The Benefits Of Open Online Course

The Massive Open Online Courses also known as MOOCs will become a key tool for competency based education while the possibility of partnering with universities and colleges in the near future. According to Billington and Fronmueller (2013), MOOC course offerings and enrollment have expanded over the past few years. Due to internet technology, engaging faculty presentations and funding of initial courses, MOOCs have become a hot issue in the arena of higher education (p. 36). The current issues with MOOCs are mass grading, opportunities for cheating, lack of university acceptance of transfer credits and lack of interaction between faculty and students (pg.39). Many possible scenarios exist for the future of MOOCs, from take-over to crash, university partnering and use as a key tool for competency based education (p. 40). It is the opinion of this researcher that the future will see an increase in numbers of colleges and universities partnering with MOOCs. MOOCs would need to develop a three credit hour standard consistent with university standards, and make provision for proctored exam testing sites in order for universities to directly receive grades (Selingo, 2013, as cited by Billington & Fronmueller, p.40).

Typing in computers at a high speed and mechanically is also depleting the capacity of the students of listening and synthesize what the teacher is explaining. Turkle also analyzes what she calls MOOCs Massive Open Online Courses. She sustains that online courses may be convenient for some students, but they are missing interaction with professors who love their subjects, are masters of their fields, and can make students be enthusiastic about the subject. In conclusion, Turtkle sustains that MOOCs are reducing the quality of education. Another aspect that is depleting the quality of education, according to the book, is the personal relationship between the students and the teachers. Today, the students prefer communicate with their teachers

After substituting in various classroom curriculums, I decided that library media was the curriculum I wanted to teach. This decision was based on many reasons. The primary reason is the important part the library plays in school. I feel the library is the “backbone” of a school and contains such a vast amount of knowledge which can benefit students for their entire life. As educators, we need to encourage students to use the library and help them to develop a love for books and reading. Through reading, a student grows and learns in numerous ways. This in turn can benefit them in all their subjects in school. Also, knowledge of the library and how to utilize its resources will benefit students through public school and college. Other than the educational aspects of library media, I choose this field because in a sense, it is like running a business. Therefore, I felt I could apply my knowledge from years in the business industry and a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration.

The number of students taking online classes and the number of colleges offering them nowadays, is staggering. Some experts reported in 2013, that “more than 6.7 million students – 32 percent of total higher ed enrollment,” (Sheehy, 2013) took at least one online class the previous academic year. That same report lists 62.4 percent of college campus offer fully online degrees, which is up from the 32.5 percent in 2002 (Sheehy, 2013). Another expert reported in 2013, “The number of college students taking at least one online course nearly doubled, from 23 percent to 45, over the last five years,” (Bolkan, 2013).

Have you ever had the opportunity to take online classes? Have you even heard of online classes? If you haven’t, you are missing out on a great opportunity. Online education is rapidly becoming a popular alternative to traditional education. It is offering more flexibility for students and providing individuals with better opportunities for postsecondary education. Even though traditional education has been the only form of education for hundreds of years, online education offers a new and improved style of learning.

For years, college students globally have hoped there was a way to go to college without actually attending class. Now with the creation of the Internet, this fantasy is becoming reality. For some students getting out of bed in the morning to make it in time for class was the most challenging part of the day. Now with the innovation of online courses there’s no urgency, as these courses are done from the comfort of one’s residence at any time in day the student chooses. Online courses are booming in popularity. One research study conducted by the Sloan Consortium, an institution devoted to mainstreaming online colleges, reported that as many as 4.6 million students were enrolled in online courses in 2008 (Seaman). The author has had

Recent advancements in technology bolster the growing popularity of online courses among students. Because of technological advancements and innovations, online classes are

more likely to be sluggish for their lessons or to be distracted by a huge amount of

As we move forward, online education is gaining more popularity yearly, more individuals are looking towards the direction of online education to earn their degree. In fall of 2002, students enrolled in distance education was about 1.6 million. Five year later, that population grew to about 3.5 million and in 2012 about 7.1 million students enrolled in online learning from just American universities (Trammell & LaForge, 2017). With the rise of online education there is an effort to close the gap between online education and traditional education. Online learning has become an important avenue for individuals to gain knowledge and for professors to provide student with learning experience (Mader & Ming, 2015). Delivering education in this format has its flaws and benefits, with the introduction of technology the flaws are becoming less problematic and as time proceed the gap between traditional learning and online learning is lessening.

The introduction of technology has alternated the way of learning. Yang (2003) argues that higher education is no longer limited to the border between countries with the help of technology. He also points out that at present, the trend is distance learning and teaching through the internet. This means that studying is not confined to the classroom because the learning material is available on the internet in the form of video and text. Taking Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) as an example, MOOC is one of the largest online open course websites which are widely accepted by a considerable number of universities. It is a website that universities all around the world share their professional courses online so that students and teachers from other countries can also have access to courses given by professors in certain fields such as education, mathematics as well as chemistry. However, even though some students may prefer face to face learning, online learning could be more flexible and affordable.

With the third industrial revolution came the development of personal computers and internet. Now, anyone with internet access can watch high-quality lectures from top universities. From personal speculation, the trend is moving towards increased access to high quality online education. If we follow the trend, in the fourth industrial age(development of artificial intelligence), the teaching focus in higher education will be through massive open online courses. It is predicted that MOOCs can function similarly to a community college setting which will be utilized by freshman and sophomore students. Lower classman can utilize MOOCs to complete their introductory courseworks and enroll in traditional higher education facilities as upper classmate to receive interpersonal education for more complex topics. This can reduce the cost of higher education for the general population.

MOOCs and other new models for schooling. Fresh in this year 's statement, latest methods for education and studying are giving "unparalleled rivalry to

The digital era has created a revolutionary structure to higher education using the internet. Technology has changed the way students can interact with their instructors and classroom instruction through portals that institutions have created on their specific websites for degree and non-degree seeking students. The benefits of online courses range from different avenues to create an educational environment that provides more options to classroom instructions. Online higher education is an exceptional alternative to traditional classroom learning due to the convenience, peer interaction, cost, and self-pacing aspects of the institution.

Most people’s English 102 class was probably not a hybrid class, but mine was. This was my first time experiencing online class and it was a great experience. I like how we didn’t have to come to class every day that we have class. Most of the class was online. What I found difficult about a hybrid class was when you have to turn in a late assignment and the instructor decided to cancell class. The class policy only accepts papers that are one week late. If you turned in a paper later than that, you won’t be able to turn in a final paper, which means that you automatically failed the class. It was unfortunate for me to be in this situation during individual conference time. I was not aware that the next time we meet in class will be in two weeks. I have to drop my paper in my instructor’s mailbox and email her to make sure she got my paper. I learned that attendance is incredibly important in a hybrid class from this bad experience. Overall I really enjoyed this course because I learned how online classes work and I was able to learn new information while sharing them with others.

Schools need 21st century materials and resources to serve 21st century students. There needs to be a change in ideology regarding the function of the library in todays society. “For centuries, libraries have remained essentially separate, even competing with one another to establish and maintain the greatest collection, and now they need to recast themselves as platforms rather than storehouses. (Palfrey, 2015) With the introduction of the internet and online information libraries need to rebrand themselves. Libraries around the world can now share information with one another in real time, and the competition for resources has ended. That said, there is still value in networking with other agencies devoted to education and information. John Palfrey, author of Biblio Tech suggests that, “Libraries must act as ambitiously networked institutions, connecting their network effectively with partner intuitions: archives, historical societies, museums, and other cultural heritage organizations.”(2015) More agencies are partnering up to give their patrons access to the best and most credible information.

#Learning Commons
 The year of the Learning Commons is ablaze on social media. Teacher-librarians are embracing technology as a way to reach new audiences and share resources. The social media of choice for these tech savvy teachers is Twitter, and their hashtag is YearLC. (Loertscher, D., & Koechlin, C., 2015) Twitter is being used as a marketing tool to rebrand