Resting in MOOC peace?

Resting in MOOC peace?

With all the current fuzz about MOOCs, I found it interesting to revisit my 2009 article: Resting in e-learning peace, which I wrote after finishing the EU-project: Megatrends in E-learning Provision.

Now, I wonder if the MOOC advocates could learn something from the project conclusions?

The project identified 26 examples of large, successful e-learning initiatives that we could strive to emulate. However, there is also a lot to learn from the ten initiatives that failed to reach their targeted goals. So, here are the seven recommendations, based on the failed initiatives, wich are discussed in the article Resting in e-learning peace:

1. Be sceptical about top-down political and boardroom initiatives.

2. Be sceptical about a consortium of institutions that compete with each other and the consortium.

3. ‘Hard-nosed’ market research is essential for the success of any e-learning initiative.

4. E-learning initiatives should plan carefully for and carefully control their revenue and expenses.

5. The choice of courses and their accreditation are crucial.

6. E-learning initiatives should precisely define the relationships of their initiative to existing providers and the institutional model they will adopt.

7. E-learning initiatives should plan carefully to manage both their educational and business activities.