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Progression of Blended, Online & Mobile Learning
I built my first blended learning course in 1994 and started teaching fully online in 1995 and in the past twenty years I have seen steady progress in the use and acceptance of online learning. Unfortunately, I have always been overly optimistic and have believed that well designed online learning could radically improve our educational systems. When the smartphone started to hit saturation levels in north america and mobile learning hit the peak of its hype cycle in 2010/11 I was further encouraged that the notion of “all the time and anywhere” learning had finally become widely accepted. The forward momentum of mobile learning was abruptly interrupted by the latest disruptor to higher education–MOOCS
MOOC Hype
The MOOC hype started in earnest in 2011 and was in full force with formation of Udacity, Coursera, edX and several other content/course delivery organizations in 2012. Many higher education administrators and proponents of the MOOC hype claimed that the disruptive aspect of MOOCs would not only change education but that it would bring an end to traditional education. Many of these claims are similar to the claims made in the mid 1990’s and early 2000’s when the online learning pioneers started to take advantage of the potential of the internet. The reality of immature learning management systems, poor or missing instructional design, abysmal completion rates (often in the single digits) and the high costs of MOOCs have significantly quenched the MOOC hype.
Reality Check – Its Still About The Learning
The latest figures that come from the Babson Survey Research Group’s annual survey, which was based on a 2014 survey of more than 2,800 academic leaders, reveals:
MOOCs are no longer considered a useful tool to learn about online pedagogy
MOOCs are not sustainable
Education costs, learning outcomes, and competency based education are much more important than MOOCs
The Babson survey also reveals that academic leaders believe that some aspects of online learning are positive:
- Online education has become mission-critical, even at small colleges.
- “Hybrid” courses are at least as good as face-to-face courses.
The survey reveals that most professors still don’t think online courses are legit so whether the adverse effects of the MOOC hype are a contributing factor or that faculty just have not learned how or received the professional development to build effective online learning environments, even in 2015 we still have a long way to go before online learning is fully accepted.
