The European University Association (EUA) Council held a discussion on MOOCs and their potential impact, but also the prospects that they could offer to European higher education. In general, the considered the MOOCs should be closely monitored, but also that beyond the present excitement, it would be important to analyze innovative learning provision trends, and also consider implications for institutional recognition practice and definition of degrees.
The question of whether MOOCs should be further developed in Europe was answered positively by almost half of the respondents, and while only less than 10% answered negatively, a relatively large group had no clear opinion on the issue.
Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) have recently been established and have received keen attention from the higher education community and the media. The initiative was developed in collaboration with renowned universities and individual scholars and attracted tens of thousands of learners around the globe in a short period of time. For some, the MOOCs stand for a “learning revolution”, providing high quality education at low costs and unprecedented prospects for enhancing global access and participation. For others, MOOCs are not truly innovative, but have rather traditional learning approaches and goals, and some see them as an attempt to rationalize and further commercialize higher education.