Are MOOCs the ‘Digital Albums’ of Education?

"Once upon a time, there were physical CDs. The order of each song mattered, for the album was often played as an uninterrupted piece. Then came the computer and music became digital." continues Singularity Hub.

You could play all your songs in the order you wanted and easily create compilations based on your musical taste. Then came the Internet and it all became messy. Streamed, remixed, compiled, music was everywhere and listeners could seamlessly interact with it.

Once upon a time in a parallel world, there were physical classrooms and teachers. The latter had a standard curriculum to deliver to their classes and students’ interests couldn’t really be integrated. 

Then came the Internet. Whenever, students could also take classes online, thus joining worldwide cohorts through “Massive Open Online Courses” (MOOCs). Everything became possible.

The digitalization of education seems to be going the same way the music industry went a decade ago; as it gets further digitalized, content becomes more accessible, and subsequently, customizable.

To take this analysis one step further, are MOOCs the “digital albums” of education? How can we use them to find out “marginal learning”? Let’s tune in to see where this would take us as learners of tomorrow but also for instructors.

What is a MOOC? 

 
Unbundling the MOOC to make its components more relevant: the concept of “marginal learning.”

MOOCs provide a great opportunity for learning, for nearly no cost. Yet, they are still a monolithic learning system: MOOCs will let you access content you don’t necessarily need, in a way you don’t necessarily embrace, at a pace you don’t necessarily want. If you compare MOOC to a brick wall, they are perfect for breaking into smaller pieces and rearranging them to suit your desired learning path.'
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Singularity Hub joined Singularity University in 2012.

Source: Singularity Hub and dave cormier Channel (YouTube)