MOOCs have now become part of the dialogue in higher education for debating “what is the purpose of the university?” David Brooks hypothesizes that the purpose of universities is to “transmit technical and practical knowledge.” In my mind the intersection of technical and practical knowledge is embedded in the overall student lifecycle. There’s another question that should be included in the discussion. How does online education seamlessly integrate into all aspects of the higher education student lifecycle?
3 Ideas to Integrate MOOCs in the Student Lifecycle.
- Start at the beginning of the lifecycle with student recruitment. Are there opportunities for pre-college courses to be developed and leveraged as an incitement for recruitment efforts? What about a weekend seminar introducing a popular faculty member and academic discipline?
- Augment and extend degree program offerings. Students could engage in MOOCs during the summer to build skills for translating their academic experience to support landing a job after graduation.
- Provide more flexibility to low residency executive education programs. Busy executives could extend their residency experience through participation in online courses with their peers in the program.
Question to Consider:
What other intersection points exist for MOOCs in the higher education student lifecycle?
Are you interested in having a conversation about how your institution considers the MOOCs question? Contact me at dianna@sadlouskos.com.
