Will MOOCs ever take off and take over? Is it worth spending taxpayer money on building MOOCs in the same form? By Rita McGrath & Dr. M Muneer
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OOCs (Massive Online Open Courses) are available to anyone with a mobile phone or computer and Internet connection. They offer a way to learn in a virtual classroom, with loosely structured courses, mostly free of charge and without the rigidity of a normal academic program. MOOCs are perfect for those who want to learn for fun or showcase some certificates at a small fee. In a recent movie, the protagonist was shown displaying certificates
on a wide variety of courses ranging from AI and data science to yoga and palm reading! Only about two percent of the millions who enroll in a MOOC complete a course. India is no better. SWAYAM, launched with fanfare, has impressive numbers but the completion issue and impact thereof are debatable. So is it worth spending taxpayer money on building MOOCs in the same form? As of early 2021, there are about 4.7 billion Internet users globally (surprisingly not grown much from 2019 despite the pandemic), of which only 690 million are Indians. On a population coverage ratio, India is way below the global coverage with a ranking below 120. Even in the devel-
MOOCs had caused quite the stir when first launched. Supporters like Thomas Friedman proclaimed that they would usher in an era of unprecedented opportunity for those currently locked out of existing educational options 34
| may 2021
