When a Problem Isn't a Problem

How did you feel reading the article about MOOC success and intrinsic learning? How does it compare with the kind of formalized online learning that you're doing in your SJSU program? How do you compare it to a traditional physical classroom.

I thought the article we read very clearly discredits a problem that I was not even aware was a problem! I never knew that MOOC success was measured by completion rate. I was not aware that people were alarmed when a completion rate dropped after a wave of new learners signed up. It seems to me that this is just a matter of simple math and common sense.

This problem is only a problem if you think MOOCs are like traditional classes. They are not. They are more like web pages. Which they are. In the new culture of learning, people learn from many different places. Just because they didn’t complete an entire online course doesn’t mean they haven’t learned anything. (Conversely, just because someone watched twelve videos doesn’t mean they have.) The beauty of the MOOC is that people can choose where, when, and how much they want to learn. And even if one person watches one “Justice” video, isn’t there that much more justice in the world?

Program completion, certificates, and degrees in formalized learning (on- of offline) have a few purposes that go beyond mere learning. They are a marker that the person who holds the degree has completed a certain amount of learning, with a certain understanding for professionals in the field of what the person has learned. For example, if you hold an MLIS degree, an employer could be reasonably certain that you have learned about the ALA Bill of Rights. If the entirety of our MLIS program were available online as a MOOC, and you told an employer you completed some of it, how would your employer know which parts you knew and which you didn’t?

In this respect, formalized online learning is like physical classrooms. That is to say, they are formalized. There are third parties that accredit the programs so that everyone has an understanding of their scope and quality. As a culture, we all agree to these standards.

Every other type of learning we do is still learning, though it is more personal. It is usually not done to fulfill job requirements. However, it is informal learning in our new culture that is how most of us get information and experience. Employers would do well to remember that, because your degree is really just a baseline of knowledge, not a whole picture of a person’s knowledge, skills, abilities, and talents.