, Journalism, Mass Media and Communication - Dissertation Example

Dissertation, Journalism, Mass Media and Communication Introduction Technological advancement has transformed the nature and the modes of teaching in different institutions. Technology has been integrated in access of learning schedules, an aspect that has aided in the creation of virtual universities. Lecturers have grasped technology to facilitate their teaching strategies and enhance better learning and understanding of the students. Such an aspect has been facilitated by the use of the online resources and the online libraries especially from the technologically advanced countries. Digital learning transformation has been seen to be beneficial to students and module instructors as there is no much conduct between these two parties (Chris, 2015). The common benefits have been identified to be flexibility of location during learning, managing logistics during studies, and time-saving. Additionally, digital learning offers a wide variety of resources as students can access the online books at their accounts up logging on to them. However, where technology has failed, the learning process is disrupted. For instance, the current wave of the Massive Open Online Courses has raised an alarm for scholars to research on their applicability, benefits, challenges and their implication regarding the quality of students and fitness to the job environment (Griffith, 2000). MOOCs, as the Stanford educational platform, have received a substantial attention especially with the opportunities and the challenges it has created (Haber, 2014). The paper examines the various ways in which digital technology has enhanced academic learning, opportunities, challenges and implications of MOOCs in the academic ecosystem. Research Material and Methodology MOOCs trace their history back from 1969 when the aspect of open distance learning cropped up. The courses were offered via television microwave integrated channels. Students who had access to these channels watched lecturers on their TVs at off the campus sites. The courses evolved with the technology of streaming content from the internet and the use of electronic submission of assignments (Hubbard, 2015). Additionally, the lecturers used the same technique to distribute the learning materials for the enrolled students. The same system is the equivalent to the today’s MOOCs with the cost being the only differentiator. Stanford’s MOOCs technology offers same services to the off-campus students same as the on-campus ones (Gifford, 2013). They receive similar credits up on passing. Early last decade, Stanford University implemented the SEE initiative that entailed offering of engineering and other six Cs online courses free up on logging on to the campus website. Such an idea offered lecturer notes and assignments through video technique (Mitchell, 2014). The Stanford’s MOOCs attracted hundreds of students as it integrated courses with resourceful databases, artificial intelligence and machine learning as compared to the Yale and Harvard styles. With the evolution of the Harvard platform offering similar courses, Stanford implemented the Class2Go and the Venture Lab platforms as the counteracting and competitive online platforms for its students. Millions of students across the globe enrolled for the MOOCs under Stanford University and other universities for e-learning. The courses have helped solving the poverty aspect in the areas where people cannot afford the on-campus education. Such an idea id facilitated by the fact that MOOCs are relatively cheaper than the on-campus courses though they give similar services (Cooper and Mehran, 2013). MOOCs have a wide range of benefits to the students. The courses are richer in an evaluation that the on-campus ones, and even the Yale courses. These evaluation assignments allow the students to be more engaged in the learning activities (Kent, 2009). The testing suites for these MOOCs can be used to measure the functionality of the courses. However, Stanford has given care when developing the assessment platforms, as well as, making the automated assessments feasible. The e-learning platforms have been integrated with a certification technique where students pay fees and get certified after completing the MOOC course. However, Stanford University allows third party universities to offer the certification for their students. Such a technique has allowed more students find the courses convincing. This idea makes the difference between MOOCs and the other platforms that have no any form of certification. Additionally, the students taking the post graduate courses find the program convincing for their flexible schedules to allow them do the courses on part-time basis. A research by Christensen et al. (2014) indicates that the employed population from various countries find MOOCs more convincing with their job schedules. The research adds that, this population find it comfortable to access all the reading material through their mobile devices from the SEE website. From the instructor’s point of view, the online courses allow students attempt all their assignments and evaluation tests. Therefore, it is beneficial to the students as they do more research that not only helps passing the assignments, but also improving their knowledge. However, the MOOCs have been challenges by various aspects that rise from an advancement of technology. First, the issue of validating assignments has remained a challenge. Plagiarism has been a nuisance issue with students coping material to attempt their assignments. Other students outsource other students to attempt their assignments for them. These aspects have led to low productive students. Though there is plagiarism detective software, most of the students tend to come up with original work which on the reality has been written by someone else. Second, network failures disrupt the courses in addition to system updating among other external factors, therefore, making the courses limited as compared to the on-campus learning (Holden, 2014). Lastly, MOOCs do not allow the interaction between the students and instructors. For effective learning, students get more insights and in-depth clarifications from the lecturer for the difficulty concepts in a class environment. The paper adopts article review methodology to review on the rationale and the different ways in which digital technology has transformed virtual learning. Therefore, qualitative research has been effectively used in analysing the MOOCs and transformation of the academic landscape. Results MOOCs have been subjected to different discussions regarding to the different effects that it has initiated in academic learning. MOOCs have improved the learning experiences for the students, as a result of, the in-person interaction (LTEC, 2014). Consequently, these courses have induced the flipped classroom environment where students just watch for their lecturers online as they teach. Such an idea is as compelling as it can also be revealed that experimental serene that is enabled through the digital courses allows students to learn constructing these experiments virtually. Additionally, the MOOCs have induced online collaboration tools that are used by research students in solving related problems in research (Online Learning, 2012). Second, MOOCs have offered the opportunity for the virtual classes giving students from different societies and backgrounds to enrol. Stanford University has increased the optimal use of resources in their premises, an idea that has led to the expansion of the student body rather than increasing the physical investment. Despite the existence of other similar Harvard online tools, MOOCs have been comprehensive in the way that they incorporate their collaborative tools, virtual experimental tools and the certification technique to enrol more students. Most of its students find the courses convincing, as long as, they have Internet coverage and registered for the courses (Yuzer and Kurubacak, 2014). Third, MOOCs provide new teaching resources for more individuals indicating that an instructor at the Stanford University can use an online component of a MOOC that was produced somewhere else in his class. Professors using the MOOCs who write books can share their material via the website for others to make use of them without purchasing the hard copies. Consequently, this allows a logical evolution of the current practices in IT and publishing. Professors who are authors also provide students with additional materials for their readings, experiments and assignments through the SEE website platform offered by the MOOCs. Interestingly, academic publishers have recognized the opportunity of developing their eBooks that intersects with MOOC portals for enhanced student learning experience (Mitchell, 2014). Fourth, MOOCs have enhanced and boosted data research via a provision of a high quality and quantity of information. An essential tool under the MOOCs is the entails the instrumenting learning. The students registered to research courses are exposed to this tool that allows them to learn more data management techniques. Consequently, this aspect will lead to a more intellectually stimulating, practically effective and a more productive data research. Compared to other research techniques, the data research via the MOOCs has been enhanced and simplified with a more experience of the online stimulating tools by the students (Kiener, 2013). Discussion and Conclusion The MOOCs offered by the Stanford University have different implications regarding the perception of the MOOCs students by employers’ in different working environments. Additionally, they have different effects in the academic ecosystem and market evolution, as well as, the future of virtual learning and the advancement of the technology (Technology, 2008). For, instance there is a high probability for the MOOCs to induce unrecognizable forms of accreditation that makes some employers in sensitive working environments have a negative perception regarding the online courses pursued by potential employees. They may tend to have the feeling that these courses are not as competitive as the on-campus ones (Kim, 2014). Such an idea may be brought by the stereotypes in that students pursuing theses online courses outsource other people to attempt their assignments. Therefore they are not that competitive enough hence they prefer the on-campus students, especially where the online courses are not certified (Kizilcec, Piech, and Schneider, 2013) The MOOCs have induced a learning experience with low marginal cost, especially with the peer interaction and automated assessment (U.S., 2008). With the reduced costs changes faced in the higher education and the corresponding demand the educational landscape in the developed countries, such a technology will be transformed to the K-12 education levels. Learning is becoming cheaper with these online courses for both sides; the students and the lecturers. For instance, the use of power point has replaced the use of chalks and other traditional presentation of notes. The idea behind this is that, the technology has eased classroom communication (Christensen and Eyring, 2011). Lastly, it can be concluded that as the technology advances everything will move online and many aspects of academic ecosystem will be destined to keep on flourishing. As entrepreneurs, academic institutions have important roles to ensure the glacial demand for the educational opportunities brought by the MOOCs. Consequently, the educators need to develop comprehensive learning models and publish high-quality studies that boost the academic standards. Such an idea will shape the future of the online courses to a more comparable idea with the on-campus courses. If all these variations are eliminated MOOCs stands the baseline for perfect educational experience among the future generation. It, therefore, indicates that MOOCs explosion will continuously create a stronger appreciation of different courses and greater rewards for the stakeholders who inspire students. 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