MOOCs - perspektiver for UC-sektoren i Danmark

Abstract

I en tid, hvor økonomien er under pres i den danske uddannelsessektor, og hvor ønsket om rationalisering af undervisningen går hånd i hånd med et ønske om øget kvalitet gennem yderligere digitalisering, bliver spørgsmålet om inddragelse af MOOCs (Massive Open Online Courses) interessant. En MOOC er et gratis kursustilbud uden adgangsbegrænsning og uden begrænsning i deltagerantal. Litteraturen (Barbour, 2012; Kim, 2012) viser, at flere universiteter relativt hovedkulds, og måske mest af frygt for ikke at få en central placering i kapløbet om de internationale studerende, har kastet sig over denne uddannelses- og kursusform. Som et bidrag til en kvalificeret drøftelse af perspektiverne for MOOCs i UC-sektoren beskriver denne artikel fænomenet og diskuterer læringsmæssige perspektiver rettet mod det globale marked for uddannelse. Målet er gennem et litteratur-review og erfaringer fra deltagelse i et antal MOOCs at afdække, hvad det kræver at udbyde en MOOC, hvad andre har gjort, hvem der udbyder, hvem der deltager, og hvilke perspektiver der kunne være for de nordiske lande.Abstract in EnglishDue to an increasing financial pressure in the Danish educational sector and a demand for rationalization as well as higher quality through digitization, the question of whether or not to adopt MOOCs (Massive Open Online Courses) becomes interesting. A MOOC is a free, online course offered to all with no entry level demands and with no limitation on participant numbers. Studies (Barbour, 2012; Kim, 2012) show that several universities have plunged into this type of courses relatively headlong, perhaps mainly driven by fear of losing out in the competition for international students. With the intention of contributing to an informed discussion of the university college perspectives of MOOCs, this article describes the phenomenon and discusses its peda-gogical perspectives in the context of the global education market. Through a literature review as well as hands-on participation in a number of MOOCs, the aim is to uncover what it takes to offer a MOOC, what others have done, who the providers are, who the participants are, and what perspectives MOOCs might hold in a Scandinavian context.