Massive Open Online Courses: Current State and Perspectives (Dagstuhl Perspectives Workshop 14112)

The rapid emergence and adoption of Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) has raised new questions and rekindled old debates in higher education. Academic leaders are concerned about educational quality, access to content, privacy protection for learner data, production costs and the proper relationship between MOOCs and residential instruction, among other matters. At the same time, these same leaders see opportunities for the scale of MOOCs to support learning: faculty interest in teaching innovation, better learner engagement through personalization, increased understanding of learner behavior through large-scale data analytics, wider access for continuing education learners and other nonresidential learners, and the possibility to enhance revenue or lower educational costs. Two years after "the year of the MOOC", this report summarizes the state of the art and the future directions of greatest interest as seen by an international group of academic leaders. Eight provocative positions are put forward, in hopes of aiding policy-makers, academics, administrators, and learners regarding the potential future of MOOCs in higher education. The recommendations span a variety of topics including financial considerations, pedagogical quality, and the social fabric.