Consider MOOCs and discuss whether they are a revolutionary breakthrough in education or simply a fad - Essay Example

Traditional forms of learning like classroom settings and direct lecturing are slowly fading (Sharpe 27). In this context, we can say that advancement in technology remains the main attribute for these dynamics in the social aspect of education. On the other hand, the aspect of globalization also contributes towards witnessed shifts in education patterns. Students from various parts of the world are converging at the best learning institutions in search of knowledge (Sharpe 34). In this case, increase in student population necessitates changes in order to adjust service delivery programs.

Presence of cut-edge technology facilitates the development of such desired service delivery systems. This essay appraises a developing program within the education sector in terms of its impacts and expected future trends and resourcefulness. In 2010, leading universities in Europe and America were striving to formulate new learning policies meant to address increasing influence of globalization. Stakeholders wanted to restructure education models, especially within institutions of higher learning.

This development largely focused on the role played by teachers in modern learning environments characterized by huge student-teacher population ratio (Adrie and Finegan 72). As a result, researchers from the University of Michigan and Stanford University conducted objective evaluation on existing teaching methods. Towards the end of their research articles, they postulated appropriate recommendations meant to deal with new developments in the education sector. As a result, the two research bodies termed massive open online courses, abbreviated as MOOCs as the most suitable educational program (Bowen 45).

This program aimed at developing a method meant to address the need to change teachers’ roles in learning activities. In addition, MOOCs will serve as the best technique of dealing with an increase in student population. In actual practice, the University of Miami in 2012 featured as one university adopting a massive open online course program. Subsequently, MOOCs rolled into other parts of the world like Australia, where the nation’s university of South Wales adopted a course of computing using the MOOCs program.

Currently, extrapolated research on education methods suggest that open online courses can literary feature as knocking down campus boundaries. According to one researcher, who is a professor of research at Stanford College, the scholar says that MOOCs will take over as new methods of delivering knowledge to students. Big breakthroughs happen when what is suddenly possible meets what is desperately necessary (Friedman 01). In order to appreciate the role played by MOOCs, we will evaluate its components in functioning and design.

Creation of MOOCs seeks to address the increasing number of interested learners within academic environments. In this context, technical developments of MOOCs programs seek to facilitate timely and professional delivery of information to a large student population. MOOCs use internet connectivity in creating interaction platforms through collaboration groups or peer-reviews (Bowen 65). On the other hand, delivery of information integrated appropriate feedback mechanisms meant to assess the success of learning among the student population.

In this case, MOOCs has a feedback provision, which involves automated online assessment through exams and quizzes. At the end of the assessment process, students’