.”

Carey says top-flight institutions of higher education are making their courses public so they don’t fall behind in the digital revolution, wherever it may lead.

“Harvard cares about not being left behind,” said Carey. “Fear can motivate. Fear gets you out of bed. Fear can change the world. It can get institutions to do things.”

Kim, however, was skeptical that the free online courses would have much of an impact on society at large.

“It’s fun, but fundamentally won’t change things,” he said.

One journalist in the audience said he was struck by the lack of a business plan by the universities that were offering the free courses. Carey said that plan could develop as the audience grows. Stanford’s pilot program in 2012 drew more than 300,000 participants.

“They figure, if we get big enough, it will work out,” Carey said.


*Kevin Carey is now director of the New America Foundation's Education Policy Program.