MOOCs, Money, & e-Learning Models What a CFO needs to know about “Massive Open Online Courses”

“A massive open online course (MOOC) is a model for delivering learning content online to any person who wants to take a course, with no limit on attendance.” - EDUCAUSE

Fred Miller fred.miller@furman.edu

Who’s afraid of the big, bad MOOC?

¤  Your institution?

¤  e-learning at your institution?

¤  Your role?

¤  Familiarity with MOOCs? ¤  Other e-learning?

About Furman and me

¤  About Furman ¤  Private, liberal arts ¤  2650 Undergraduates ¤  750 acres in Greenville, SC ¤  96% residential ¤  Division 1 sports

¤  About me ¤  Higher ed ¤  Education ¤  MOOCs

Overview

¤  What you should know about MOOCs

¤  How do MOOCs differ from other e-learning models?

¤  Costs and benefits

¤  Strategies

¤  Discussion

What you should know about MOOCs

¤  Thousands of students per class

¤  “Open” = Free ¤  Like puppies

¤  (not beer)

Why you should pay attention

¤  Will MOOCs affect your institution?

¤  Should your institution be a consumer or producer?

¤  Pricing pressure on other e-learning models?

Partners & Platforms

¤  Commercial providers

¤  Consortia

¤  Open Source

¤  Analytics

¤  Peer feedback

¤  Minimal faculty contact

¤  Streaming video with embedded quizzes

An innovation frequently attributed to MOOCs is:

¤  Analytics

¤  Peer feedback

¤  Minimal faculty contact

¤  Streaming video with embedded quizzes

An innovation frequently attributed to MOOCs is:

√

Potential Benefits

Institution

¤  MOOC as textbook

¤  MOOC as marketing

¤  MOOC as research

Individual

¤  Exploration

¤  Gateway

¤  Refresher

MOOC as textbook

¤  MOOCs and the “flipped classroom”

¤  timing

MOOCs and other e-learning models

¤  Course Modality

¤  Course Design

¤  Business models ¤  Worth $50,000

per course?

Course Modality

¤  Face-to-Face

¤  Blended / Hybrid ¤  Synchronous

¤  Asynchronous

¤  Fully Online Course ¤  Cohort-Based

¤  Self Paced

Course Design

¤  Facilitators & Participants (workshop)

¤  Individual Faculty

¤  Faculty Team

¤  Instructional Design Team including faculty

e-learning models

Higher Ed e-Learning Models

E-learning & the income statement

¤  Revenue

¤  Expenses ¤  Labor

¤  Other Direct Costs

¤  Overhead

Revenue

Blended&/&Hybrid

"Traditional"&On3Line&Course

MOOC&cohort

MOOC&&&&&&&&&&self3paced

Per$credit/certificate Yes Yes No MaybeRequire$larger$class$sizes Maybe Usually Yes YesOther$revenue No No Maybe Maybe

Expenses: labor

Blended&/&Hybrid

"Traditional"&On3Line&Course

MOOC&cohort

MOOC&&&&&&&&&&self3paced

Design'Team'&'Production'for'course Maybe Maybe Usually YesFaculty'paid'for'course'design Usually Usually Maybe MaybeFaculty'paid'for'teaching'course Yes Yes Yes YesTeaching'Assistants Sometimes Maybe Many MaybeTechnology'Support'Staff Yes Maybe Yes Maybe

Expenses: other direct costs

Blended&/&Hybrid

"Traditional"&On3Line&Course

MOOC&cohort

MOOC&&&&&&&&&&self3paced

Software)licensing Depends Depends Depends DependsOpen)software)support Depends Depends Depends DependsWeb,)phone,)or)video)conference Yes No No NoServers)(in)house)or)cloud) Yes Yes Yes Yes

Expenses: overhead

Blended&/&Hybrid

"Traditional"&On3Line&Course

MOOC&cohort

MOOC&&&&&&&&&&self3paced

Marketing Yes Yes Yes YesRegistration.&.administration Yes Yes Yes YesInternet.bandwidth Depends Depends Depends DependsMore Yes Yes Yes Yes

Contract Highlights

¤  Coursera delivers Content

¤  University develops content ¤  University contracts with faculty ¤  Higher cut for 3 year term and high quality content

¤  3 revenue models ¤  Course free – revenue to be shared ¤  University offers course for fee ¤  Coursera offers course for fee

¤  Limited to AAU members (with a few exceptions)

Barriers to Adoption

¤  Revenue Models

¤  Credentialing or accreditation

¤  Course Completion Rate

¤  Student Authentication

Future...

¤  MOOC or SPOC? ¤  Small Private Online Course

¤  New Consortia?

¤  Credit for competency?

E-learning Pricing Pressure

¤  Will MOOC-like economies of scale be disruptive?

¤  “Pay as you go” benefits

edge.furman.edu

Possible strategies

¤  Develop IT readiness

¤  Consider and analyze business models

¤  Ramp-up faculty capabilities

¤  Engage in trials

¤  Consider partners

IT Readiness & IT Investment

Summary

¤  Lots of hype about MOOCs

¤  Many partners & platforms

¤  Revenue questions

¤  Numerous costs

¤  Barriers to adoption

Discussion questions

¤  Are MOOCs more opportunity or threat?

¤  Will MOOCs bring pricing pressure?

¤  Encourage staff to try MOOCs?

¤  Consumer or producer?

¤  Worth the risk?

Thank You!

“What Campus Leaders Need to Know About MOOCs” An EDUCAUSE Executive Briefing, 2012. http://net.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/PUB4005.pdf

Hill, Phil, “Online Educational Delivery Models: A Descriptive View”, EDUCAUSE Review Online, 11/1/2012.http://www.educause.edu/ero/article/online-educational-delivery-models-descriptive-view