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Gilberto Rodriguez

WRTG 101S

MOOCs in the eyes of Dr. Karen Head and Thomas Friedman

There are different views regarding Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs). Some individuals would state that it has opened up something great, but others would strongly disagree and not understand the concept behind it. Thomas Friedman, who is very optimistic about MOOCs and the positive outlook it will have on the future, will argue that MOOCs are the next best thing. However, there are individuals such as Dr. Karen head that will stand on a firm ground that MOOCs are more of a tragic accident waiting to happen. Most individuals would look at MOOCs and have an open mind towards it. For instance, some individuals would say that it is more convenient to pursue their education online rather than going to a classroom and receiving a lecture. Thomas Friedman and Dr. Karen Head are two individuals who have different points of view in regards to MOOCs; however, their differences question individuals understanding and meaning behind the program called MOOCs.  Comment by Sarah: Indent the first line of each paragraph. Comment by Sarah: Use “they” to refer to the plural terms “Courses” or “MOOCs.” (also elsewhere in the draft) Comment by Sarah: Proper noun – Capitalize. Comment by Sarah: When a word is both plural and possessive, place an apostrophe after the “s.”

Dr. Head has stated, "When I was approached, about teaching an MOOC; my initial response was no." Dr. Head could not understand the meaning of MOOCs. The concept of this program to her did not meet what she felt the criteria were to teach a lecture. Professors that are in the Universities have an audience of real students every day. With MOOCs, you are recording your speech, so your real audience is the person behind the camera. According to Comment by Sarah: Check the punctuation in the reading, and make sure you have it exactly the same in the quote. Comment by Sarah: Why do you think she didn’t understand the meaning of MOOCs? Comment by Sarah: not a proper noun Comment by Sarah: Replace generic “you” with a specific third person term like “the professor.”

Dr. Head, it took hours to put the content together and then record it so the students can play back the material. Teachers who are not used to this type of education are very confused and not quite sure if this will work. Thomas Friedman says that MOOCs are the new revolution, however, Dr. Head, argues what is the real motivation behind this. Dr. Karen raises many questions regarding the cost of production, and if the school cannot provide the support, you need, what will the individual do to get it rectified.  Thomas Friedman states "And nothing has more potential to enable us to reimagine higher education than the massive open online course". (Friedman, 2013) Comment by Sarah: When “however” connects two independent clauses, use a semicolon before “however” and a comma after it. (also elsewhere in the draft) Comment by Sarah: no comma between subject and verb Comment by Sarah: What does “this” refer to? Comment by Sarah: Refer to the authors by their last names. Comment by Sarah: Use a comma after “states” when introducing a quote. Comment by Sarah: Place the period after the citation. Comment by Sarah: Include a page number in the citation for a quote.

He feels as though MOOCs is the new revolution because it's more affordable. Dr. Head would disagree, saying that it is too expensive to put together so her question would be exactly who would this be affordable for, the individual receiving the MOOC or conducting the MOOC. Thomas Friedman would argue that with MOOCs, you can receive an excellent education and use the professors in such a better way and it makes too much sense. However, Dr. Karen Head argues that it does not deliver. There are too many functions not discussed that would bring significant issues to any university that has chosen to participate in MOOCs.    Comment by Sarah: subject-verb agreement Comment by Sarah: more affordable than what? Comment by Sarah: Use a comma before “so” in a compound sentence. Comment by Sarah: Use a comma before “and” in a compound sentence. Comment by Sarah: Too much sense for what? Or do you mean it makes a lot of sense?

Thomas Friedman has a vision for MOOCs that it will take over the school system. He has said that professors do not need a degree to come up with a lecture and teach. They can just come up with something that is pertaining to the subject at hand and go from there. That is why with MOOCs his argument is that the instructors being hired are qualified to make sure the students taking the MOOC is receiving top of the line teaching. However, Dr. Head would argue that it would not matter whom the instructor is it would be the information recorded that the student would have to decipher to understand the lecture at hand. There are little to know facts that MOOCs have worked until Thomas Friedman has compared 300,000 are taking 38 online courses taught at Stanford. He states that yes, only a small percentage completes the work, and they come from middle and upper class, but he believed that give or take five years, it would expand to reach a larger audience.   Comment by Sarah: This makes is sound like Friedman is accusing most professors of being unqualified. I don’t think he said anything like that. Comment by Sarah: run-on sentence Comment by Sarah: I don’t understand this sentence. Comment by Sarah: subject-verb agreement

When MOOCs first started, Thomas Friedman said that it was affordable, however with the recent numbers it shows that not a lot of people are interested with MOOCs. All of the work is not being completed, and there are no lower class individuals taking these online courses. All of the research on hand may have someone who would take an online course, but after reviewing, what Mr. Friedman has to show, as results would change their mind. Dr. Head’s colleagues have asked her if she would do it again? . And her answer was no, because, it was very time-consuming and took a lot to take herself from the way that she was used to teaching to conform to the MOOC strategy. However, Mr. Friedman would state that it is cost effective and it has a productive way to relay the information for the subject at hand so that the students within that course will be able to grasp.  Comment by Sarah: What is the connection between the affordability and the many people interested in MOOCs. You used “however”; are these two ideas opposed to one another? Comment by Sarah: none? Comment by Sarah: Why would someone change their mind about taking a MOOC after reading Friedman’s ideas?

The view of MOOCs will continuously change for the better and for the worse depending on the individual taking the course and the professor teaching the lesson. As time goes on, the audience will grow to reach out to all types of classes. The professors that have chosen to participate in the MOOCs will have a different outlook on education as a whole. Dr. Karen Head and Thomas Friedman were two individuals who had different opinions dealing with MOOCs. Dr. Karen wanted to have the experience of teaching an MOOC so that she can understand what they are and what it took to prepare for an MOOC. However, her observations were different from that of Thomas Friedman. Mr. Friedman stands strong behind MOOCs with the vision that it will become an incredible educational tool and will become stronger than ever. Improving education has been a project for many years. There have been great programs created to help achieve a better education system so that the future generation can be afforded the best education without having to settle for anything less. Education is a revolving door and will forever continue to change, and the world will continue to accept these changes.

Cite authors’ last names in parenthesis at the end of any sentence that quotes or paraphrases from the authors.

Reference

Friedman, T. L. (2013, January 26). Revolution Hits the Universities. Retrieved from The New York Times: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/27/opinion/sunday/friedman-revolution-hits-the-universities.html?pagewanted=1&_r=4