MOOCs - massive open online courses: jumping on the bandwidth

By Steve Caplan. The idea of massive open online courses is becoming increasingly popular. Technology can't be stopped, but educators must assure that these courses meet academic standards. These are trying times for researchers across the globe, and I think it matters not whether one is in the UK, US or anywhere else; the lack of funding is impacting science in many ways, and not for the better. Scientists are running scared, funds for research are becoming scarce, labs are closing, tenure is being denied. I do my best not to project negativity to the burgeoning scientists (students and post-docs) in my own lab, but they are bright enough to understand what is going on: they see that a career in science is a never-ending fight to keep going. Ultimately, this is leading to the attrition of talented young scientists from the academic track. Read more...