{"id":4301,"date":"2013-12-18T17:28:57","date_gmt":"2013-12-18T15:28:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/oeb.global\/OEB_Newsportal\/?p=4301"},"modified":"2016-11-17T14:53:46","modified_gmt":"2016-11-17T12:53:46","slug":"the-oeb-debate-2013","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/oeb.global\/oeb-insights\/the-oeb-debate-2013\/","title":{"rendered":"The OEB debate 2013"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"OEB_2013_Tag2_5765\"<\/a>

from left: Crispin Weston, Gianpiero Petriglieri, chairman Harold Elletson, Johannes Heinlein and Pierre Dillenbourg<\/p><\/div>\n

On the evening of Thursday, 5 December, ONLINE EDUCA BERLIN participants flocked to the plenary hall of the Hotel InterContinental to hear and take part in a debate on the future of open learning, with the motion: \u201cThis house believes MOOCs are doomed\u201d.<\/b><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

by Alasdair MacKinnon<\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

It was a controversial topic \u2013 especially for an audience of e-learning professionals, people who encounter the MOOC phenomenon on a daily basis. Initial surveys suggested that the majority would side with the opposition: Pierre Dillenbourg<\/a>, Academic Director of the Center for Digital Education, and Johannes Heinlein<\/a>, Senior Director Strategic Partnerships at edX. The proposition, consisting of radical blogger Crispin Weston<\/a> and INSEAD\u2019s Associate Professor of Organisational Behaviour Gianpietro Petriglieri<\/a>, had their work cut out to convince an audience of MOOCophiles that the innovation hailed as the future of education was in fact destined for failure.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Crispin Weston\u00a0opened by comparing MOOCs to Ratner\u2019s jewellery store \u2013 a vendor of tacky ornaments which was almost wiped out when its founder told people what they already knew, that the only reason their jewellery was inexpensive because it was \u201ctotal crap\u2026 cheaper than an M&S prawn sandwich but probably wouldn\u2019t last as long\u201d. And he had good reason to do so: just a few days before the conference Sebastian Thrun, founder of udacity, had admitted in an interview<\/a> that in MOOCs \u201cwe have a lousy product\u201d.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

After this powerful opening, he went on to examine the pedagogical principles of MOOCs more closely. MOOCs, he said, rely on \u201cknowledge networks\u201d \u2013 the online forums and socially interactive platforms that accompany MOOC classes in which, it is hoped, the real learning takes place. But social networks do not inspire the sort of creativity that teaching is really about: \u201cthe wisdom of the crowd\u201d requires the sort of consensual interaction that is the polar opposite of independent thinking.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"OEB_2013_5687\"

Pierre Dillenbourg<\/p><\/div>\n

The only sort of education that has proved successful for inspiring independence, he claimed, is that which follows the Socratic tradition of \u201cmaking mental efforts under criticism\u201d. To demonstrate the demand for this form of education, he cited the fact that 40% of state school pupils in London have private tuition. The reason why MOOCs are doomed, he concluded, is that, by going straight to the massive level, they have abandoned the one thing that works.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

It was up to Pierre Dillenbourg to counter his arguments. Sensing the audience\u2019s support, he raised a few laughs with an ad hominem attack on his opponent: \u201cwell,\u201d he said, \u201cI\u2019m not a blogger. I don\u2019t get paid for repeating what Sebastian Thrun said last week\u201d. But, he admitted, MOOCs have problems. But what do you do if you have problems with something as good as MOOCs? To answer this, he chose to transport the audience to the country of Switzerland, where he works, and imagine sitting in Zermatt at the foot of the Matterhorn, and ask them: \u201cWhat do you want to do? Go shopping in Zermatt, or take the challenge and climb the mountain \u2013 the most beautiful mountain in the world?\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

During the course of his speech he also took issue with the way MOOC completion statistics are compiled: pointing out that the reason many students do not complete their MOOC is that they have never really started it in the first place: they have simply taken the opportunity open online courses offer them of shopping around for the right class.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Gianpietro Petriglieri\u00a0took to the stage next in order to dismantle the \u201cpowerful narrative [of MOOCs], held by powerful people who don\u2019t know better\u201d. MOOCs are a charming illusion, he said, that appeal precisely because their promise of access is just that \u2013 an illusion. Unfortunately, he pointed out, the typical MOOC students are not the disadvantaged they claim to give access to: \u201cthe typical MOOC student looks like all of us on this stage: they already have a degree, and are looking to continue their education in a specific direction.\u201d It was hard not to think that the opposition looked a little uncomfortable.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"OEB_2013_Tag2_5014\"

Gianpiero Petriglieri<\/p><\/div>\n

Greater discomfort was to come later, however, when it turned out to general surprise that of the four debaters only Johannes Heinlein had ever completed a MOOC. Petriglieri hastily defended his fellow speakers, criticising the \u201cdangerous attitude\u201d of saying that only those with direct involvement in a subject are allowed to take part in debating it.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Johannes Heinlein took the final spot with rhetorical relish. Standing up, he tore up his notes, and proceeded in a combative deconstruction of the panel\u2019s neckwear choices. The opposition were in open shirts he pointed out, while the proposition were wearing ties: a clear sign of their traditionalist attitudes. To this Petriglieri retorted that it showed the proposition stood \u201cnot for what works, but for what is also beautiful\u201d.<\/p>\n

Heinlein\u2019s argument, when he came to it, was that MOOCs are a self-improving system: currently in their early stages they are of course imperfect, but after data analytics have been used to improve courses, increase engagement and in turn produce more data to be analysed, outcomes will be attached to a positive feedback driving their continual improvement.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"OEB_2013_Tag2_5787\"<\/a>Lively audience participation continued throughout; and when the motion was put to the floor many remarkable opinions were expressed: one man, describing himself as a \u201cheavy MOOCer\u201d, compared MOOC aficionados and academia to a couple on the verge of breakup. And keynote speaker Prof. Mitchell Stevens<\/a>, spoke up with an apparent determination to take the debate to a whole new plane: asking whether MOOCs are not doomed because of their traditional model \u2013 should we not say that the whole idea of a \u201ccourse\u201d, or of discrete educational provision in its entirety, is doomed?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Crispin Weston, in summary, identified a few points where he thought a consensus had been reached: perhaps what was wrong, he said, was not the online course itself, but the way it has been sold, as an educational panacea. But in the end, the propositions argumentation was no match for the fervent belief in progress, and the power of MOOCs, that was clearly present among the audience. As Pierre Dillenbourg put it: \u201cstanding still is not an option\u201d.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The motion was resoundingly defeated.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

For those interested in hearing more from Pierre Dillenbourg about this fascinating subject \u2013 and who wouldn\u2019t be? \u2013 <\/b>EMOOCs 2014<\/b><\/a> is the place to go. <\/b>The conference, the 2nd<\/sup> MOOC European Stakeholders Summit, has four tracks: Policy, Experience, Research and Business; its goal is to develop synergies among European universities around themes such as student assessment, MOOC accreditation, platform interoperability and joint research initiatives. It takes place from February 10 \u2013 12 in Lausanne, Switzerland.<\/b><\/b><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

On the evening of Thursday, 5 December, ONLINE EDUCA BERLIN participants flocked to the plenary hall of the Hotel InterContinental to hear and take part in a debate on the future of open learning, with the motion: \u201cThis house believes MOOCs are doomed\u201d.   by Alasdair MacKinnon   It was a controversial topic \u2013 especially […]<\/p>\n

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