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Beyond the Hype: Faculty Hear Plans for Duke's Ventures in Online Learning

Provost Peter Lange emphasizes MOOC's potential reach and classroom innovations 

Part of the Online Learning Series
Geoffrey Mock

The hot word this year in higher education is MOOC, which stands for Massive Open Online Course. Here's the hype: MOOCs and online learning are going to remake higher education.

Here's the reality for Duke, according to Provost Peter Lange:  There are interesting things, and Duke will explore online learning in ways that will enhance its long tradition of putting experimental technology into the classroom.

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Speaking at the Academic Council on Thursday, Lange told faculty that online learning is rapidly changing in its early stages and no one is certain of where it will end up and how much it might benefit higher education.  "But there certainly is a lot of potential here, and you have to be involved in the middle of it to be able to gleam what the benefits are," Lange said.

This summer, Duke announced its first university-wide MOOC venture, a partnership with Coursera to offer 10 classes online for free.  The courses – the first of which begins Monday – already have proven popular with more than 223,000 signed up as of Sept. 17. 

That outreach potential is one reason Duke is interested, Lange said.  One faculty member involved in Coursera said that if everyone who signed up for his course actually took it (the feeling is some won't), that it would take him 15 years of teaching at Duke to teach the same number of students.

"The hype about MOOCs is ridiculous," Lange said.  "However, the transformation that you read about will happen."

Lange said he believes MOOCs will accelerate teaching innovation as faculty create new ways of presenting material for an online audience.  These innovations in turn will enhance the in-person experience. 

But the greatest potential benefit, he said, is that MOOCs can expand access to higher education learning.

"Among the creators of MOOC platforms, I will tell you there is a strong commitment to providing access to high quality educational materials to students who would never otherwise have such access.  It is a deep ideological commitment," Lange said.

At the same time, there are concerns that MOOCs might substitute online learning for in-person educational experiences.  That won't be an issue at Duke, Lange said.

"This is what people think will be the big money saver, but this isn't going to happen at Duke or at many other top schools," he said.

For the MOOC companies such as Coursera, edX and others, the business model for how they will produce revenue is still unknown.  Lange said Duke officials were waiting for the companies to settle on a business model before the university made its own decision about potential revenues.

There are other more pressing issues, he added, such as:

  • Supporting faculty time for MOOC course design and materials development;
  • Negotiating complicated copyright approvals;
  • Assessing MOOC courses;
  • Staying abreast of fast-changing technology platforms;
  • Adapting MOOC courses to in-person classrooms.

Lange praised Lynne O'Brien, director of the Center for Instructional Technology, and others for leading Duke's first steps into MOOCs.  He said the initial financial cost hasn't been great, but it has required "an enormous amount of work and level of commitment from staff that has been exemplary."

Faculty at the meeting expressed both interest and caution. Council chair Professor Susan Lozier said faculty members are playing a key role is developing the initiative.  

For more information on Duke's various online ventures, click here.