Duke on the web

Over the years, online learning has worked its way into a number of aspects of Duke academics. At the lowest level of online involvement, classes ranging from art history to biochemistry have recorded lectures posted to the University’s Panopto service. This summer, a Writing 270 seminar took this to the other end of the spectrum with a class of 18 taught entirely online to Duke students studying from around the world. Today, we look at the appropriateness and effectiveness of online resources at Duke with massive open online courses (MOOCs) and smaller online classes.

MOOCs are classes hosted online with the goal of unlimited open access to spread quality higher education across the world. MOOCs revolutionized higher education by lowering physical and socioeconomic barriers to educational opportunities. For example, anybody around the world can sign up to take courses in cryptography, sales pitches, law and more at no cost on Coursera. The ease of access to these courses is empowering for life learners or disadvantaged peoples who are balancing work and family or who cannot afford college. For many MOOCs, these benefits are multiplied by the quality of the courses. Institutions like Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology are looking to be at the cutting edge of MOOC development, such that top professors are providing serious courses that can really provide a quality education to users. For many students, college or life learners, MOOCs provide a way for those with the will to succeed.

At Duke, the first MOOCs were launched two years ago through Coursera, with students able to sign up for non-credit classes that provide skills or teach subjects that do not find their way into a regular schedule. These classes expose students to skills like checkbook balancing or subjects like the economics of the music industry that are not offered or are hard to justify as part of a four-course schedule. Beyond Duke, MOOCs are useful for when the learning bug persists after graduation and for picking up skills that do not fall naturally into a 32 credit career.

Though the benefits of MOOCs are undeniable, they should remain as on-the-side options for students that do not yield credits toward graduation. Online courses do not offer the same educational experience that students receive from taking a class alongside other students and with professors with whom they may engage outside the classroom. Additionally, some constraints on the way MOOCs are conducted seem antithetical to Duke’s educational approach. The Writing 270 seminar, while a small class, was limited to giving only multiple choice exams because of Coursera’s platform requirements.

At Duke, these courses and MOOCs walk a fine line between opening access to students studying abroad or from home and diminishing the value of the courses as a result of the issues emerging from communicating classes online as opposed to within the classroom. Learning happens not simply within classrooms but also within the college environment surrounded by engaging students and extracurricular activities—both of which a shift toward online courses may diminish. We encourage Duke to develop and further incorporate online learning into classes through flipped classrooms, concept videos, supplemental lectures and online resources, but to also keep in mind the vision of what Duke classes ought to provide to Duke students.