0:00:00.270,0:00:01.380
So why now?

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Why should MOOCs appear right now?

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Why is it different from previous[br]revolutions in educational technology?

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Well to me, there are two trends.

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The first is that information is more and

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more accessible, and becoming cheaper, or[br]even free.

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For instance, via Google Maps, anyone[br]anywhere in the world can now

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access maps that just a few years ago[br]would be considered military grade.

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Through Google Books anyone anywhere in[br]the world

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can access the content of books relatively[br]easily.

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Maybe some part of it if the content is[br]copyrighted.

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MOOCs come at the right time for this.

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They simply make accessible to a much[br]wider

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audience something that was so far pretty[br]closed.

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University level material, about very high[br]level

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topics, they open up the doors of[br]universities.

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Note that I said course material, not[br]books, this is different.

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Course material helps to bring someone up[br]to speed, in some

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very pointed discipline where they might[br]not exist text book yet.

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The value added by the MOOC, is that

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some of this information is pre-processed[br]by the professor.

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The professor stands between all that[br]information and

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the student to help the student navigate[br]it.

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Also, the student benefits immediately[br]from an instant study group.

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And like if they go to the library to[br]borrow a book.

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Now this begs the question of why would

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anyone go through the effort of taking a[br]MOOC?

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Well there are simply many reasons.

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One of them is just fun, some people are[br]just curious.

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But one of them touches on the second[br]reason why MOOCs arrive now.

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Well pretty simply, it used to be that you[br]could do a whole career in one company.

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A few decades ago, that was possible but[br]that's certainly not true anymore.

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It also used to be that you could do a[br]whole career

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out of one degree, and that's becoming[br]less and less possible now.

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Essentially, in the modern professional[br]world, you need to adapt.

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More and more, what matters is the[br]individual's ability

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to navigate this new landscape by[br]acquiring new skills.

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Obviously MOOCs can help with that.

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The big question that is left with MOOCs,[br]is how to translate these new skills into

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meaningful certificates, so the individual[br]can actually leverage

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this training to a new job more easily.

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If you're a university professor, this is[br]true for you as well.

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You need to adapt yourself to the

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revolution in your profession, that are[br]MOOCs.

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If your tenured, you actually have no[br]incentive to do this

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except if you want to do a better job when[br]teaching.

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If you are not tenured yet the reality is[br]that you have every

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disincentive to follow this evolution, and[br]rock the boat at your own institution.

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Because you are always at risk for being[br]assessed

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using older criteria that don't account[br]for the new technologies.

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Now, I need to clarify one more thing now.

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To me, the fact that all this education

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is distributed for free and can benefit[br]people.

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All over the world in myriads of ways, is[br]absolutely, phenomenally great.

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And it will dramatically affect society as[br]well.

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I don't want to downplay this.

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But it's really important to understand[br]that this is

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purely and entirely a side effect, a nice[br]side effect

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but it is a side effect, of the main[br]commercial

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focus, which is higher education and[br]employment in developed markets.