The State of Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) in Engineering Education: Where do we go from here?

Flora S Tsai; Kyle H Wong

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Conference: 2013 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition
Location: Atlanta, Georgia
Publication Date: June 23, 2013
Start Date: June 23, 2013
End Date: June 26, 2013
ISSN: 2153-5965
Conference Session: Introducing New Methodologies and the Incoming Students to Engineering Programs
Tagged Division: International
Page Count: 16
Page Numbers: 23.1232.1 - 23.1232.16
DOI: 10.18260/1-2--22617
Permanent URL: https://peer.asee.org/22617
Download Count: 618

Paper Authors

biography

Flora S Tsai Singapore University of Technology and Design

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Dr. Flora Tsai is a lecturer at Singapore University of Technology and Design (SUTD) and an associate lecturer at Singapore Institute of Management (UniSIM). She has over eleven years of teaching experience for undergraduate software engineering subjects. She was a graduate of MIT, Columbia University, and NTU. Dr Tsai's current research focuses on developing intelligent techniques for data mining in text and social media. Her recent awards include the 2005 IBM Faculty Award, 2007 IBM Real-time Innovation Award, 2010 IBM Faculty Innovation Award, and 2012 Smarter Communications Innovation Award. She has also received honorable mention for her article entitled "Engineering the Future of Education" in the Future Technology Predictions Competition organized by the Proceedings of the IEEE. She has published more than 60 refereed journal and conference papers. She is currently a senior member of both IEEE and ACM.

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Kyle H Wong Singapore American School

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Abstract

The State of Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) inEngineering Education: Where do we go from here?Session Topics: Techniques in Web-Based and Technology EnhancedEducation Around the Globe; Multimedia and Distance Education Tools forEngineering Education across the globe; Distance LearningCourses/Programs across the globeAbstractThe proliferation of massive open online courses (MOOC) is dramaticallychanging the way we teach and learn. These online courses have the flexibility tocombine social networking with online videos and homework, allowingparticipants to learn at their own pace. Furthermore, unlike conventional classes,they can potentially reach an unlimited number of students worldwide. Examplesof MOOCs that have been established recently include Coursera, Udacity, edX,MITx, and Khan Academy. These courses continue in the collaborative spirit ofopen sharing of software and information brought on by the open source andWikipedia movements. In addition, the courses help to bridge the gap betweenthe rich and poor within the digital divide.The rapid growth and popularity of the MOOCs have led experts to predict thatthe traditional higher education market will face pressure over the next severalyears, due to growing competition from MOOCs as well as internationaluniversities. Although the top educational institutions will continue to attractstudents, other institutes are likely to suffer if they do not integrate MOOCs andnew technologies in their curriculum, especially given the rapidly changinglearning preferences in the current generation of students.Since no open education standard has emerged to define the future of MOOCs,there is currently a barrage of unregulated courses on the Web that couldpotentially lead to misinformation conveyed to the online learners. This paperreviews and compares the current platforms and technologies available in theonline engineering education arena, proposes a model for combining MOOCswith live university courses, lays the groundwork for open standards forengineering education, summarizes the international challenges ahead, anddiscusses the implications for future educators and students. The impact of thisstudy will help educators manage the vast content in order to integrate onlineeducation in their own curriculum, and provide guidelines on how to best utilizethe MOOCs in the future.

Citation
Format

Tsai, F. S., & Wong, K. H. (2013, June), The State of Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) in Engineering Education: Where do we go from here? Paper presented at 2013 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, Atlanta, Georgia. 10.18260/1-2--22617

TY  - CPAPER
AB  - The State of Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) inEngineering Education: Where do we go from here?Session Topics: Techniques in Web-Based and Technology EnhancedEducation Around the Globe; Multimedia and Distance Education Tools forEngineering Education across the globe; Distance LearningCourses/Programs across the globeAbstractThe proliferation of massive open online courses (MOOC) is dramaticallychanging the way we teach and learn. These online courses have the flexibility tocombine social networking with online videos and homework, allowingparticipants to learn at their own pace. Furthermore, unlike conventional classes,they can potentially reach an unlimited number of students worldwide. Examplesof MOOCs that have been established recently include Coursera, Udacity, edX,MITx, and Khan Academy. These courses continue in the collaborative spirit ofopen sharing of software and information brought on by the open source andWikipedia movements. In addition, the courses help to bridge the gap betweenthe rich and poor within the digital divide.The rapid growth and popularity of the MOOCs have led experts to predict thatthe traditional higher education market will face pressure over the next severalyears, due to growing competition from MOOCs as well as internationaluniversities. Although the top educational institutions will continue to attractstudents, other institutes are likely to suffer if they do not integrate MOOCs andnew technologies in their curriculum, especially given the rapidly changinglearning preferences in the current generation of students.Since no open education standard has emerged to define the future of MOOCs,there is currently a barrage of unregulated courses on the Web that couldpotentially lead to misinformation conveyed to the online learners. This paperreviews and compares the current platforms and technologies available in theonline engineering education arena, proposes a model for combining MOOCswith live university courses, lays the groundwork for open standards forengineering education, summarizes the international challenges ahead, anddiscusses the implications for future educators and students. The impact of thisstudy will help educators manage the vast content in order to integrate onlineeducation in their own curriculum, and provide guidelines on how to best utilizethe MOOCs in the future.
AU  - Flora S Tsai
AU  - Kyle H Wong
CY  - Atlanta, Georgia
DA  - 2013/06/23
PB  - ASEE Conferences
TI  - The State of Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) in Engineering Education: Where do we go from here?
UR  - https://peer.asee.org/22617
DO  - 10.18260/1-2--22617
ER  -